Βy Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Due to the suspension of sports activities because of the COVID-19, the FC Barcelona board of directors announced today that the club had decided to apply to Spanish state authorities to reduce the salaries of all its workers, using the temporary employment regulation file measure (ERTE).
Starting from the senior teams, a reduction of 70% to all monthly salaries will be imposed, according to “Mundo Deportivo” to all the players. The wages will return automatically to their previous status when there’s action again.
It has to be noted that while Zaragoza and Manresa have already announced that they are also using the ERTE mechanism, FC Barcelona is the first major club that is using it also for the soccer team. In total, FC Barcelona has 1.500 workers, including the athletes.
According to the press release:
“The Board of Directors, meeting remotely this Thursday, March 26, have discussed the measures to be applied to minimize the economic impact that the coronavirus crisis is causing on the activity of FC Barcelona, as well as the actions that are being carried out by the club and the Foundation in collaboration with the authorities, with the aim of avoiding the spread of the disease as much as possible.
The declaration of the state of alarm last March 14, a consequence of the health emergency that we are experiencing with the coronavirus pandemic, meant the cessation of all activity, sporting and non-sporting, at our club. Faced with this scenario, the Board of Directors has decided to implement a series of measures to mitigate its effects and reduce the economic effects of this crisis.
Among the measures adopted, it’s worth noting those related to the workplace are motivated by the need to adapt the contractual obligations of the club staff to the new and temporary circumstances that we are experiencing. It is about the presentation of the different relative files in the sporting field (football and other professional sports), as well as for the rest of the non-sporting personnel.
These files will be processed before the Treball Department of the Generalitat de Catalunya, once the club has shared all aspects related to these measures, and their scope, with all its staff, both sporting and non-sporting. Basically it is a reduction of the working day, imposed by the circumstances and the protection measures carried out, and, as a consequence, the proportional reduction of the remuneration provided for in the respective contracts. Measures that the club wants to implement scrupulously follow the formal labor regulations, under the criteria of proportionality, and above all fairness, and with the sole objective of resuming the activity of the club as soon as possible”.