The latest data from the Secretary of State for Public Service show that There are more than a million temporary workers in the public sector: three quarters in the Autonomous Communities and 38% of global temporality. As of July 2023, interim officials totaled 755,268 and temporary employees totaled 360,470. The total number of temporary workers therefore amounted to 1,115,738: 37.6% of the total of almost 3 million public employees, the unions denounce.
If we look at the end of 2023, with updated Public Service data, of the 3,593,300 public employees, 1,062,900 were temporary interims. Although CSIF, on the other hand, estimates that there are 800,000 interim workers in public administrations, 30% of the workforce.
European justice, we remember, responds to three particular cases from the Administrative Litigation Court number 17 of Barcelona. All three are women: the first interim has been in a temporary chain since May 2005, the second since December 1984 and the third since May 1991.
The CJEU resolution ratifies its February ruling and now recommends the conversion of contracts to permanent contracts of all temporary interim workers who are in a “situation of abuse”. But when is a worker considered to be in a situation of abuse? Spanish laws declare this situation when a job is maintained without an indefinite contract for a period of more than two years. And the three women were 19, 40 and 33 years old respectively.
What should these workers do?
The CJEU dictates that it is up to the Spanish interim Courts to determine which sanctioning measure should be applied. The Supreme Court already took a position in May and stated that The position of an interim cannot be equated with that of an official because the latter have passed through an opposition based on merit or capabilities. (they have passed a selective process subject to the principle of equality, merit, capacity and free competition) and have achieved the position. The lawyer who represents the main associations and unions, Javier Arauz, defends that the interims have also gone through a selective process even though they have not obtained a position and the ruling does not affect domestic law. It remains to be seen if the Spanish courts change their position on the matter, although Arauz recommends that all affected workers demand the application of the European justice ruling to their superiors and that, in the case of refusal, they resort to justice.
Temporality by sectors in figures
The temporary employment of the public sector remains above 30%, as Statistics points out. And the government committed to Brussels to reach 8% this year. It was one of the promises for European funds.
A report prepared by some 30 unions and associations of temporary public employees details the following temporary employment figures by sector:
- Total temporary public sector employees in the state: 26,648 (5% of the total 529,190 employees)
- Total temporary employees in public administrations (AAPP) of the CCAA: 821,065 (46.5% of the total of 1,763,768 public employees of the CCAA)
- Total temporary employees of local entities: 267,603 (45% of the total of 594,225 public employees of local entities)
The very high average rates of temporary employment in the AAPP of local entities and the AAPP of the Autonomous Communities collected in these data stand out. The latter collect the largest volume of temporary public employment in Spain: 73% of the temporary ones collected are located in the AAPP of the Autonomous Communities.
The public temporality in health services of the Autonomous Communities is 53%, highlighting the Canary Islands, the Basque Country and the Valencian Community with 73%, 68% and 67% temporality respectively.
In the non-university teachers Of the Autonomous Communities, temporality stands at 38%, highlighting the Basque Country and Navarra. In the General Administration sector of the CCAA, temporary employment is 40% and the Basque Country, the Valencian Community and Madrid stand out.
