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WORKING IN SPAIN

Spanish government to fight unpaid overtime with new algorithm

Spain's vice-president and labour minister Yolanda Díaz has announced a new measure to stop work hours from going unpaid.

Published: 30 May 2022 16:48 CEST
Spanish government to fight unpaid overtime with new algorithm
The Spanish government wants to tackle unpaid overtime, which especially affects the hospitality and construction industries. Photo by Cesar Manso/AFP

In the government’s latest move to tackle unpaid overtime, Spain’s second vice-president and labour minister announced on Friday that “a new algorithm to control overtime from the Labour Inspection” will be created “in the next few days”.

According to the latest poll Encuesta de Población Activa (EPA), Spaniards worked 27 million extra hours per month or 6.6 million a week in the first quarter of 2022. Forty-four per cent of those overtime hours are not paid at all.

“This is unacceptable”, said Díaz, who was attending a forum to discuss labour. While she added that the figures were at their lowest since 2011, she said “I will not be content with this.”

In order to reduce this “excessive” number of unpaid hours, Díaz said the government would use artificial intelligence, but didn’t give further details on the algorithm, which is expected to be unveiled in the coming days.

READ ALSO: Why working overtime in Spain isn’t worth it

Spain’s Worker Regulations state that extra work hours are voluntary except in the case of an emergency at work such as an accident or crisis. However, many Spanish employees feel they can’t oppose overtime through fear they’ll be fired.

In 2019, the Spanish government introduced new “clocking in” measures forcing companies to record the working hours of employees. The law was designed to “help correct the situation of precariousness, low salaries and poverty that affects many workers who suffer abuse in their working day,” according to the working of the decree.

The measure also aimed to uncover excess hours worked by those in the hospitality and construction sector, which is where exploitation is mostly concentrated.

READ ALSO:EXPLAINED: What you need to know about Spain’s new clocking-in laws for workers

At a forum on labour law in Valencia on Friday, Díaz also spoke about the gender pay gap in this issue. While men make up the majority of people working overtime, women make up a majority of those who are not paid for this extra work.

She also called for a redistribution of worker’s time in order to tackle the low productivity, which in Spain is the lowest in the European Union. 

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SELF-EMPLOYED

Self-employed in Spain: Is it worth applying for the Digital Kit?

Spain's Digital Kit programme gives grants to autónomos and small companies to use for digital improvements. It sounds too good to be true, and there are indications the scheme has its problems. So is it actually worth applying for it?

Published: 23 May 2024 09:29 CEST
Self-employed in Spain: Is it worth applying for the Digital Kit?

Digital kit grants can range from up to €3,000 for sole traders and autónomos with 1 – 3 employees or up to €29,000 for companies with between 100 and 250 employees.

The amount you are given also depends on what type of digital services your business needs.

In theory, this sounds like a great idea, a way to help out struggling autónomos who need to improve their businesses and a way to boost the profits of design and other digital agencies.

In reality, however, the scheme has already faced lots of problems even though it was only introduced in 2022, and many self-employed workers and small business owners are less than impressed.

But is this true for everyone who has been granted the digital kit and is it still worth applying for in 2024?

READ ALSO – Kit digital: How Spain’s self-employed can get money for digital improvements

So what are the problems?

Long waiting times

According to several different articles written by companies and self-employed workers who have applied for the kits, the processing times for the applications are long and in many situations the digital solutions are urgent. This means that companies can’t plan and prepare properly if they don’t know when the aid will arrive. 

Application issues

In addition to waiting times, many people have complained of issues with the applications including applications that have been denied for no specific reasons, applications sent back due to errors (without saying what the errors are), and applications sent back stating missing documentation, even when all paperwork was sent in correctly. Like with any administration process in Spain, it can be frustrating.

More waiting for ‘digitising agent’ to process your needs

Once the digital kits have been granted, there is yet more waiting time for your digitising agent to process your voucher and the requirements you have, so there will be an even greater delay in actually getting the work done.

Large companies taking on the role of digital agents

While some of the problems above are to be expected, one of the worst problems that we’ve come across is that larger businesses such as banks, telephone companies, dentists and even driving schools have been taking on the role of these so-called ‘digitising agents’. They have then been subcontracting the work out to smaller design and IT agencies for a much lower fee, meaning the work is often below standard and you are not being provided with the best services.

Destroying the businesses of small design agencies

In reality, it seems that the programme has had the opposite effect, instead of helping small design, IT and cyber security agencies, it is actually harming them due to the reasons above. They are now having to compete against much larger companies and are being paid a very low rate for the same work. It also means that payment to the actual people doing the work is severely delayed.

What are the positives?

Lots of beneficiaries

According to Red.es, the Public Business Entity attached to the Ministry of Digital Transformation, so far more than 310,000 kits have been granted, which represents an investment of 1.4 billion of the Recovery Plan fund.

This means that already thousands of businesses and autónomos have benefitted from the scheme. All these companies can’t have had a bad experience, because why would people still be applying if they had?

Positive stories

There has already been positive feedback posted online via interviews and videos about various small businesses that have been greatly helped by the digital kit scheme.

One example is Väcka, a vegan cheese company based in Barcelona with between 8 – 12 employees.

They said they used to do all their accounting on Excel sheets and the digital kit allowed them to be able to do everything more efficiently and automatically. They also said that they now have a new website which makes it easier for their customers to make purchases and have a better user experience.

Rentkayaksup is a small watersport business organising excursions along the Costa Blanca. It specialises in renting kayaks, SUPs and pedal boats and has between 25-30 employees.

With the help of the digital kit, they managed to implement a digital reservation management system and improve customer satisfaction. They now also plan on increasing their social media presence through social media management, which the kit can also help fund.

So is it worthwhile?

The truth is that the application process can’t really harm you or your business, it may be frustrating and take a long time, but if it’s granted then it has the chance to be beneficial. If you need urgent solutions, howerver, you many want to look elsewhere. 

Whether the quality of the work and the service is poor or not remains to be seen as different companies have reported different outcomes. If you hardly have any online presence at all, even just a basic website may be able to help you, but if you need something more sophisticated, then you run into more issues.

Again, not much harm can be caused. If you don’t like the website the professionals create for you, or you don’t think the social media is being managed efficiently then you can always choose not to use them and pay for these services yourself.

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