Social Security system for trainees who exercise the right of option.

The consultation discusses the Social Security system for trainees exercising the right of option provided for in Royal Decree 456/1986, of 10 January, which establishes the remuneration of trainees.

Trainees who are providing paid services in the State Administration or in other administrations as career, interim or working personnel may choose to receive the remuneration corresponding to the position they were performing until the moment of their appointment (article 2 of Royal Decree 456/1986, of 10 February).

There is consultation about the procedure to be followed to comply with the obligation of affiliation to MUFACE of civil servants, either career or interim, and of labor personnel in non-mutualistic practices, since in their administrations and given their status as public workers they are affiliated in one of the Social Security systems.

The specific case that arises refers to the obligation of affiliation to the Regime of Administrative Mutualism to those officials in practices that already have the status of personnel in the service of the Administration, as career or interim officials or as non-mutualist labor personnel, and who have exercised the right of option provided in Royal Decree 456/1986, of 10 January.

The consolidated text of the Law on Social Security for Civil Servants of the State, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 4/2000, of June 23, provides in its article 3, paragraph b), that they are compulsorily included in the scope of application of this Special Regime “Trainee officials who aspire to join the Civil Administration Corps of the State, in the manner determined by the regulations.”

The aforementioned regulatory development is carried out, in general, by Article 13 of the General Regulation of Administrative Mutualism, approved by Royal Decree 375/2003, of 28 March, which reads as follows:

“1. Trainees who aspire to join the bodies of the Civil Administration of the State will be included in the scope of application of administrative mutualism under the same conditions as career officials until the date of their inauguration as such, and will be affiliated to MUFACE with effect from the day of the beginning of the traineeship period, unless they already have the status of mutualists.

2. Trainees who do not reach the status of career officials will cause a loss in the mutuality, with the exception contemplated in the previous section.”

However, this provision must be made in relation to Article 12, also of the General Regulation of Administrative Mutualism, dedicated to affiliation to more than one Social Security regime, paragraph 2 of which reads as follows:

“2. When an official occupies several places that have been legally established, their compatibility will cause discharge through the one for which he receives the basic remuneration.”

It is understood that this provision is applicable to the case of trainee civil servants, since this condition, that of trainee civil servant, implies the existence of a new service relationship, that is, a “position”, position or employment in the Public Administration that gives the right to receive remuneration as personnel on a provisional basis of the same; and that, for those who have already been civil servants, it is “compatible”, since its administrative situation is not modified with respect to the Body or Scale of origin, in which it remains in active service – obtaining to participate in the corresponding selective course or period of practice a license for studies.

In this regard, the body that pays the basic salaries must be looked at to determine which social security system is appropriate for it. Thus, if one chooses to continue to receive remuneration as a career official (included in the General Social Security System) or work personnel, it is understood that he must continue to be discharged in this system and, therefore, the discharge in the Administrative Mutualism System does not proceed.

A different issue will be when he attains the status of career civil servant and finally chooses to remain active in the Corps covered by the Regime of Administrative Mutualism, in which case, he will have to be discharged in a mandatory manner in this regime, having also caused loss in the General Regime, having changed his administrative situation in the Corps or Scale of origin of active service to the situation of leave due to incompatibility in the form that is articulated.

All of the foregoing is without prejudice to recalling that, according to the regime of competences of this management center, the answers to queries issued by this general directorate are merely informative and, consequently, are not of a binding criterion, nor do they give rise to rights or expectations of law, nor imply any link with the type of procedures to which they refer. Furthermore, in the absence of a mandatory or binding nature, the bodies receiving such replies may, where appropriate, finally take a decision that does not correspond to the opinion contained therein.

The responses to queries contained in this bulletin address the issues raised in the light of the regulations in force at the time of their issuance, so that such responses may be affected by subsequent legislative changes or judicial decisions.