6 of the 41 companies that have submitted their application for aid aimed at boosting productivity improvement in small and medium-sized industrial companies through pilot projects to reduce working hours are Andalusian, which makes the Autonomous Community the second after Catalonia (11). This call, a pioneer in Spain and launched by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism through the EOI Public Foundation, is aimed at Spanish industrial SMEs.
For Minister Héctor Gómez “this first pilot program shows that companies are open to a new way of organizing their working days, with reductions in working time without affecting wages and improving their business results: everyone wins, SMEs and workers”.
The 41 applications of industrial SMEs come from 13 autonomous communities. In addition to Andalusia and Catalonia they are also located in Galicia (4), Basque Country (4), Principality of Asturias (3), Autonomous Community of Navarre (3), Canary Islands (3), Community of Madrid (2), Cantabria (1), Castilla y León (1), Castilla La Mancha (1), Extremadura (1), Balearic Islands (1). During the application period, a total of 165 requests for information were received from entities in various sectors.
The total amount of eligible expenses requested for the 41 projects submitted amounts to € 2,831,017.60 and the total number of workers attached to the pilot projects affects 503 people. The diversity and quality of the proposals presented show the talent and creativity of the industrial SMEs concerned, covering a wide range of sectors, such as engineering, architecture, electrical material and equipment, rubber, pharmaceuticals, textiles and distribution and food.
Project evaluation
This experiment seeks to collect data that allows a reliable and extrapolable evaluation to all small and medium-sized enterprises in the industrial sector. After the deadline for submitting applications, the evaluation of the submitted projects begins, which will be resolved within a maximum period of 5 months. The total financing to be granted, in the form of a subsidy, will be a maximum of 90 percent on the bankable budget, with the conditions and limits established in Article 7 of the Basic Order.
The budget appropriation allocated to this call amounts to a total of 9,650,000 euros from the budget of the EOI Foundation, a public foundation attached to the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism. The maximum amount of the grant will be 200,000 euros and the eligible expenses will be those assumed by the applicant company during the first year of the pilot project.
The pilot project to reduce working time without a reduction in salary will have a minimum duration of two years, computable from the granting of the aid. Therefore, the company will commit to maintain the reduction in the working hours of the employees included in the project for that period.