Increasingly, people are demanding a work-life balance, as it is recognized that a person performs better when they have had enough time to rest, have fun and disconnect.
Furthermore, according to some studies that try to decipher what the new law would be like, the monthly salary of all workers would increase, since it would remain the same but using less time in the day. For example, in the case of someone who had suffered a reduction in working hours to 20 hours a week, this would represent 53.3% of the total working hours, instead of the previous 50%. This would mean an increase of 3.3% in salary for the same job.
This measure benefits workers, since mental health is crucial for the proper development of professional tasks. Thus, the importance of this work-life balance is indisputable from any perspective.
For companies, it might initially seem that a reduction in working hours would imply an increase in production costs, since workers would continue to be paid the same but would work fewer hours. However, this assumption would change if it were shown that productivity improves with fewer hours and that objectives can be achieved with less time invested.
This is the case shown by data obtained from real tests in other countries of the European Union. Countries such as Denmark, France, Belgium or Iceland, and more recently the Netherlands and Norway, have implemented reductions in working hours with positive results.
Human resources professionals know that incentives make workers more involved in projects. In addition, most workers consider work-life balance essential. Companies that facilitate this balance improve their recruitment, thus solving one of the major problems faced by SMEs, as well as their productivity and evolution in the different labor sectors.