Spain revives partial retirement for public workers amid bureaucratic blockages

The Spanish government is poised to revive the partial retirement option for thousands of public sector workers after a year-long bureaucratic tangle.

Legal changes and administrative hurdles stalled early access to retirement for over 700,000 employees.

A 2025 reform toughened requirements for 'relevo' contracts, key to partial retirement, by mandating the replacement worker have a permanent, full-time position. This proved an insurmountable obstacle for cash-strapped local governments, universities, and other bodies that employ around half of the affected workers.

Now, a draft decree aims to unblock this situation through special arrangements for the public sector. A tentative agreement with unions CCOO and UGT proposes two paths to meet the legal requirement: using candidates who have already cleared the selection process but not yet been appointed, or hiring temporary staff whose roles are tied to active public job offers.

The measure will initially apply only to permanent labor staff, who are the only public sector group with fully recognized partial retirement rights akin to the private sector. However, CCOO is pushing for these rights to be extended to career officials, temporary workers, and those with special status.

Partial retirement allows workers to retire up to three years early, reducing their hours and pay in proportion, while starting to draw a portion of their pension. Key conditions include reaching the minimum age (up to three years before the ordinary retirement age) and accumulating a minimum of 33 years of contributions, although this can be lower in certain cases. The reduced work hours must fall within established margins, usually 25% to 50%. The replacement worker's contract must be indefinite and full-time, lasting at least two years after the partial retirement ends.

Unlike early retirement, partial retirement does not typically reduce the final pension amount if done with a 'relevo' contract, as the worker continues contributing even with reduced hours and there are no age-related deduction coefficients.