Spanish courts finally compensating public sector workers for temporal contract abuse

The European Court of Justice’s damning ruling on interim contracts in Spain has finally begun to yield results. Just weeks after declaring that Spanish authorities’ attempts to combat abusive temporary employment were ineffective, Spanish courts are now issuing compensation to public sector workers who were exploited by these contracts.

First ruling sparks hope for thousands

The initial victory belongs to Badajoz, where the Fourth Social Court awarded a €16,000 settlement – equivalent to 20 days’ salary per year of service, capped at twelve monthly payments – to a former temporary employee. He’d been terminated after covering the role of a permanent official, only to subsequently secure a permanent position through competitive testing. This case highlights a critical flaw in the system: a temporary worker must step aside when a permanent role opens up, a principle consistently ignored.

However, the Junta de Extremadura initially rejected his claim, arguing that the award of a permanent position negated the termination of his fixed-term contract. This stance is directly challenged by Law 20/2021, which stipulates that compensation is only granted when a temporary worker fails to pass a selection process. The ruling in Vigo, for example, explicitly references the TJUE’s verdict, asserting that current compensation schemes are insufficient deterrents and fail to fully address the damage inflicted.

Crucially, the Vigo court echoed the European Court’s stance, stating that the TJUE’s April 14th ruling contradicted national jurisprudence, which had previously defined abuse of power as the use of temporary, non-fixed contracts – essentially treating temporary workers as ‘just another temporary.’ The tribunal emphasized that these contracts should be terminated when a permanent position becomes available. Furthermore, the case cited a CSIC researcher, awarded an indefinite, non-fixed position after a stabilization process, who received over €52,000 in compensation – a figure driven by the TJUE’s ongoing scrutiny of the issue.

This researcher, who had a 15-year employment relationship with the CSIC starting in 2008, secured a permanent position in 2025 after a stable employment process. The settlement included the period during which she was classified as an indefinite, non-fixed employee – from November 2010. The tribunal acknowledged that simply including experience as a merit in the selection process isn’t a sufficient remedy; it fails to address the wider systemic issue of abuse. The government’s proposed public employment offer, currently under consideration, doesn’t adequately address this fundamental problem either.

Ultimately, this ruling isn’t an isolated incident. Courts across Spain are increasingly relying on the TJUE’s guidance to combat the misuse of temporary contracts within public administration. The situation underscores a profound disconnect between legal precedent and practical implementation, demanding immediate and decisive action to rectify the harm suffered by countless public sector workers.