New AGE working hours instructions 2026: what changes for public employees

Key data

Human resources managers in the General State Administration have an immediate obligation: to review all their internal procedures regarding working hours and schedules. The Resolution of 14 April 2026 from the State Secretariat for Public Function establishes binding instructions that unify, in a single framework, the applicable criteria regarding ordinary working hours, flexible schedules, leave, attendance control and remote work for all AGE personnel and its public bodies.

This is not a partial development regulation: it replaces any previous instruction or agreement that might contradict it. This requires active, not passive, review by all affected personnel departments.

What does this regulation establish?

The resolution acts as a unifying text for criteria in six major areas of personnel management in public administration:

A critical aspect: the resolution has an implicit repealing effect on previous instructions or agreements that contradict it. This means that simply knowing the new text is not enough; you must identify which internal documents are superseded.

Economic and operational impact

This resolution does not generate direct costs in the form of fees or quantified economic sanctions in the regulatory text. Its impact is fundamentally operational, but with relevant indirect economic consequences for public management:

• Cost of internal adaptation: All ministries and bodies dependent on the AGE must allocate human resources and time to review, update and communicate new internal procedures for working hours and attendance control.
• Risk of labor conflict: The application of non-unified criteria or the maintenance of contradictory previous instructions may generate claims from personnel or conflicts in collective bargaining.
• Impact on telework and work-life balance: Changes in the regulation of remote work may affect telework agreements already in force, requiring their review or renegotiation.
• Attendance control: The unification of criteria in this matter may require adjustments to the technological systems for time recording already implemented in some bodies.

Who does it affect?

The scope of application is exclusively the state public sector. It does not affect private companies or regional or local administrations. The directly affected parties are:

• Public employees of the General State Administration (civil servants, staff and statutory personnel under the scope of the AGE)
• HR managers and supervisors of all ministries
• HR managers of public bodies dependent on the AGE
• Public managers with responsibility for teams in central administration
• Organization and planning units that manage schedules, shifts or remote work modalities within the AGE

Regional, local administrations and non-state public sector entities are not directly bound by this resolution, although they may take its criteria as a reference.

Practical example

A public body dependent on a ministry has in force an internal instruction from 2022 on telework that establishes specific flexible schedule conditions for its personnel. That instruction was negotiated with union representatives and includes specific criteria on the number of remote working days and mandatory availability hours.

With the entry into force of the Resolution of 14 April 2026, the HR manager of that body must:

1. Review whether the criteria in its 2022 internal instruction contradict the new unified criteria set by the State Secretariat for Public Function.
2. If there is a contradiction, the internal instruction is superseded by the resolution, regardless of whether it had been previously negotiated.
3. Communicate to affected employees the changes resulting from the application of the new criteria.
4. Update attendance control procedures if current systems do not comply with the unified criteria.

This scenario is applicable to any ministry or body that has developed its own instructions on working hours, schedules or telework in recent years.

What should HR managers do now?

1. Locate all internal instructions in force on working hours, schedules, telework and attendance control in the body. The objective is to identify which ones may conflict with the new resolution.
2. Compare the content of those instructions with the criteria set by the Resolution of 14 April 2026, paying special attention to ordinary working hours, schedule flexibility, leave and remote work.
3. Formally repeal or update internal instructions that contradict the new resolution. Simply ceasing to apply them is not enough: the repeal must be documented.
4. Review attendance control systems to verify that they comply with the unified criteria established by the resolution.
5. Inform personnel of the changes resulting from the application of the new criteria, especially regarding flexible schedules and telework.
6. Consult with the legal department of the body if there are agreements with union representatives that could be affected, to determine the appropriate adaptation procedure.