The Provincial Labor and Social Security Inspection of Malaga, has sanctioned the Marbella City Council for continuously exceed the maximum amount of paid overtime that municipal employees can perform per year, as reported by the Union of Public Employees of Malaga (SEPMA). In addition, this excess would have occurred without proving that it is due to reasons of overwhelming force.
According to the Malaga newspaper, the Labor Inspection has required the Town Hall to attend a municipal representative, to contribute a record of overtime worked by employees of the Marbella City Council since January 2019 until spring 2021.
The complaint that gave rise to these actions was presented by the SEPMA, which indicates that the fine can be up to 15,000 euros, and that between 2019 and 2021, municipal workers have carried out «hundreds of thousands of overtime«, Despite the limitations and restrictions imposed on public administrations by the COVID pandemic.
After analyzing the documentation provided by the City Council, the labor inspection found that “multiple workers” exceeded without justifying the quota of 80 overtime hours paid per year. «Consequently, it extends act of infraction when appreciating the continued existence in the commission ”of the same, picks up the writing.
According to SEPMA, only in December 2020, municipal employees carried out 15,000 hours more for an amount of 407,000 euros. In January of this year they worked 22,000 overtime hours for an amount of about 590,000 euros and from February to July, the City Council paid 359,000 euros for this concept.
The union regrets that “while in strategic sectors, such as Policeman and Firefighters have decreased, the services that perform the longest overtime hours are managed by the councilor Diego LÓpez », whom they accuse of privatize a large part of municipal services.
According to the union central, In Cleaning, more than 300 employees exceed the legal maximum overtime allowed, while in Parks and gardens or Solid Urban Waste the highest amounts in hours are between a small group of workers.
SEPMA highlights the case of a Cleaning worker who worked 2,626 overtime hours in 2019; 1972, in 2020; and in the course of 2021, it already has 911. «Perceive astronomical amounts«, Adds the union, which recalls that the realization of overtime must have the authorization of those responsible for the area correspondent.