Spain’s socialist-led government plans to implement a four-day work week in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the pilot plan is causing concern throughout Europe.
According to the Independent newspaper, the plan was proposed by the left-wing political party MásPaís and supported by the country’s Ministry of Finance to provide financial assistance to companies that reduce the working week to 32 hours without loss.
According to reports, the pilot project costs about 50 million euros (approximately US$60.7 million) and is relatively limited in scale, but may pave the way for a more comprehensive adoption of the policy.
The report stated that the government needs the support of the MásPaís Party in Congress to pass an agreement on EU recovery funds. “An eight-hour working day was unrealistic a century ago,” said party leader Íñigo Errejón.
