Partial retirement unlocked for public administration labor personnel

BarcelonaThe Council of Ministers approved this Monday a Royal Decree-Law that unblocks partial retirement for public administration workers. The spokesperson for the Spanish government and Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, highlighted at the press conference after the Council of Ministers that the measure provides a "permanent" solution to this type of retirement and fulfills the commitment made with the most representative trade union organizations in public administrations within the framework of social dialogue.

This type of retirement allows full-time workers who have not reached the ordinary retirement age to access it partially and early, provided that, simultaneously, a replacement contract is signed. In addition, they must meet a series of requirements that involve retiring three years before the retirement age, proving a contribution period of 33 years, having seniority in the company of six years immediately prior to the date of partial retirement, that the reduction in working hours is between 25% and 75%, and, if it is anticipated by more than two years, the reduction in working hours in the first year will be between 20% and 33%. With this modality, the public administration employee will be able to reduce their working hours, receiving the proportional part of the salary for the time they continue to work, and for the rest, they will proportionally receive their pension.

Public administration workers already had a mechanism to opt for early partial retirement, but with the entry into force on April 1, 2025, of the Royal Decree-Law on Social Security, the new requirements for partial retirement for salaried employees, and therefore for public administration workers, were established. Specifically, it established that, to access this modality, a permanent and full-time replacement contract must be simultaneously concluded. With the solution adopted this Monday, "certain flexibility" is allowed in the rule. The solution allows administrations to have a planning instrument, preferably job offers, where they establish coverage for partial retirements. The 2026 public employment offer for the State administration has already included 854 positions for the hiring of permanent replacement staff.

If it is not possible to formalize the permanent replacement contract simultaneously with partial retirement, full-time temporary replacement employment is permitted, which will end either when the permanent contract is formalized, or at the end of the second year after the termination of partial retirement. The replacement worker's job may be the same as or different from that of the replaced worker. The royal decree-law also establishes a transitional regime until April 1, 2027, to facilitate the progressive adaptation of administrations to the new regime.

Along with the measures relating to the partial retirement scheme for public sector workers, this royal decree-law incorporates an additional provision for the housing allowance for personnel in the service of the state public sector assigned to the Balearic Islands and will review the amounts of the housing allowance for personnel in the service of the state public sector assigned to this autonomous community.