Telefónica Becomes First Large Company To Explore Four Day Work Week

In the negotiation of the extension of the agreement, the second agreement of related companies (CEV), Telefónica has accepted the proposal for the introduction of the four-day work week. But it will be limited and will mean a salary cut, although the company will compensate the loss of the eight hours a week without working from the payroll with a 20% plus.

Telefónica will be the first large company in Spain to explore the four-day work week. The company will start with a three-month pilot test that will start from October this year.

The agreement reached with the unions in the framework of the negotiation of the II CEV is part of the company’s proposal for the proposed measures to improve the workforce balance. Unlike the four-day working day that the Government has been evaluating , that of Telefónica will mean a reduction in the gross salary of the job.

According to CCOO and UGT, Telefónica’s final proposal includes a formula to incentivize a “flexible bonus week” with a bonus, which will represent 20% of the fixed remuneration items . Telefónica sources have declined to comment on this measure and indicate that the negotiation is not yet closed. The agreement to extend the collective agreement is expected to be signed next week and will affect a total of 18,500 workers, who are part of Telefónica España.

From the beginning the unions have put the 4-day workweek on the table. The model accepted by the company will mean a four-day working day from Monday to Thursday .

The unions have explained in the statement that “once the pilot moment has passed and therefore is consolidated, the flexible week has been conceived according to the basic criteria of voluntariness, reversibility and universality, except in specific cases that have to do with the organization. and provision of the activity, in which case they will be analyzed “. Applications for the flexible week will be limited to 10% of the total basic address.

Once the pilot program is finished, the fringes on this type of employment will be outlined. After this test, the company will assess the acceptance by the workforce and the possible problems that may arise in order to define the scope and internal processes to follow, union sources explain.

Improvement in teleworking conditions
Telefónica’s final offer to renew the agreement also improves teleworking conditions. The agreement ensures as a right of Telefónica workers to be able to access telework, “as long as their task allows it” a minimum of 2 days a week , exceeding the day of the previous agreement, which may be increased by 3 or 4, being able to reach a full week in fortnightly periods, when the activity allows it and there are organizational possibilities. The measure has the potential to benefit 10,000 Telefónica employees , according to the unions.

In addition, the agreement specifies material to exercise telework with the provision of a computer, Smart PC or similar, as well as helmets, a corporate mobile line with unlimited data, the maintenance in the current terms of the exclusive discounts for employees and employees regarding fixed connectivity, the inclusion of the ergonomic chair. It also adds the recognition of the second home for the development of teleworking.

The company has improved the proposal for the salary improvement from 0.9% to 1.5% of the salary bill , including the salary guarantee clause referring to the evolution of the CPI.