The question raised concerns the possibility of continuing to enjoy holidays, separate holidays and days for private reasons.

In this regard, we must refer to the provisions of the Resolution of February 28, 2019, of the Secretary of State for Public Service, which dictates instructions on the working hours and hours of the staff in the service of the General Administration of the State and its public bodies that it has, in its ninth section on ‘holidays and permits’:

“9.3 Holidays shall be enjoyed, subject to authorization and provided it is compatible with the needs of the service, within the calendar year and until January 31 of the following year, in minimum periods of five consecutive working days.

Without prejudice to the above, and whenever the needs of the service allow it, of the vacation days provided for in section 9.1 of this Resolution, the independent enjoyment of up to five working days per calendar year may be requested. (…) 9.7 Throughout each year public employees shall have the right to enjoy six days of leave for private reasons, without prejudice to the granting of the remaining permits and licences established in the regulations in force.

Likewise, public employees shall have the right to enjoy two additional days of leave for private matters from the day following the completion of the sixth triennium, increasing by a maximum of one additional day for each triennium completed from the eighth.

Days of leave for private reasons may not be added to the annual holiday periods. The staff may distribute these days at their convenience, subject to the authorization of their superiors and always respecting the needs of the service. When, for these reasons, it is not possible to benefit from the said permit before the end of December, it may be granted until the following 31 January.

Without prejudice to the above, and whenever the needs of the service allow it, the days of leave due to particular issues as well as, where appropriate, the days of leave provided for in the following paragraph, may be accumulated to the holiday days that are independently enjoyed.”

Therefore, the fact that the Resolution allows the accumulation of days due to particular matters to the holidays that can be enjoyed independently, cannot give rise to other combinations that may prove fraudulent as it would be to join, then, the ordinary holidays, since this assumption would go against the prohibition of the accumulation of the days of particular affairs with the annual holidays, since they are enjoyed without solution of continuity.

A different scenario would be a business day, i.e. a day on which services are provided, between business days and the holiday period, or between holidays of independent enjoyment (to be enjoyed after business days) and ordinary holidays, in which case they could be enjoyed.

In conclusion, and as a general rule, the days of leave for private matters may not be accumulated to the annual holiday periods, except for the holiday days that are enjoyed independently.

All of the above is without prejudice to remember 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, do not have the character of a binding criterion, nor do they give rise to rights or expectations of law, nor do they imply any link with the type of procedures to which they refer. In addition, since they are not mandatory or binding, the bodies to which such replies are addressed may, where appropriate, finally take a decision that does not correspond to the opinion contained therein.

The answers to queries contained in this bulletin deal with the issues raised in the light of the regulations in force at the time of their issuance, so that these answers may be affected by subsequent legislative changes or judicial resolutions.