The pace of life we lead today makes it very difficult to combine work and family life. For this reason, any companies that “invest” in measures to make this "task" easier for its employees are valued most positively.

As well as improving their image, these initiatives enable companies to obtain certain tax breaks. For example, the law provides for a series of fiscal advantages for companies that finance part of the nursery education for their employees’ children, as these contributions are deductible in Corporation Tax and exempt from Social Security payments. These advantages also benefit the worker as this contribution is not paid in personal income tax and neither is it paid to the Social Security system.

Another aspect that helps reconcile work and children is having the nursery school close to the workplace. With this in mind, since 2004 Mercabarna has had a school called ‘Simphonie’ in its precinct, which enables parents and children to be closer to one another with all the advantages that this entails. “Workers find it easier to adapt to work and school timetables, and save on babysitters and travelling, since the trip to work is also the trip to the nursery. It has also been shown that they have greater motivation and perform better in their work when they have their children close by,” explains Raúl López, Simphonie's Manager.
López believes all this also has an impact on the companies as “they see how punctuality rises, absenteeism decreases and there is an increase in staff productivity”.