Reduction of working hours for the care of family members in a situation of temporary incapacity

The question raised is whether, having declared the temporary incapacity of a relative to the direct care of the public employee, he can request the reduction of the working day for reasons of legal custody.

In the first place, the legal framework for implementation must be analysed. Article 48.h) of the consolidated text of the Law on the Basic Status of Public Employees, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 5/2015, of 30 October (TREBEP), establishes that:

“For reasons of legal guardianship, when the official has the direct care of a person under 12 years of age, an elderly person requiring special dedication, or a disabled person who does not perform paid activity, he will be entitled to a reduction in his working day, with the corresponding reduction in his remuneration.

The same right shall apply to an official who needs to take care of a relative directly, up to the second degree of consanguinity or affinity, who for reasons of age, accident or illness cannot care for himself or herself and who does not perform paid activity.”

In this way, the causative fact for the granting of such permission, for the purposes of this consultation, is the direct care of a relative who cannot stand on his own and who does not perform paid activity.

In view of the above, it should be stressed that the right contained in article 48.1.h of the TREBEP is conditioned, among other factors, by the fact that the relative does not perform “paid activity some”.

It should be meant that the term “paid activity“It should not be understood exclusively as being effectively performing a job, but sometimes the mere perception of remuneration can fit into this definition.

Thus, the consultation refers to whether the situation of temporary incapacity can be assimilated to the non-performance of paid activity.

The definition of temporary incapacity itself implies a situation in which there is an employment relationship that is temporarily suspended because of a contingency that prevents its provision but, without prejudice to cases of permanent incapacity, does not resolve such relationship.

During the temporary incapacity, therefore, the employment relationship remains in force, as well as the collection of remuneration although, depending on the duration of the incapacity, the entity that pays these benefits may vary.

Therefore, it is understood that the situation of temporary incapacity can be subsumed in the concept of “paid activity” of article 48.1.h of the TREBEP, not granting the reduction contemplated in the permit.

However, the official may make use of other established figures in order to facilitate the reconciliation of family and working life.

Thus, Article 48.1.i) of the TREBEP provides for the permit for very serious illness of a relative in the first degree of consanguinity or affinity, which may be granted only once for each pathological process.

For its part, 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, includes in paragraph 5 the possibility of requesting reduced working hours for particular interest.

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.