Small and medium-sized enterprises will have one month to request aid of 200,000 euros to implement a four-day working week

He State official gazette (BOE) announced this Thursday a call for granting aid to small and medium-sized enterprises who want to implement pilot projects Shortening the working day, They will have one month to submit requests and receive a maximum of 200,000 euros.

This project is intended for companies that are considered small and medium-sized companies, with their own legal personality, legally established in Spain and properly registered in the appropriate register, which are not part of the public sector and which carry out industrial activity, as stated in the BOE.

The budget allocated to this call is 9.65 million euros, and the cost will be borne by the Fundación Escuela de Organización Industrial (EOI Foundation).

The total funding to be awarded in the form of a subsidy will amount to a maximum of 90% of the eligible budget, depending on the number of workers.

Businesses with up to 10 employees will be able to receive 90% of company-supported staffing costs as a result of reduced working hours during the first year.

The subsidy will be available to those who have between 11 and 52 people allocated 80% of company-supported staff costs as a result of the reduction of working hours during the first year. For those who have more than 53 workers and less than 249, the granted subsidy will amount to 75 percent.

The budget for the pilot project is based on the agreement reached in 2021 between the Government and Más País, when those from Íñigo Errejon gave their support to the General State Budget (PGE) for 2022 in exchange for the inclusion of an item for Study the 32-hour working day.

At the time, Mas País estimated that around 160 companies could join the project, with the benefit of more than 3,000 employees in the first edition of the program.

Conditions for obtaining assistance

Pilot projects should reflect a minimum reduction of the working day of 10% for a certain number of workers depending on the size of the company, and a minimum duration of 24 months from the date of the decision on the concession.

After the companies promote these pilot projects, temporary direct support is provided for the costs incurred by the company as a result of reducing working hours, as well as for the costs of implementing new organizational formulas and training that, in the medium term, create an increase in productivity.

According to the Government Decree, published last December, the number of workers participating in the pilot project must affect at least 30% workforce in companies with up to 20 employees and at least 25% in small and medium-sized companies between 21 and 249 employees.

To calculate the number of workers in a company or work center, the total number of employees in the same will be taken into account. For these purposes, all employees of the company will be counted, regardless of the type of contract, including persons with fixed-term contracts and fixed-term contracts.

Every worker with a part-time contract will be counted, regardless of the number of working hours, as another person. Fixed-term contracts must be added to this number of people, regardless of modality.

Except, Small and medium enterprises must ensure that the number of women participating in the project corresponds to the percentage of distribution of the existing gender in the entire workforce with an indefinite full-time contract, a permissible deviation of 10%. However, the Order specifies that this percentage of participating women can be higher, but not lower.