Hourly exchange: the way to manage the peaks and valleys of the business

January, Epiphany; February, Valentine's Day; May, Mother's Day; November, Black Friday; December, Christmas?

Do you have a shop or a factory and every time there is a commercial date you suffer from the thought that you will have to double your staff in order to meet your customers' expectations? Not necessarily!

Having pooling agreements with your workers may be the alternative you are looking for. On the one hand, you control the working time according to the peaks of activity. On the other hand, workers benefit from less intense periods to reconcile work and personal life. Everybody wins and the law is respected.

Let's look at what a "bolsa de horas" is, how Spanish legislation regulates its practice and what benefits it brings. Let's agree, finally, that even if the bag is exhausted, the day of spending is spent! 😉 .

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What is a bag of hours?

From the Anglo-Saxon model, a bank of hours is known in English as a bank of hours. This system, which aims to increase business productivity, is based on adapting the working hours of workers according to the specific needs of the business.

In other words, it consists of an irregular distribution of working hours at certain times.

The application of this model requires vigilance in order to ensure the rest periods between working days that are established by law.

In which periods and for which types of company is this model relevant?

Generally, the hourly contract agreement model is common in businesses subject to seasonality, i.e. subject to production peaks. Businesses with fluctuating activity throughout the year find this model relevant.

Within the framework of flexible working hours, the aim is to extend or reduce the working day for a given period of time. Among others, this avoids having to resort to ERTE or Expedientes de Regulación Temporal de Empleo.

Applicable legal provisions

With regard to the possibility for companies to establish irregular distribution systems within the working calendar, the Workers' Statute establishes that:

By collective agreement or, failing this, by agreement between the company and the workers' representatives, the irregular distribution of the working day throughout the year may be established. In the absence of an agreement, the company may distribute ten percent of the working day irregularly throughout the year.

With regard to the practice of the pooling of hours, this has been applied since Law 3/2012, of 6 July, on urgent measures for the reform of the labour market.

Management of the distribution of hours in the company

When the collective agreement or pact does not make specific reference to the pool of hours, the law determines that the company may distribute, throughout the year, 10% of the hours. Other exceptions include:

• The distribution of hours must be made over a 12-month period, which does not coincide with the calendar year;
• the decision to distribute working hours must be justifiable to the competent authority in case of control;
• working hours can only be spread over working days and does not apply to workers with reduced working hours;
• the notification of the new working hours must be made by the employer five days before the new working hours become effective;
• The distribution of time in a working day may not exceed 9 hours.

How is the compensation to be made?

The collective agreement shall determine the manner in which compensation is to be made for the differences between the working day worked and the maximum duration of the ordinary legal working day. In the absence of such specificity, by law, differences must be compensated within 12 months of their occurrence.

What is a pool of union hours?

As far as the trade union hour pool is concerned, it applies to company members, legal representatives and staff delegates.

As legal representatives of workers, their work is facilitated through a series of measures, depending on the size of the company for which they work:

According to data from the Central Directory of Companies of the National Institute of Statistics, companies with fifty or fewer workers make up 99.23% of Spanish companies.

How to manage the company's pool of hours?

Companies that decide to implement the hourly wage model must do so in accordance with the legal provisions that we have reviewed above. From the outset, it is necessary for the company to establish the number of working hours according to the work to be carried out and to be as clear as possible about the annual working calendar. This should be made available to workers to facilitate visibility and proper functioning.

To carry out this work, many companies choose to implement time and attendance tools. These solutions bring together in one place all the information about employees' holidays and absences, making it much quicker and easier to plan working times.

In addition, the integrated alert and notification systems facilitate compliance with the law in terms of advance notice for changes in the distribution of hours in the working day.

5 advantages of the distribution of hours

1. Better business organisation

This system allows companies to organise their workforce in the way that suits them best. Concentrating efforts on peak periods of the year and reducing them at less active times is not only strategic for the business, but also for the workers, who can enjoy greater autonomy throughout their working day.

2. Increased motivation

Times of heavy workload can lead to stress and fatigue. However, a working model that balances periods of intense work with moments of calm can be a motivating factor for staff.

Having a deadline in mind for the achievement of objectives and knowing that after this there can be a moment of calm can contribute to a better performance in the company.

3. Better family reconciliation

Workers under this model can better organise their time and adapt it to the specific needs of their personal routines. Spending more time with the family or being able to deal with issues that would not normally be dealt with outside the weekly working hours is quite attractive.

4. Reduced overtime

This model, by favouring effective working time, lends itself to reducing the need for workers to work overtime. Good forecasting of the times when duplication of effort will be required leads to better organisation of the work schedule.

5. Increased resilience

Businesses that already have bag-of-hours working can adapt better to certain eventualities. Having to reduce work rates and even the number of active staff from one moment to the next can be better managed if you are already used to working at a fluctuating pace.

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To sum up...

• Hour pooling is a practice of irregularly distributing working time.
• While maintaining the same number of hours stipulated by law for the working day, this system is part of a flexitime model.
• Its aim is to optimise work by concentrating efforts in peak periods, for example, in companies subject to seasonality.
• This model is regulated by Spanish law, specifically by the Workers' Statute, with regard to working time.
• Each company is free to manage this practice in the way that suits it best and can decide to use digital tools that facilitate the organisation of work.
• Motivation, productivity and efficiency are just some of the benefits of implementing this practice.

Do you have any questions? Leave them in the comments!