La Rioja expands 100% remote work for health and gender-based violence

The Governing Council of La Rioja has approved Decree 17/2026, of August 25, which modifies Decree 45/2021, of July 28, regulating teleworking for civil service and contractual staff of the General Administration of the Autonomous Community of La Rioja and its autonomous bodies. The regulation, published in the Official Gazette of La Rioja number 164 on Thursday, August 27, 2026 (pages 14885 and 14886), extends occasional teleworking due to force majeure up to 100% of the working day for those who prove health problems or are victims of gender-based violence.

The decree provides a new wording for Article 13 of Decree 45/2021, which develops the teleworking recognized in Article 47.bis of Royal Legislative Decree 5/2015, of October 30, approving the revised text of the Law of the Basic Statute of the Public Employee, and in Article 59 of Law 9/2023, of May 5, on the public service of La Rioja. The text was jointly negotiated with the Sectoral Collective Bargaining Table for General Services and the Works Council in the meeting of May 15, 2026.

Two scenarios for extended teleworking

The new wording of Article 13 provides two ways to access this modality:

• Gender-based violence and family care: public employees who are victims of gender-based violence, or those who must care for family members (parents, children, siblings, spouse, or domestic partner) with a serious illness or accident certified by the Public Health Service or a health body, may telework for a minimum of 10 days and a maximum of 3 months, extendable in 3-month periods as long as the causing event persists.
• Personal health reasons: staff who, for health reasons certified by the Occupational Risk Prevention Service of the Autonomous Community and which do not justify a situation of temporary disability, need to provide services non-presentially, may request teleworking for a minimum of 10 days and a maximum of 6 months, extendable in 6-month periods.

In both cases, the distribution of the working day in teleworking modality may reach 100% of the working day.

Extraordinary procedure

For these cases, an extraordinary and agile processing procedure is established:

• The application must be submitted at least 3 days in advance of the start of the modality.
• The applicant shall begin teleworking on the day and at the location indicated in their application, without prejudice to the subsequent issuance of the authorization or denial resolution.
• Ordinary requirements (articles 7, 15, 17, and 18 of the decree) are submitted a posteriori, within the maximum resolution period.
• Until a definitive resolution exists, teleworking personnel must have the necessary technological means to ensure the effective provision of services.

Entry into force and signature

The decree, signed in Logroño on August 25, 2026, by the president Gonzalo Capellán de Miguel and the counselor of Finance, Public Governance, Digital Society, and Government Spokesperson, Alfonso Domínguez Simón, shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Gazette of La Rioja, that is, August 28, 2026.

The measure responds to the experience accumulated in the processing of the procedures for granting and denying telework, and seeks to guarantee an adequate organization of work and better fulfillment of the general interest purposes entrusted to the Riojan Administration. With this extension, public employees with accredited health problems or victims of gender-based violence will be able to balance their healthcare and personal needs without giving up the effective provision of their services.

Source: Official Gazette of La Rioja, no. 164, August 27, 2026, section I. General Provisions, pp. 14885-14886 (official reference: BOR-A-20260827-I–72).