The SEPE offices in the province of Lleida operate with 25 staff members distributed among seven locations, a staff that unions consider insufficient and that, in some places, is causing waits of several days to get a prior appointment. The network is distributed with 12 workers in the capital, 4 in Tàrrega, 3 in Balaguer, 2 in Solsona, 2 in Tremp, 1 in la Seu d"Urgell and 1 in Vielha.
The state agency maintains that, under ordinary conditions, the assigned staff allows to assume the usual workload and ensures that the service is provided normally, except in specific periods marked by holidays, permits or training. Even so, it admits that it is studying to reinforce specifically the offices where above-average pressure is detected.
The unions warn of staff shortage and turnover
UGT holds that the underlying problem is the lack of staff and assures that the job list does not reach 50%. In the Lleida office, the largest in the province, the staff forecast is 32 people, above the 12 currently providing service. The union also warns that in the coming months that branch will lose between 4 and 5 workers.
CCOO agrees with the diagnosis and adds that a good part of the staff assigned to Lleida comes from outside and leaves as soon as they can, a rotation that forces time to be dedicated to training new recruits. The lack of generational replacement in the administration aggravates the situation and, in the opinion of the union, the problem in Lleida is more pronounced than in other provinces like Tarragona.
"When they see what is charged, they resign" - Sílvia Faja, secretary of the AGE of UGT
CCOO proposes a salary supplement of between 200 and 300 euros to curb the departure of personnel from the so-called provinces of difficult coverage. SEPE, for its part, has planned the incorporation of four new career civil servants in Lleida and maintains ten vacancies offered.
La Seu d"Urgell and Vielha, the most fragile offices
The offices of La Seu d'Urgell and Vielha are the most exposed, as both have only one worker. In the case of La Seu, activity in recent months has been very limited. In Vielha, furthermore, the high cost of living weighs heavily, a factor that makes stable coverage of positions difficult and favors new resignations.
In parallel, the offices with the highest volume of appointments granted in the province have been that of Lleida, with 3,132, and that of Tàrrega, with 1,277. They are also those that concentrate an important part of the healthcare pressure.
Waiting times for the pre-booked appointment and suspicions of resale
Applicants for unemployment benefit can end up waiting several days to get an appointment through the SEPE website. There are cases in which the delay exceeds eight days. Faced with that difficulty, many users resort to call shops to try to complete a process that they cannot complete online.
UGT has reported a complaint filed with the National Police by the Territorial Coordination of SEPE in Catalonia for an alleged buying and selling of appointments in call shops. Different sources place the price of these appointments between 20 and 50 euros.
To try to stop these practices, SEPE has activated control measures with confirmation codes, appointment limits by identity or by phone, and IP address blocks when it detects massive activity. The agency also focuses on the non-appearance of users once the appointment has been obtained.
Vielha registered an absenteeism rate of 21.1% in the first two months of the year, while in Tremp it was 12.6%. With this scenario, the response capacity of Lleida's offices remains under pressure while the administration tries to fill vacancies and unions demand structural measures to prevent the lack of staff from becoming chronic.