The trials around the four-day working day, successfully applied in other latitudes, will arrive in the Basque Country in the coming months. This was announced in the Basque Parliament by the second vice-hendakari and Minister of Labor and Employment of the Basque Government, Idoia Mendia, who has indicated that this approach will shield the salary of employees and will not reduce the weekly dedication of hours.
Counselor Mendia explained to La Vanguardia that the rehearsal of the four-day working day is part of a battery of measures that seek to "retain talent and promote conciliation."
“We have a Basque employment strategy that looks to 2030 and some trends that set the roadmap in the Spain 2050 plan. From there, we have a permanent dialogue with the agents in which we see trends that are very important to take into account. We see brutal, global competition for talent, and sometimes a brain drain. Companies tell you that to be competitive in today's world, but especially in tomorrow's, what is most valuable is people. There, in order to attract people, we see that people, and especially young people, are not only looking for a better salary, but also greater flexibility and work-life balance. What is called the emotional salary is gaining importance ”, he explains.
In addition to this essay on the workday concentrated in one less day, his department wants to assess the pros and cons of extending telework as a reconciliation measure and, thirdly, analyze codetermination in the workplace, that is to say , the participation of workers in strategic decisions, an area in which they look above all to Germany.
In practice, Mendia will propose to the Social Dialogue Table, which brings together businessmen and some unions (although with relevant absences such as ELA, the first Basque union, and LAB), the creation of an innovation group that will be in charge of managing this pilot test of the four-day working day, as well as the subsequent evaluation of its implementation in some companies.
The objective of the Basque Government is that this project can be implemented in some companies during this legislature, that is to say, before the spring of next year.
The initiative, in any case, attaches special importance to the assessment, analysis and conclusions of this pilot test. “It is possible that this analysis, which we want to be very exhaustive, will already reach the next legislature. We want a monitored trial, hand in hand with the academic field, and that we can clearly see how these measures influence work-life balance, productivity, the satisfaction of people with respect to their workplaces or in terms of the retention of young people” says Mendia.
The objective of the Basque Executive is for companies from all sectors to participate, although only from the private sphere.
The Department of Labor and Employment will also analyze, through the aforementioned innovation group, the participation of workers in strategic decisions, through "a proposal to test codetermination in the workplace, giving more role to workers" .
Likewise, Mendia has indicated that it is convenient to "test well" if teleworking, highly demanded by some professionals, may have other risks to their rights, "and articulate mechanisms by which companies and workers benefit."
These two initiatives will also be tested by the innovation group, in order to rigorously detect the future possibilities of a greater extension of these measures.
Mendia insists that this type of initiative can be key in order to consolidate the Basque Country as an "attractive" place from the labor point of view.
“In such a changing, disruptive world and in which there is so much labor mobility, the public powers have to intervene so that the Basque Country can play in a league in which Madrid and Barcelona are the great poles, but in which, in addition, Anyone can go to work in London tomorrow. The State has to be innovative and entrepreneurial”, he adds.
The Second Vice-Hendakari and Minister of Labor and Employment considers it essential "to move towards a new business and trade union culture, into which we must enter without prejudice and with all the will to guarantee the viability of companies and the improvement of working conditions".
