La Rioja publishes the private elderly care residence agreement for 2026-2028

The Official Gazette of La Rioja publishes this Friday, October 9, 2026, the collective bargaining agreement for the activity of Private Residences for the Elderly in La Rioja, valid for 2026-2028. The General Directorate of Labor and Occupational Health, under the Department of Economy, Innovation, Business and Self-Employment, orders its registration in the registry and its publication through Resolution 881/2026, of October 1. The text, signed on September 8, 2026, and with code 26001285012005, establishes a decreasing annual working day, staggered salary increases, and 80% permanent contracts.

The agreement is signed, on the employer side, by the Association of Residences for the Elderly of La Rioja (ARTE) and LARES, and on the union side by UGT, CCOO, CSIF, and USO. It applies throughout the Autonomous Community of La Rioja to companies and establishments acting as residences for the elderly—assisted, non-assisted, and mixed—for permanent or temporary stays, as well as to day centers. Residences owned and managed by the Public Administration and companies whose primary purpose is specific healthcare are excluded.

The agreement comes into force on January 1, 2026, and extends until December 31, 2028. The resolution bears the signature of the Director General of Labor and Occupational Health, Pilar Simón Estefanía, and is based on Article 90 of the Workers’ Statute and Royal Decree 713/2010, regarding the registration and deposit of agreements.

Decreasing annual working day and staggered salary increases

Article 31 establishes a maximum annual effective working day of 1,765 hours in 2026, 1,758 hours in 2027, and 1,750 hours in 2028, after deducting vacations and non-recoverable holidays. Following the publication of the IX State Framework Agreement, its provisions shall apply. The minimum weekly rest is 36 uninterrupted hours and, from 2027, schedules must include 17 full weekends of rest per year.

The attached salary tables record these increases:

• 2026: 4.75% over the 2025 tables.
• 2027: 5.25% over the 2026 tables.
• 2028: 5% over the 2027 tables.

In 2026, the monthly base salary for group A (Administrator, Manager, Director) is 2,285.91 euros, while that of the Geriatric Caregiver and Nursing Assistant is 1,259.53 euros. The transport allowance is 50.28 euros, seniority is 21 euros per three-year period—23 euros for new three-year periods generated since January 1, 2026—and the remuneration for Sundays is 20 euros.

Employment stability: 80% permanent contracts

Article 13 obliges all affected companies to maintain 80% of personnel with permanent contracts throughout the term of the agreement. The calculation is based on the positions continuously occupied during the previous year, and companies shall report the percentage in January and July. Those who do not comply must convert temporary contracts into permanent ones in order of seniority, excluding substitutions. A twelve-month moratorium is established for newly opened centers or services.

The agreement also creates a semi-annual observatory on employment and the sector, and reserves 2% of the workforce for people with disabilities in companies with more than 50 workers.

Staff Subrogation and Joint Commission

Chapter XIII regulates the assignment of personnel at the end of a contract: the incoming company subrogates all rights and obligations, with a minimum seniority of three months, and must provide personnel with a document recognizing seniority and category within the following thirty days. Supporting documentation shall be sent within three business days.

The joint commission, composed of twelve people—six representing the employer side and six representing the union—assumes the interpretation, mediation, and oversight of the agreement, with headquarters in Logroño, calle Gran Vía 54 (Torreblanca building). The text adheres to the Agreement on Extrajudicial Resolution of Labor Conflicts (ASEC) and the Labor Court of La Rioja.

The agreement organizes the labor conditions of the entire private social-health sector in La Rioja for three years, with a path of working hour reductions and increases totaling 15% over the triennium, and reinforces contractual stability in a field with high temporality.

Source: Official Gazette of La Rioja, no. 195, October 9, 2026, section III (Other provisions and acts), page 17124 (official reference: BOR-A-20261009-III–3804).