Spain has announced plans to trial a four day week, making them the first European country to do so.
A three-year pilot project will use 50 million euros from the European Union’s coronavirus recovery fund to compensate some 200 mid-size companies as they resize their workforce or reorganise production workflows to adapt to a 32-hour working week.
The funds will go towards subsidising all of the employers’ extra costs in the first year of the trial and then reduce the government’s aid to 50 per cent and 25 per cent each consecutive year, according to a blueprint by the Mas Pais progressive party who are behind the initiative.
The only condition is that the change leads to a net reduction of working hours while maintaining full-time contract salaries, said Hector Tejero of the Madrid regional assembly.
He said: "It’s not using the European funds for Spaniards to work less - it’s about seeing how we can improve productivity and competitiveness of our companies."
Those in favour of the move argue it has benefits for the overall economy, such as increasing consumption and cutting sickness rates.
However, critics argue that it is not the best time to be carrying out experiments, with the country’s finances hammered by the pandemic.
