Unions File Appeal Against Andorra Government Job Classification Regulation

SIPAAG and SEP unions, representing over 150 civil servants, filed an administrative appeal on Monday against the government's regulation on classifying and reviewing public administration job positions, approved on 18 March. The move targets perceived flaws in transparency, objectivity, and worker protections, echoing Batllia court rulings that invalidated parts of the 2023 reclassification process.

Union leaders Salustià Chato of SIPAAG and Sergi Esteves of SEP handed the appeal to the government's Tràmits service. They argue the regulation entrenches opacity by failing to define scoring scales for key factors like "complexity," relying on external tools such as PricewaterhouseCoopers' STRATA model without public adaptation details, omitting prior hearings for affected staff, restricting direct revision requests to superiors, and limiting union or judicial oversight. The unions, part of the Personal Commission under the Public Function Law, say the government disregarded their proposals from several meetings and up to four reports submitted during drafting.

Chato and Esteves likened the setup to "playing a game without knowing the rules," insisting on public, upfront weighting for seven or eight legal factors and subfactors to ensure equity—particularly for similar roles assigned different levels. They demand full annulment, immediate suspension, or a new verifiable framework, warning that "piecemeal" reforms risk arbitrariness, worker rights violations, and degraded public service quality.

Esteves described the appeal as a "final opportunity" for revisions via the Comitè Tècnic d’Organització i Gestió (CTOC), while Chato stressed exhausting administrative routes before Batllia. The unions reject reform blockages, noting recent approvals like harassment protocols and prison rules despite delays since the 2019 law. They emphasise procedural fairness over pay rises, praising civil servants' crisis-era efforts, and signal court action if unresolved.

Public Function Minister Marc Rossell has responded by advancing a professional career regulation, aiming for completion before summer through ongoing talks with unions. The framework seeks a unified model across public bodies, building on 2018-2019 laws and sector rules like education, alongside coordinated work on pay policies. However, unions doubt the timeline, sending a Monday letter urging fixed meetings, concrete proposals on transitional rules, performance evaluations, and budget details to secure consensus by June and avoid unilateral approval. Rossell maintains case-by-case handling of requests.