The City of Valencia checks, starting this Monday, April 10, how about a four day work week for a four week workcoincided with three consecutive bank holidays and moved the holidays from January to this month.

So weeks April 10th (Easter Monday), April 17th (Saint Vincent Ferrer), April 24th (for January 22, San Vicente Mártir) and May 1st (Labor Day) will only be four business days, in a pilot project promoted by the City Council to test in cities the impact of the app and its consequences on the productivity, leisure, mobility, economy and health of people working 32 hours a week.

The Las Naves innovation center of the City Council will evaluate the results to be obtained conclusion of this test on July 20.

The proposal originated dialogue process with the sectors involved – trade unions, companies, environmental associations, other social agencies and agencies – and other similar augmentation experiences conducted in various countries, including Lithuania, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Germany, Sweden, Iceland, Portugal or Japan.

The Mayor, Joan Ribó, pointed out that Valencia is the European benchmark in innovation and that it is an innovative experience. “We want a friendly and healthy city that takes care of people. We want people to work to live, not live to work,” he said on March 24 during the launch of an information campaign on the four-day workday.

The reduction in working days is a matter of negotiation between unions and employers’ associations, but Consitori wants to test and study “what happened” with quantitative, objective data.

What can be seen from the pilot program?

From the pilot program, three main areas will be studied: health and social welfare, the climate emergency and the economy.

In particular, issues such as use of time, work-life reconciliation, feelings of well-being, rest, impact of actions on greenhouse gases, air quality, silence, energy consumption, etc. will be analysed. public transport networks, domestic tourism, hospitality, trade and buying in shops and stores, among other issues.

Why is this the time for this debate?

According to the mayor, the pandemic made it possible to work remotely, assisted by advances in technology, and brought about a change in the way of working that is different from face-to-face.

The fight against climate change has introduced another factor try to reduce polluting emissions with fewer daily trips who also support this cultural shift towards other ways of working.

“I am optimistic and now we have to go further”as has been done with the pedestrianization of downtown spaces, which suggests that reduced vehicular traffic does not reduce business sales, according to the mayor.

For “stimulating” a reduction in working hoursIn the Valencian Community, the Ministry of Sustainable Economy, Productive Sectors, Trade and Labor offers assistance to companies with their applications, without affecting staff salaries.

In 2022 he offers help from more than 9,000 euros to the company for every worker who joins in 32 hours a dayalways with prior agreement with the employee’s legal representative and a productivity improvement plan.