Uses of Time

4 award-winning companies and a special mention in the virtual delivery of the Barcelona Award for Innovative Company in Conciliation and Time 2019

On Tuesday, September 29, 2020, the Barcelona Award for the Innovative Company in Conciliation and Time was awarded, within the framework of the Conference The future of working time.

The award ceremony, included in the framework of the Annual Conference that was initially scheduled for March 2020, had to be postponed due to the confinement situation caused by Covidien-19. Finally, it was decided to be held on September 29 virtually and was attended by more than 250 people.

The Conference, moderated by the journalist Marta Cáceres, began with an inaugural lecture by Oscar Vargas, Eurofound researcher on the Organization of working time in the digital age. Then there was a space for dialogue on co-responsible conciliation in companies, with the participation of Paco Abril, researcher of the European project "Men in care. Workplace support for caring masculinity", and three companies belonging to the NUST Network (New Social Uses of the Time) that promote co-responsibility: RACC, Unión de Mutuas and Penguin Random House. Finally, it was the turn of the presentation of the awards of the 8th edition of the Barcelona Prize for the Innovative Company in Conciliation and Time.

In this last edition, 27 applications were presented from companies and organizations that were opting for one of the four award categories: micro (companies with less than 10 workers), small (between 10 and 50 workers), medium (between 51 and 250), and large (with more than 250 people on the staff). In addition, the Award has a special mention for a company from the NUST Network (New Social Uses of Time). Álvaro Porro, Commissioner of Social Economy, Local Development and Food Policy of the Barcelona City Council and Sara Berbel, Municipal Manager of the Barcelona City Council, representing the Jury, made up of representatives of the local administration, the business and union sectors, and the university, cooperative and social spheres, after positively highlighting all the companies and evaluating the measures presented, they awarded five prizes for the five categories:

• Micro company: iterem, for having implemented a weekly working day of 32.5 hours for all workers.
• Small company: ACEFAT AIE, for the adaptation of working hours to a healthy schedule from 8 am to 4 pm, which facilitates the balance between work and personal life, as well as lunch at a more appropriate time for metabolism if so working people want it.
• Medium-sized company: Voxel Group, for having implemented telework making it easier for any worker to work from anywhere, without prior authorization or restriction of days.
• Large company: Suara Cooperativa, for the trajectory of the organization, of the sector of the services of attention to the people, facilitating the balance between the personal and labor life with a model based on the management of the diversity. The contribution and novelty of the Guide to accompanying people with cancer is valued.
• Special mention: Oxfam Intermón Foundation, for having developed the axis of co-responsibility and balance of personal and professional life in the new Equality Plan.

Throughout the delivery, the videos of the awarded initiatives were projected, which you can view by clicking on the related link.

To end the event, Álvaro Porro highlighted that the diversity of types of companies that have submitted to the Award is encouraging, since it shows that organizations of any size and sector can promote measures that improve the management of the use of time. Among the main measures presented by the candidates for the Award: teleworking, digital disconnection, time compression, maternity and paternity leave, gender equality, reduction of the wage gap and diversity management.

Finally, the Commissioner thanked the jury and the companies participating in the contest for their work, as well as all the people who work to improve the management of the use of time. He predicted that of the candidacies next year will be inspired by the new organization after the crisis generated by Covidien-19, and encouraged all companies, entities and organizations to present their candidacy for the next edition.

For more information on the Conference or visualization of the delivery act, you can consult the links that accompany this publication.