The Girona City Council faces the payment of more than 300,000 euros after 42 favorable rulings for municipal workers accumulated since last summer. The judicial rulings recognize that these employees worked more hours than indicated on their Job Evaluation (VLT) sheet between May 2019 and December 2022.
Judgments and judicial response
Four judges from three different courts have dictated the 42 favorable sentences, according to the union section of Comisiones Obreras (CCOO). The City Council has challenged about thirty of these rulings and has elevated them to the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Cataluña (TSJC) as no out-of-court agreement was reached. The other 12 sentences have not been challenged for having come out recently.
The conflict affects municipal staff who, after the approval of the VLT, worked a longer workday than established. In January 2023, the City Council modified the schedule, setting the workday at 35 hours per week. All applications submitted through the entry registry received a negative response, which led the workers to go to court.
Compensations and economic figures
The CCOO union section estimates that the average compensation that the City Council will have to pay to each worker with a favorable ruling ranges between 8,000 and 9,000 euros. Some compensations reach 15,000 euros, while others are around 5,000 euros.
The total amount that the City Council should pay for the 42 favorable rulings is around 330,000 euros, according to CCOO. However, the union estimates that there are between eighty and one hundred affected workers, in addition to the 42 who have already obtained a favorable ruling. Some employees who have not yet received a judicial decision have already filed a lawsuit and the trial will be held in the coming weeks.
The total amount that the City Council should pay for all favorable rulings could exceed one million euros.
Current situation and background
"The first 11 firm sentences came out" - Sílvia Aliu, deputy mayor and councilor for Resource Management and Citizen Services and for Coexistence and Security
This conflict is different from the one the City Council had with salary inequalities. In June 2024, an agreement was signed to resolve more than 150 judicial claims related to the salary inequality of municipal staff. In that case, four years of retroactivity were paid to civil servants and one year to contract staff.