Spain has had a significant problem with abuse of temporary employment in the public sector for more than two decades, where approximately one in three employees is hired on a temporary basis. This situation has generated multiple warnings from the European Commission and rulings from the Court of Justice of the European Union, leaving several fronts of conflict open between the Executive and Brussels.
The Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Administration conducted an analysis of public sector payrolls and estimated that abuse of temporary employment affects fewer than 200,000 workers with more than three years in that condition, out of a total of approximately 900,000 employees without permanent contracts. The department is designing a package of measures with the autonomous communities to mitigate the problem and avoid fines from Brussels. According to the Executive's figures, temporary employment in the public sector reached 32 per cent at the beginning of 2026, a decline from 39 per cent in 2023.
The State Secretariat for Public Administration is drafting regulations in collaboration with the autonomous communities that strengthen controls on chaining of contracts, in consultation also with municipalities and trade unions. The measures under discussion include a general alert system that notifies human resources managers when a worker reaches three years of temporary employment, and the possible imposition of sanctions on managers who abuse temporary hiring.
Officials indicated that setting the level of responsibility has prompted greater discussion with regional authorities, with three meetings held on this issue. The ministry clarified that it does not seek to sanction hospital managers who fill structural positions with temporary workers when they have no other option. Measures are also being studied to streamline selection processes that can take more than two years.
The Government defined abuse of temporary employment as the situation in which a worker permanently and stably carries out tasks that are part of the normal activity of the Public Administration, and the duration of their contracts exceeds the maximum authorised limits or renewals lack objective justification. The Basic Statute of Public Employees established in 2021 a general limit of three years for the interim occupation of vacant posts.
