Remote work for public employees and extra health staff during COVID-19

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

1. A new article is added to the Basic Statute of Public Employees regulating remote work: working away from government offices using information technologies. It must be expressly authorized, it is voluntary and reversible, and remote workers keep the same rights and duties as on-site staff. The Administration must provide and maintain the necessary technological equipment.
2. Remote work will not be the ordinary way of working: each administration will set what share of the service can be done remotely, combined with on-site presence, and in-person service to the public is guaranteed.
3. The autonomous communities and the National Institute for Health Management may hire, exceptionally and temporarily, people without a Specialist degree recognized in Spain: those who took the 2019/2020 specialist training exams without getting a place, and those holding a Specialist degree from outside the European Union with a favorable report from the Evaluation Committee. Contracts can last up to twelve months, extendable in three-month periods.
4. The autonomous communities may temporarily assign medical and nursing staff to units, primary care centers, hospitals or other health facilities short of professionals because of the pandemic, provided care at their original center is guaranteed. These assignments last while the staff shortage persists and, at most, while the article is in force.
5. People taking the Specialist Health Training selection exams must deal with the Administration through electronic means when the annual call so provides, covering applications, documentation, fee payments and place assignments.
6. Public administrations have six months from the entry into force to adapt their remote work rules. The health measures in Articles 2 and 3 apply for twelve months, extendable by three-month or shorter periods.

Who it affects

• Public employees: They may work remotely if authorized, with the same rights and duties as on-site staff, and the Administration will provide the technological equipment.
• Public administrations: They must adapt their remote work rules within six months and decide what share of the service can be done remotely.
• Health professionals without a Specialist degree recognized in Spain: They can be hired exceptionally by the autonomous communities and the National Institute for Health Management.
• Medical and nursing staff: They can be temporarily assigned to other centers or units short of staff because of the pandemic.
• Applicants for Specialist Health Training: They must complete selection exam procedures electronically when the call so provides.

Words worth knowing

Teletrabajo

Remote work: working away from government offices using information technologies.

Real decreto-ley

Royal decree-law: a rule with the force of law that the Government can quickly pass in urgent situations.

Estatuto Básico del Empleado Público

Basic Statute of Public Employees: the law setting out the common rights and duties of public sector workers in Spain.

Formación Sanitaria Especializada

Specialist Health Training: the selection exam and training system through which health professionals in Spain get their specialty (known as MIR and similar routes).

Negociación colectiva

Collective bargaining: the process where the Administration and unions agree on working conditions.

It summarizes the law as published in the BOE. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries