State officials will work 35 hours weekly starting next month
The measure will benefit 220,000 public employees
BarcelonaThe Minister of Digital Transformation and Public Function, Óscar López, has announced that the 35-hour work week will be launched in the general administration of the State (AGE) in the first fortnight of April, a measure that has had the support of CCOO, UGT, and CSIF. This was announced this Friday during a conference of Eldiario.es, in which he recalled that there are autonomous communities where the 35-hour week is already being applied among civil servants, but that in the AGE and public bodies a resolution will be issued to implement this week in the first fortnight of April, presumably after Easter.
In fact, this Friday the secretary of Public Function met with the AGE negotiation table to sign the agreement, which UGT and CCOO have already announced they will endorse. CSIF had made their support conditional on the government fulfilling its commitment to implement the 35-hour week for all AGE staff. Finally, as announced in a statement, the union led by Miguel Borra signed the agreement this Friday to definitively apply the 35-hour weekly working day to the AGE.
Public Function estimates that this measure will benefit around 220,000 public employees and emphasizes that its implementation will be carried out while ensuring adequate provision of public services, citizen attention, and the continuity of public functions at all times. In this regard, all necessary actions for planning, organization, and sizing of staff will be taken to allow the implementation of the 35 hours to be compatible with the maintenance and improvement of the quality of public services.
109 hours less per year
According to trade union organizations, the agreement to implement the 35-hour week will not exclude any area of the State's general administration, one of the unions' main demands, which had denounced that the initial proposal from Public Function did not include personnel from penitentiary institutions, healthcare, and education. Thus, the agreed text sets an annual calculation of 1,533 hours, representing a reduction of 109 hours compared to the current one, by cutting the working day by two and a half hours, as highlighted by UGT Serveis Púbrics in a statement.
After UGT, CCOO, and CSIF signed the agreement, the Ministry of Public Function will publish a resolution on working hours and schedules within a maximum of 15 days, and its application will be negotiated in each area with specific negotiation tables, as is the case for penitentiary institutions. "We must convene the negotiation areas and negotiate the work calendars. We need to have and implement a progressive rollout of the 35 hours in administration," stated Montserrat Gómez, general secretary of CCOO for the AGE sector.
Furthermore, UGT Serveis Púbrics has emphasized the importance of accompanying the implementation of the 35-hour week with a public employment offer (OEP) that allows for strengthening staff and ensuring that the improvement of working conditions is fully compatible with maintaining the quality of services provided to citizens. In this regard, Carlos Álvarez, secretary of the state administration sector of UGT Serveis Púbrics, stated that UGT Serveis Púbrics will be very demanding regarding the negotiation of the new OEP and will monitor the measures that the different bodies must adopt to implement the working hours without diminishing the quality of service.
CCOO has indicated that this Friday an agreement was signed to regulate the general guidelines for developing a royal decree on job provision and access for people with disabilities, which will affect all those who apply to become part of the State's general administration.