Benquerencia approves the regulations for rural collaborative programs

The City Council of Benquerencia de la Serena has definitively approved the Internal Regulations for Rural Collaborative Programs, a regulation that governs the working day, permits, vacations, and the disciplinary regime for student-workers in socio-labor insertion within the municipality. The agreement, adopted in an ordinary plenary session on June 25, 2026, is published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Badajoz number 172, dated September 9, 2026, via announcement 3524/2026.

The definitive approval comes after the public exhibition process opened with the initial publication of the regulation in BOP number 128, dated July 8, 2026, a period during which no objections were filed. The regulation shall apply to all coordinating and teaching staff, as well as to the beneficiaries of projects promoted by the council, without prejudice to the Workers’ Statute, collective agreements, and the specific regulations of these programs.

An employment program for rural areas

Rural collaborative projects are active employment policy programs designed by the Autonomous Community of Extremadura for groups with integration difficulties and people at risk of social exclusion, with special attention to populations of fewer than 5,000 inhabitants. In Benquerencia de la Serena, they are subsidized by the Extremadura Public Employment Service (SEXPE) and the European Social Fund, with a duration of six months during which training alternates with productive work in works and services.

• Comprehensive training of the student-worker as a specialist in their occupation.
• Occupational health and safety measures.
• Support for the future labor insertion of participants.

Working day, vacations, and permits

The working day is set at 37.5 hours per week, with a guiding schedule from 7:30 to 15:00, and a minimum of 35% of hours mandatory for theoretical classes. The control of attendance and delays is the responsibility of the coordination team along with the teacher, with the working day recorded in attendance sheets.

• Three instances of tardiness are equivalent to one unjustified absence, resulting in a one-day payroll deduction.
• Delays exceeding sixty minutes are considered an unjustified absence.
• Paid vacations of 22 business days or 30 calendar days per year.
• Paid leave for marriage (15 days), birth of a child or death of relatives (3 days), change of residence (2 days), and 16 weeks of maternity leave, among others.

Disciplinary regime

The regulations classify offenses as minor, serious, and very serious, with a catalog of sanctions ranging from a verbal warning to disciplinary dismissal. Minor offenses expire after ten days, serious offenses after twenty, and very serious offenses after sixty. For serious and very serious offenses, a disciplinary proceeding is initiated, with a disciplinary committee composed of the management-coordination, the Mayor-President, and the City Council Secretary, the latter serving as the instructor.

• Minor offenses: verbal warning, written caution, or a one-day suspension.
• Serious offenses: expulsion for one to two days or suspension for two to six days.
• Very serious offenses: suspension for seven to thirty days or disciplinary dismissal.

An administrative appeal may be filed against the agreement within two months before the High Court of Justice of Extremadura, in accordance with Article 19 of Royal Legislative Decree 2/2004, of March 5. The regulation, signed by Mayor-President Antonio María Triviño Hidalgo, provides legal certainty to a key program for the socio-labor integration of residents of a rural Extremaduran municipality, guaranteeing clear rights and obligations for participants throughout the duration of the projects.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Badajoz, No. 172, September 9, 2026, Local Administration, p. 2-11 (official reference: announcement 3524/2026).