Vodafone Spain has reached an agreement with UGT unions to cut wages by reducing working hours by ten days a year. The measures will be introduced in April, for the 2012/13 financial year. The measure represents an average reduction of about 4 percent, Expansion reports. The agreement also covers the reduction of the variable portion of wages and is encouraging employees to work part-time. The salary cuts will affect around 4,000 Vodafone Spain employees, and are mainly aimed at avoiding layoffs, Reuters reports, citing unnamed sources close to the negotiations. According to the same source, "beginning with the fiscal year that starts in April, Vodafone employees will be paid 10 percent less for the variable portion of their salary. In addition, this summer, they will take two weeks unpaid vacation".
