The Ministry of Labor and Social Economy, led by Yolanda Díaz, on Friday proposed to social agents to subsidize the transition from part-time contracts to full-time jobs as part of the process of supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs ) of fewer than 10 workers in exchange for a reduction in the working day to 37.5 hours.
This proposal was made during the meeting of the social dialogue table which took place this Friday for the reduction of working hours, the Secretary of State for Labor, Joaquin Pérez Reyexplained that this measure is one of the “three elements of capital” that make up what is called “SME Plan 375”.
The two other elements, already put forward during the previous meeting of the board of directors, are those of the subsidy of the Permanent contract who carry out the SMEs fewer than 10 workers following the application of the reduction in working hours; and the implementation of consultative plans and sectoral guides taking into account the characteristics of each sector, in principle in collaboration with public employment services.
Reduced working hours for SMEs
In this sense, he stressed that Labor has also deployed a series of measures support and entrepreneurship thanks to European funds, this is what the ministry wishes to support small business owners in reducing working hours to 37.5 hours per week.
Pérez Rey indicated that there are many SMEs in the retail and hospitality sector where part-time contracts abound, so Labor is proposing to subsidize increased working hours to help businesses with fewer than 10 workers to be able to apply the reduction to 37.5 hours weekly.
“We will promote quality employment and we will promote the reduction of working hours as a stimulus for job creation. But we not only want to encourage the creation of new permanent jobs resulting from the reduction of working hours, but we also want to encourage the transformation of part-time contracts into full-time contracts as a result of the reduction in working hours”, underlined Pérez Rey.
Commerce and hospitality
The Secretary of State for Labor declared that a good number of small businesses, particularly in the trade or hospitality sector, have a lot of part-time hiring. “They therefore have a more than significant margin to increase the working day thanks to the reduction in working hours. This means that reducing working hours can not only be an opportunity to create more jobs, but also a good opportunity to move away from part-time jobs in the short term,” he explained.
Pérez Rey indicated that the bonuses for the creation of permanent jobs will not be the same as those granted for the increase in working hours, but he did not give figures. “We are also asking employer and union organizations to think about their amount to prevent bonuses from becoming a dead weight,” declared the Secretary of State, who was willing to jointly design these bonuses.
Time recording
Pérez Rey indicated that at today’s table special attention was paid to time recording so that the legislation relating to working time is respected. This registration, as well as the reduction in working time, the “PME 375 Plan” and the right to digital disconnectionconstitute the scope of the negotiation, already “sealed” and on which Labor sent a written document to the social agents.
The government insisted on the need for this time record to be electronic, not easily manipulated and “interoperable” by the Labor Inspectorate to be able to check whether the regulations relating to working time are respected.
“It is obvious that an obligation such as time recording requires much more extensive regulatory development, which takes into account sectoral singularities, the particularities of each worker or, in a certain way, takes into account the fact that there may even be certain categories where the registry must operate in a diversified way,” said Pérez Rey, who advanced that a few weeks ago a group of experts was formed to help with this regulatory evolution and thus be able to combine the reduction of working time “with its full effectiveness”.
Asked when it would come into force the new recordPérez Rey said that, as a matter of time, he would do so when the reduction in working hours to 37.5 hours per week was also in force. “But nothing prevents us from starting work now to ensure adequate regulatory development,” he added.
Likewise, he made it clear that the Labor Party does not consider time recording as an alternative measure to the reduction of working time, since it does not envisage that the 37.5 hours will not be approved by the Parliament.
With today’s written proposal, Labor understands that the Government has already rolled out all of the proposed measures. “They are all black and white, we are negotiating with documents on the table and we are waiting for the response from the organizations,” said Pérez Rey, who added that he was “particularly interested” in the fact that CEOE is “studying carefully” the PME Plan 375.” and indicate whether additional support or recovery measures for small businesses are necessary.
Pérez Rey assured that Labor would explore all possibilities to reach an agreement, specifying that the commitment to reduce the working day to 37.5 hours per week in 2025 is “inalienable”.
Negotiation of the reduction of working days
For their part, CCOO and UGT regretted that the social dialogue table has been meeting for more than nine months and that the position of the CEOE remains the same: refusing the reduction in working time provided for by law and wanting to continue the negotiation through through a collective agreement.
It is for this reason that the confederal secretary of CCOO Union Action, Mari Cruz Vicente, warned that if the CEOE does not take a position following the document submitted by the Ministry of Labor this Friday, it will end the negotiation process. “The government must act so that this measure is really applied,” he insisted, while threatening new mobilizations.
Concerning the document ‘SME Plan 375’, the unions did not want to make any observations because the government’s proposal was not explained during the meeting and was delivered at the end of it, as they criticized him.
However, they insisted that the entry into force of the reduction in working hours “cannot be repeatedly delayed” and urged the government to act and take “effective measures”.
Regarding time recording, the deputy general secretary of union policy of the UGT, Fernando Luján, insisted that the measure cannot be postponed, since every week there are six million overtime hours which are not invoiced, which represents an impact of more than 3.250 million euros.
“This situation cannot be tolerated. We must put in place a register that does not generate these abuses,” Luján said, while calling for “strong” sanctions for companies that do not respect working hours.
CEOE maintains its position
For their part, CEOE sources assured Europa Press that the meeting took place “without any news” and that the employers’ organization remains opposed to the reduction of the working day, because it is a subject which, according to them, should be addressed in the context of collective negotiations. , even if they will continue to be present at the negotiating table to reduce the working day.
