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The Second Vice President and Minister of Labor and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz, warned employers’ associations on Thursday (10/177/2024) that the incentives proposed by the Government to support small businesses in reducing working hours are conditional on the CEOE in the Negotiated and agreed within the framework of social dialogue. “Social dialogue must have incentives and be treated with respect,” said the second vice president at a press conference to launch the first International Labor Congress.
In this context, the Minister of Labor recalled that in social dialogue there are no vetoes, but dialogue and negotiation. “And we know very well that companies with fewer than five employees need support,” emphasized the Vice President with regard to the measures that are on the table for SMEs when negotiating short-time work.
However, Díaz called on employers to tell “the country and the employers” whether they want to go down this path – which includes supporting SMEs in the application of the reduction in working hours – or whether they want to go down the path of “strict application of the law”.
In this context, Díaz recalled that the government was ready to support employers in raising the minimum wage to 4% if employers agreed. “Employers have decided to do other things. Of course, it seems that this was not in the interests of the entrepreneurs and they preferred not to sign an agreement and further increase the minimum wage,” said the Vice President.
Although she believes an agreement is possible, Díaz believes that the employers’ association must declare whether it is “equal to the country’s task.” “The question is whether employer leadership wants to impose a minimum wage that hurts companies or whether they are willing to negotiate,” she said. “We know what we have to do and we know that there are measures that are very effective and important for companies with fewer than five employees,” she emphasized.
As for the deadline, the Vice President recalled that the agreement stipulates that by December 31, 2025, the daily working time will be reduced to 37.5 hours for all Spaniards, “regardless of the sector in which they work”. “Spain is late after defining a working day for 105 years and it is true that we have had a frozen working day for 40 years,” lamented the Labor Minister.
Source: Agencies
