Today we interview... Máximo Lacosta, from LEX Technical-Legal Advisors (Madrid)

Máximo Lacosta Guindano is the director of the social department of LEX Asesores Técnico-Jurídicos, located in Madrid. This consultancy has the authorization "Social Security Network System" with more participating companies throughout Spain, and is specialized in advising on subsidized education.

During this health and economic crisis, what has been the biggest challenge you have faced in your office? Have you felt the viability of the sector was compromised?

Without a doubt the biggest challenge we set for ourselves from the beginning was maintaining the quality of the service. Fortunately we were prepared to set up and plan work remotely immediately, and so we did. Once this important and unavoidable issue was resolved, the great challenge was to satisfactorily face the enormous volume of work that the continuous and urgent regulatory developments entailed, taking into account that it was legislated beyond the resources available to the Administration, which should not be understood as a criticism at all.

We did what we could and everyone, including the Administration, did what we could to deal with what was coming our way. Our biggest challenge from then on has been to serve the client in everything necessary.

Help you in situations of uncertainty, overwhelmed by the situation and neglected in many cases by the Administration, also overwhelmed by the circumstances.

We have not felt the viability of the sector is compromised. In our case, we are a multidisciplinary consultancy with a marked labor nature, fundamentally dedicated to the subsidized education sector, so far from feeling our viability is compromised, the real problem has been an overflow of work. The work of labor agencies and consultancies has multiplied, and if we add to that the occasional overflow of services such as SEPE or Social Security, continuing to provide optimal service has been a titanic task. There is a lot of talk, and with absolute reason and merit, about the work of some sectors, but it would also be appropriate to highlight sectors like ours, which have had to face excessive work, facing procedures and interpretations of pressing regulations and a lack of important legal security regarding the results of our work, which is very stressful considering that payroll procedures, social security, unemployment benefits, ERTES, subsidies, etc. pass through our hands.

You have been a fundamental part in the beginning of the pandemic due to the large number of benefits that you have had to manage. How did you digitally face this increase in the volume of work, which was also not in person? 

The barrage of procedures, especially at the beginning of the pandemic, has been important. The Administration has delegated to consultancies and agencies many procedures that were previously carried out by workers or the Administration itself. On the other hand, physical distance was inevitable, both between the workers and between us and the clients.

We had to face a radical change in communication with staff and clients.

Everything had to be done telematically, so from the beginning we adopted teleworking for the entire workforce, following health recommendations. We made use of all the tools at our disposal (Zoom, Skype, Teams, Google Meets, email, WhatsApp, digital telephone switchboards, etc.) and periodic meetings were intensified at different levels to constantly monitor the evolution of the service.All of this has allowed us to maintain fluid contact with staff and clients.

It is clear that we must adapt to the times and situations that are given to us, which is why teleworking is important, but so is its regulation. For teleworking to be implemented it has to be attractive to the worker and the company. Therefore, special care must be taken when regulating it. It is clear that teleworking offers advantages for both, so it cannot be regulated so that only one person benefits. We must avoid such an absurd situation that is occurring, such as the company and workers agreeing on the desire to telework and the regulations preventing, due to a poorly posed economic issue, its implementation. You have to analyze expenses, but also savings. Let's consider why Spain is a country behind in the teleworking system and let's take measures, let's make it viable. There is no doubt that we have learned many things from teleworking and remote communication systems, things that would have seemed unthinkable to us very recently.

Now we know that remote meetings are very productive and that we can even meet more times, we can avoid unnecessary travel, which results in the productivity and comfort of everyone.

There is no doubt that working from home has changed and in some ways improved the way we work, but it would be unwise to conclude that it has no negative aspects. The work culture is not the same for everyone, the schedules are difficult to control, mental exhaustion is generated and everything that a face-to-face work environment provides is lost.

In short, teleworking has proven to be a very interesting system, but I have the feeling that this time has also made us rediscover the value of face-to-face work, of knowledge of the business in situ. In my opinion, going to a well-planned and managed hybrid model would be ideal.

What were and are the main economic effects of the pandemic on your clients?

Our clients, for the most part, are subsidized educational centers and have had to face and are facing this crisis from several fronts. Fundamentally, they have had to reinvent themselves and organize themselves to pedagogically serve their students electronically, at first. Everyone knows that, later, returning to school has required a very important organizational effort for which we must congratulate them.

They have achieved absolute success in the mission of combining face-to-face teaching and the application and monitoring of compliance with security measures, which has been an example and has benefited society as a whole. All of this in an environment that has required special psychological attention to the students to help them manage the situation and, unfortunately, in some cases, to help them come to terms with the loss of family members.

On the other hand, in addition to the problem of pedagogical management, technological adaptation and organization, they have had to deal with non-payment of fees and the management of resignations among their teaching staff, especially in recent months. The impact of ERTES in the sector has not been important but it is also true that in many cases they have made laudable efforts to maintain the workforce.

HTMLTAG70___How do you think the recovery of the business fabric will be ?

The pandemic has created not only a huge health crisis, but also a serious economic crisis, which endangers the continuity of companies of all kinds, so recovery will undoubtedly not be easy. In any case, it is important, in any circumstance, not just now, that all governments, regardless of their political affiliation, support the company and not stifle it.If the business fabric breaks, we all fall.

If something is not economically viable, it is not viable, so supporting the company, and therefore employment, should be a priority above any ideology.

Political and social support is necessary for the company, now and always.

The pandemic has put value on the prevention of occupational risks, do you think companies perceive it that way too? How do you value the work of training and disseminating prevention in the different sectors of activity in which your companies operate?

I believe that companies have been valuing occupational risk prevention and health surveillance for many years, to the point that their lack of implementation is barely a given, at least as far as our clients are concerned.

The work of training and disseminating risk prevention is essential and more and more companies are getting involved in it, motivated by the conviction that risk prevention is essential, leaving behind the culture of complying with a mere procedure.

Fraternidad-Muprespa's service seems impeccable to me in contingency management. The hard-working people who in our company deal daily with this entity highly value their work and professionalism.

Personally, I have to deal with some people from the mutual insurance company on a regular basis and I always have the feeling that I can count on them, that they are always there and I highlight their close treatment and dedication to service. That's my experience.