{"id":230911,"date":"2026-06-12T23:51:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T23:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/catalonias-plan-to-encourage-officials-to-return-to-the-office-offering-extra-pay-for-leaving-telework\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T23:51:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T23:51:12","slug":"catalonias-plan-to-encourage-officials-to-return-to-the-office-offering-extra-pay-for-leaving-telework","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/catalonias-plan-to-encourage-officials-to-return-to-the-office-offering-extra-pay-for-leaving-telework\/","title":{"rendered":"Catalonia’s Plan to Encourage Officials to Return to the Office: Offering Extra Pay for Leaving Telework"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

One of the advantages offered by working in the Public Administration was that, if the position allowed it, the option of teleworking was enabled. However, that is about to change for all those officials who depend on the Generalitat of Catalonia.<\/p>\n

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, it is even willing to pay them a salary supplement of between 90 and 200 euros for those who give up remote work.<\/p>\n

The Battle for Teleworking: A Timeline<\/h2>\n

The battle began a year and a half ago<\/strong>. In January 2025, the Government eliminated teleworking<\/a> for senior officials, affecting about 500 officials directly, including general directors and secretaries. The Ministry of the Presidency, led by Albert Dalmau, argued that such positions require “effective and constant presence” for effective supervision.<\/p>\n

The reaction from officials was swift<\/a>. More than 200 signed a manifesto describing the measure as a “19th-century model.” Now, this measure is extended to the rest of the workforce of around 14,900 Catalan administration officials currently authorized to telework.<\/p>\n

The New Salary Supplement<\/h2>\n

What exactly does the Government propose?<\/strong> The Generalitat has introduced the so-called “immediate operational assistance complement.” This is a monthly supplement of between 90 and 200 euros for those who voluntarily forgo the teleworking days recognized in their positions.<\/p>\n

The Catalan administration insists that the choice to utilize this supplement is completely voluntary; however, the monthly payroll will vary based on which option is chosen. Specific details about the final amount, eligibility, and the inclusion of officials whose teleworking privileges were revoked are still under negotiation<\/a> within the Public Service Board.<\/p>\n

The Economic Implications of Remote Work<\/h2>\n

The price of teleworking<\/strong>. The next Public Service Board meeting is set for July 1. If an agreement is reached, it is unlikely to go into effect before January 2027. Regardless, this measure places a tangible financial value on teleworking within public administration.<\/p>\n

This marks a significant change in regulations governing remote work, as the general rule has previously maintained that teleworking is economically neutral. This means officials neither gain nor lose financially based on their working arrangement, as stated in the Basic Statute of Public Employees<\/a>. With this new complement, the Generalitat assigns economic value to in-office presence, allowing for potential salary increases for those who opt against teleworking while maintaining the same obligations.<\/p>\n

Central vs. Regional Policies<\/h2>\n

Moncloa pushes the opposite<\/strong>. The Catalan commitment to less teleworking is notably contrasting with the broader Spanish commitment to increase remote work options. According to the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Service, Digital Economy<\/em> data indicates that over 52% of General State Administration employees work remotely at least once a week, which comes alongside a newly implemented 35-hour work week for civil servants.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Catalonia is also negotiating a reduction in working hours to 35 from the current 37.5, but this is contingent on reducing teleworking options.<\/p>\n

Union Perspectives: A Divided Opinion<\/h2>\n

The unions, divided<\/strong>. The new measure has been met with mixed reactions from various union organizations. The IAC-CATAC, the largest union, is “radically against” it. In contrast, UGT and CCOO, while opposed, are more open to negotiating terms. CCOO has stated that “this supplement should apply to everyone who works in person” to avoid discrepancies in remuneration.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


\n
General News – 2<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the advantages offered by working in the Public Administration was that, if the position allowed it, the option of teleworking 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":230912,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36399],"tags":[44211,6655,3919,5635,17911,1660,19818,1345,1482,894,41298],"class_list":["post-230911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-catalonias","tag-encourage","tag-extra","tag-leaving","tag-offering","tag-office","tag-officials","tag-pay","tag-plan","tag-return","tag-telework"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230911"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230911\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":230913,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230911\/revisions\/230913"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}