A new victory in Brussels for the thousands of temporary workers in the public sector – estimated at more than 800,000 – who for years have been chaining together temporary contracts without the possibility of becoming permanent, as is the case with temporary workers in the private sector.
The High Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has published a new ruling that calls for a change in the law to correct these abuses by converting them into permanent contracts.
The CJEU urges Spain to change the law to avoid these cases that affect thousands of temporary workers who work under the formula of “indefinite non-fixed term” contracts, a formula that despite its name is a temporary contract that can be extended for decades and that ends without severance pay. In the absence of any other regulation, the CJEU states that immediate conversion into permanent contracts is considered a valid option.
The ruling is a new setback for the government, which excluded the public sector from the labour reform rules and has promoted an ‘ad hoc’ regulation aimed at expanding the number of civil servant positions for interim workers.
