Computation of vacation days and private matters in case you have enjoyed a license for your own affairs.

The issue raised concerns the computation of vacation days and particular issues in case you have enjoyed a leave for your own affairs.

Firstly, the legal framework for implementation needs to be analysed. The leave for own affairs is regulated in article 73 of the Civil Servants Act of 1964, a provision still in force in accordance with the provisions of Final Provision 4th of Royal Legislative Decree 5/2015, of 30 October, approving the revised text of the Basic Statute of the Public Employee Act, which establishes:

“Until the Civil Service laws are enacted and the development regulations are in force in each Civil Service, the current regulations on the management, planning and management of human resources shall remain in force as long as they do not conflict with the provisions of this Statute.”

Thus, with regard to the licence to which we referred, article 73 of the Civil Servants Act of 1964 states that:

“Licenses may be granted on their own behalf. Such licences shall be granted without payment, and their cumulative duration may not exceed three months in two years.”

With regard to holidays, article 50 of the TREBEP provides that:

“Public officials shall have the right to enjoy at least, during each calendar year, a paid vacation of twenty-two working days, or the days corresponding proportionately if the service time during the year was shorter.

For the purposes of this article, they shall not be considered as working days on Saturdays, without prejudice to the adaptations established for the special hours”..

On the other hand, the Resolution of 14 April 2026 of the Secretary of State for the Civil Service, which provides instructions on the working hours and hours of staff in the service of the General Administration of the State and its public agencies, in paragraph nine, establishes that:

“1. Each calendar year the paid holidays will have a duration of twenty-two working days per year per full year of services, or the corresponding days proportionally if the service time during the year was shorter. For this purpose, Saturdays will be considered unskillful, without prejudice to the adaptations established for the special schedules.

For the calculation of the annual holiday period, absences caused by illness or accident, as well as those derived from the enjoyment of the permits regulated in articles 48 and 49 of the consolidated text of the Law on the Basic Statute of the Public Employee, or of the license referred to in article 72 of the articulated text of the Law on Civil Servants of the State, approved by Decree 315/1964, of February 7, shall, in all cases and for these purposes, be considered time of service.”

That is, the Resolution establishes that certain permits and licenses are computable for the purpose of determining the annual vacation period, but does not expressly mention the license for own affairs regulated in Article 73 of the articulated text, so the period of time that has remained in said license will not be computable for vacation purposes.

Therefore, the time of enjoyment of the license for its own affairs will not be computable as time of effective services and, therefore, the proportional holidays will correspond to the time effectively worked during the natural year.

Secondly, and in relation to the days for private matters that correspond to a civil servant who has enjoyed a period of leave for her own affairs, the following is reported:

Article 48.k) of the TREBEP states that:

“1. The Public Administrations will determine the cases of granting permits to public officials and their requirements, effects and duration. In the absence of applicable legislation, the permits and their duration will be at least the following: (…)

k) For private reasons, six days.”

On the other hand, the Agreement approving the interpretation criteria relating to the application of Article 48(k) and thirteenth provision of the consolidated text of the Law on the Basic Status of Public Employees, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 5/2015, of 30 October, maintains the criterion supported by the Agreement of the Higher Personnel Commission of 28 February 2008 which establishes that, as a general rule, the days of private affairs must be linked to the time actually worked during the calendar year.

In conclusion, the calculation of the days of particular cases that correspond must take into account the days of work actually carried out, with no such consideration being given to the days on which leave has been granted for their own affairs.

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.