Andorran Public Sector Unions Appeal Job Classification Reglament Over Transparency Flaws

Public sector unions SIPAAG and SEP have filed an administrative appeal against the government's Reglament de Classificació i Revisió dels Llocs de Treball for general administration, presenting it Monday at the Govern d'Andorra's Tràmits service at 11am. Union leaders Salustià Chato of SIPAAG and Sergi Esteves of SEP described the reglament, approved in March, as a superficial patch that fails to address court-identified flaws, risking arbitrariness, opacity, and rights violations for public workers.

The challenge stems from a job reclassification process spanning 2023-2024, with some sources noting extensions into 2025. Batllia courts ruled it invalid in three cases, citing the government's disregard for the Comitè Tècnic d'Organització i Gestió (CTOG), use of an unregulated PwC methodology—possibly the STRATA model—without disclosing details, and improper result validation. The government has not appealed those judgments but limited remedies to the three litigants on 11 March, a move unions called unjust.

SIPAAG and SEP, as members of the Llei de Funció Pública personnel commission, demand a complete restart of the process with full transparency on classification criteria. They seek public details on the weighting of seven or eight legal factors and subfactors linked to salary grids, including how positions are scored and why similar roles receive different levels. The unions criticize the lack of prior hearings, direct review rights for workers, and objective measures for concepts like "complexity," which they say enable discretionary decisions and hinder union or judicial oversight.

Backed by over 150 civil servant signatures, the appeal follows rising review requests: initial reports noted 60 workers using union legal aid, while SIPAAG reported 166 filings or planned by late March via a standardized template. Discontent emerged from September to December, but unions waited for the reglament's approval, which ignored their proposed amendments, multiple meeting inputs, and up to four reports on salary bases.

The unions request the reglament's full annulment, or at least its most problematic articles, plus suspension pending a new, objective framework. They stress the issue centers on procedural fairness, not pay hikes, equating it to knowing the "rules of the game" upfront. Chato highlighted transparency shortfalls and worker defense gaps; Esteves noted persistent deficits despite repeated warnings to the administration.

Public Function Minister Marc Rossell stated the government is evaluating review requests individually, both technically and legally. Most stem from the 2023 process, though some are new from workers who did not apply initially. No wider fix has been outlined. If the appeal fails, unions have warned of Batllia proceedings.