While doctors are notifying the Ministry of Health of strikes and mobilizations due to—amongst other issues—mandatory 24-hour shifts, the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Civil Service, led by Oscar López, has informed the CCOO and UGT unions that it is initiating the procedure to implement a 35-hour workweek within the General State Administration. This move aims to fulfill the commitments signed in the “Framework Agreement for the 21st Century Administration.”
According to the Ministry, the nearly 250,000 public employees set to benefit will receive new instructions regarding workdays and schedules during this first quarter of the year, reflecting the reduction of working time to 35 hours per week.
The three major public sector unions—CCOO, UGT, and CSIF—welcome the measure and remind the Government that this does not exhaust the commitments made to public employees. Issues such as the regulation of remote work, professional classification, and the reinstatement of partial retirement for contract staff remain to be addressed.
It is worth noting that, according to the latest data, the average gross monthly salary of a public employee in Spain—including all levels of administration—currently exceeds that of the private sector by more than a thousand euros (€3,232 against €2,182).
