Uses of Time

»The third day of this year’s Time Use Week, held on October 23, was aimed at social and economic stakeholders, with the central theme being the rationalisation of working time.

»During the day, which took place at BIZ Barcelona, ​​​​three companies from the NUST Network – Network of companies for a new working time – (Mercabarna, ITEREMi ACEFAT) shared their good practices in the application of measures to improve time management.

»Barcelona City Council also participated in the presentation of the tools for more rational and co-responsible time use that it offers to the social and productive organisations of the city.

After reflection and debate with experts and social and economic agents on the challenges of reducing the working day for SMEs, the tools that Barcelona City Council and the Economic Development Agency of the Metropolitan Area of ​​Barcelona offer to incorporate more equal and co-responsible uses of time in companies were presented. Laura de Caralt, officeer of the Department of Feminisms and LGTBI and Time Policies of Barcelona City Council, highlighted the Business Advisory Service for Equality and Time Organization, as well as the grants, studies and time dossiers, among other services that Barcelona City Council makes available to organizations that wish to improve their time management.

The session in which companies from the NUST Network shared their success stories in the application of time management measures began with a prior introduction by Maria José Blanco, Head of Strategic Employment Plans at Barcelona Activa, who presented the Barcelona Agreement for Quality Employment, an initiative that promotes this type of measures to improve time management and job quality.

On the one hand, Marta Rodríguez Martín, Director of Organization, People and Culture at Mercabarna, presented measures such as reduction (37.5 hours per week) and time compaction, or the extended permits that their staff can enjoy, as examples of measures for better time organization in her company.

Next, Susana Pascual García, Director of Continuous Improvement and Sustainability at ACEFAT, shared the time management measures incorporated into her company’s integrated personal and work-life policy, highlighting its digital disconnection decalogue and the compacted schedule from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Finally, Ana Pérez Clemente, BPM Consultant at ITEREM, explained the company’s good practices in terms of work and personal time management, highlighting its “star” measure, the 32.5-hour work week and others such as flexible entry and exit and the lunch break with no time limit.

The event provided inspiring examples of new work culture and healthier time uses for the city’s organisations and companies, one of the main objectives of the Time Agreement and the NUST Network – Network of companies for a new working time.