Summer hours - Brian
Sometimes working at home can backfire on you. Officially I work for an office in Madrid, but since I work at home in Granada I rarely go to the office, even though I believe there is still a desk reserved for me somewhere (I have asked them to not do that but apparently there is some problem with that, I gave up asking). Normally this is great – no commute means more productive time during the workday and more time with the family instead of sitting in traffic.
In July I received an email, sent to all employees in the Madrid office, stating that from July 15 to September 15 the office would be open from 9am to 3pm. Normally it is open 7am to 6pm. Only 6 hours in the workday? Also, its important realize there is a 30 minute coffee/breakfast break at 10am, but I assume one doesn’t each lunch at 2pm on the shorter day plan. I want to get on that plan, summer hours should apply to my house too, right? Well, I suppose I could have pushed my boss in Seattle for this, but I have since found out I would have been wrong had I done so.
A friend of mine here in Granada is also a software engineer; I asked him how he enjoyed this extra free time in the summer. He doesn’t, because he doesn’t get summer hours. It turns out that this summer hours plan is determined by province (think state in the US) and by your profession. In Madrid apparently all software engineers get summer hours; in Granada they do not. I’m not quite sure why my chosen profession is excluded from this free time, I suspect it has something to do with there not being many of us in Granada, its not really a big software town. Perhaps all 20 of us should hold a demonstration at the town hall next year.
Here’s hoping for continued civil liberties »
Comments
Comment from Brian
Time: September 9, 2008, 11:24 am
Very interesting! I had talked to my friend about the convenio laboral, but I was under the impression the collective part was per province and per profession. I probably mis-understood that part, there are some words in there I don’t usually use in Spanish so I probably had the meaning wrong. So maybe the summer hours do count for me since my compañeros in Madrid do get it. Can’t wait for next summer!
PS Give us a shout if you happen to come back to Granada to visit!
Comment from David
Time: September 9, 2008, 3:31 am
It actually depends on your company. Usually if you get summer hours it’s because during winter you work more hours, let’s say 42 hours a week, in summer you get back those accumulated 2 hours over the regular work time. It’s usually stated by your collective labour agreement (convenio laboral), and it doesn’t have anything to do with where you live or your profession.
Having lived nearly four years in Granada I envy you for living in the best “barrio” I’ve ever had the chance to!!! Unfortunately, as you said, it’s not a big software town, so I had to move because of work. Anyway, the C.S. school is not bad!.
cheers