The Spanish authorities were the first in Europe to prepare to introduce a four-day working week, writes The Guardian.
While we are talking about a pilot project, the details of which have not yet been fully worked out. The initiative belongs to the center-left party Mas Pais. Now the government has backed her.
It is assumed that all interested companies will become participants in the experiment at the first stage. They will switch to a shortened 32-hour work week on a voluntary basis. The employees will receive full wages, and enterprises will receive compensation from the budget.
In the first year of the experiment, their size will be equal to 100 percent of lost revenue, in the second – 50 percent, in the third – 33 percent. About 200 enterprises are expected to participate in the pilot project, employing three to six thousand people.
The Mas Pais initiative was prompted by the fact that residents of Spain spend more time on work than the average in Europe, but at the same time show too low labor productivity. In 1919, Spain became the first country in Western Europe to adopt the eight-hour workday.
The idea of introducing a four-day working week is being actively discussed in Russia. The last proposal on this topic was announced by the human rights ombudsman for Moscow Tatyana Potyaeva, who announced the possibility of introducing a shortened week for women.