Flexible Working Hours Being Considered by Spanish Lawmakers
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| Life would change as we know it but be more productive long term. |
The Spanish would definitely welcome the idea of having more
flexible working hours. They managed to defeat the stereotype that they were
workshy a number of years ago when the Spanish economic crisis caused a number
of hardworking Spaniards to seek employment in the rest of Europe as there were
no jobs left at home.
The Spanish have always been hardworking. The truth is that
working hours in Spain are some of the highest you can find in Europe, along
with productivity. The Spanish really know how to work.
Unfortunately Spanish labour laws have been slow to change
and as a result the country has started to fall behind the rest of Europe in
terms of economic output. One of the things that has been blamed is the
inflexible working hours that the Spanish have to put up with.
There is definitely some truth to the idea. Spain is an hour
apart from the rest of Europe and tend to get things done later. They start
work a little later, take their lunch break a little later, finish their work a
little later, and dine and
dance in Spain a little later than everyone else.
Because it’s considered the way that things are done in
Spain it’s been difficult to bring about change. Now at last most politicians
in Spain are in agreement that the working hours could be a little more
flexible and that Spain should have similar working hours to the rest of Europe
including Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and most of Scandinavia.
Before things can really change there needs to be a push
from both a political and cultural direction. This is something Spain saw when
they brought in anti-smoking measures. They are not perfect by any means but
they haven’t found a foothold in the country.
The polls show that the Spanish are keen to have more
flexible working hours. There is currently a campaign going on in the country
to have them brought about. The campaign is called Mamiconcilla and they are
spreading the message that politics should be a reflection of the needs of
society, and that there is no shame in admitting you want things outside of
work and want to spend time with your family.
There is another campaign that has managed to collect over
289,000 signatures. It has called upon incentives to be given to small
companies that bring in an uninterrupted work day and a more flexible schedule.
The idea behind the campaign is that more flexible workers are happier and more
productive, as well as being more creative and also important for starting
a new business.
Madniaveitia, one of the campaigners with Mamiconcilia has
said that it is more important to be flexible. Bosses need to understand that
sometimes things come up and you need to leave work but will come back, or that
you should be able to leave work if you’ve finished all of your tasks for the
day.
It’s a controversial idea to be sure, but she is being heard
by politicians who want to improve the Spanish work culture and foster a more
northern European mindset, even if the idea sounds alien to Spaniards.
The CEOE is the largest confederation of employers in Spain.
The head of the CEOE has backed up the idea of bringing in a 6PM clock-out
time. They said that it doesn’t have to happen instantly but they definitely
feel it is a possibility and one that should be explored and would not affect the cost of living in Spain in the long term.
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