One of the advantages offered work in Administration public was that, if the position allowed it, the teleworking option was enabled. However, that is about to change for all those officials who depend on the Generalitat of Catalonia.
The Government does not prohibit teleworking, but it has put some measures on the negotiating table to discourage civil servants from requesting it. To achieve this, he is even willing to pay them a salary supplement between 90 and 200 euros for those who give up remote work.
The battle began a year and a half ago. In January 2025, the Government eliminated teleworking for his senior officials. The measure affected about 500 officials directly: general directors, general secretaries and similar positions. The Ministry of the Presidency, led by Albert Dalmau, argument that such positions require “effective and constant presence” to ensure effective supervision.
The reaction from officials It didn’t take long to wait. More than 200 senior officials signed a manifesto in which they described the measure as a “19th century model.” That episode was only the first step of something broader. Now this measure is extended to the rest of the workforce of around 14,900 Catalan administration officials who currently have permission to telework.
What exactly does the Government propose?. The Generalitat has put on the table the so-called “immediate operational assistance complement.” This is a supplement of between 90 and 200 euros per month that will be incorporated as a salary extra for those who voluntarily give up the teleworking days recognized in their position.
The Catalan administration points out that the decision to take advantage of this supplement is completely voluntary and not an obligation. But monthly payroll changes depending on what you choose. The exact details about the final amount, who will be able to collect it and whether the officials whose teleworking was revoked would also receive it, are points that are still are being negotiated at the Public Service Board.
The price of teleworking. The next meeting of the Public Service Board is scheduled for July 1. And everything indicates that the agreement, if it arrives, would not come into force before January 2027. In any case, with this measure a price has been put on teleworking in public administration.
This represents an important change in the regulations that regulate remote work in the civil service since, until now, the general rule in the Spanish public service says that teleworking is neutral from an economic point of view: they neither pay you more for doing it nor do they deduct anything for not doing it, as stated in the article 47 bis 3 of the Basic Statute of Public Employees: “Personnel who provide their services through teleworking will have the same duties and rights.” However, with this complement, the Generalitat would give economic value to presence and opting for the office represents a salary improvement that those who opt for teleworking do not have, maintaining the same obligations.
Moncloa pushes the opposite. What makes the Catalan bet more striking is that it goes against the current of the central Administration’s bet, which precisely bets for more teleworking. According to data from the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Service published by Digital Economy52.4% of employees of the General State Administration work remotely at least once a week, with more than 93,600 officials in hybrid mode. This percentage comes in full implementation of the day of 35 hours per week for civil servants.
Catalonia is also negotiating the reduction of the working day to 35 hours, starting from the current 37.5. But the Government has linked this reduction in hours to the reduction in teleworking.
The unions, divided. The measure has not been well received by the different union platforms. The IAC-CATAC, the center with the most delegates, is positioned “radically against.”
UGT and CCOO, despite remaining against the measure, are more open to negotiating the conditions. From CCOO they assured that “we understand that this supplement should apply to everyone who works in person all day” and not only to those who expressly renounce teleworking, to avoid a remuneration offence.
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