The Plenary of the Congress faces this Thursday, July 23, in an extraordinary session, the vote to validate or repeal the decree law that reopens the path to partial retirement for public administration labor personnel and that also introduces an insularity supplement for personnel assigned to the Balearic Islands.
As it is a decree law, the regulation applies from the moment it was approved by the Council of Ministers and published in the Official State Gazette (BOE). Now, the Lower House must pronounce on whether to maintain the text in force or render it ineffective.
The decree allows labor personnel of the administration who work full-time and have not yet reached the ordinary retirement age to access partial and early retirement, provided that, simultaneously, a replacement contract is formalized.
Although Podemos did not question the essential content of the regulation, it did demand that the Government withdraw this decree and replace it with another that, in addition to what is already regulated, includes the conversion of nearly one million interim personnel in the administration to permanent staff.
In light of the uncertainty regarding the outcome of the vote, the CCOO union has urged parliamentary groups to support the validation, warning that if it is rejected, thousands of public employees will lose the possibility of opting for a partial retirement that, in their opinion, facilitates an orderly transition.
Requirements to access partial retirement
Individuals who wish to opt for the partial retirement regime must meet a series of conditions, including retiring three years before the ordinary retirement age; proving at least 33 years of contributions; having a minimum seniority of six years in the company immediately prior to the date of partial retirement; and that the reduction of working hours is between 25% and 75%. If the advance is more than two years, the reduction of working hours during the first year must be between 20% and 33%.
With this formula, labor personnel reduce their working hours and receive the proportional part of the salary corresponding to the time worked, while for the part of the hours not worked, they receive the pension proportionally.
The decree law obliges administrations to have a planning instrument, preferably job offers, to organize the coverage of partial retirements. The public job offer for 2026 in the State Administration already includes 854 positions intended for the hiring of fixed replacement personnel.
Likewise, the regulation establishes a transitional period until April 1, 2027, to allow a gradual adaptation of administrations to the new system. At the same time, it incorporates an additional provision regarding the compensation for residence of personnel in the service of the state public sector assigned to the Balearic Islands and provides for the review of the amounts of said compensation for those who work in this autonomous community.