Lanbide has published a decree to regulate open agreements with employment agencies

Lanbide and employment agencies may henceforth sign open agreements to jointly provide job intermediation and placement. Decree 144/2026, promoted by the Department of Economy, Labor and Employment of the Basque Government, establishes the framework for this collaboration and was published in issue number 204 of the Official Gazette of the Basque Country (Boletín Oficial del País Vasco) on October 26, 2026, with official reference 2026/4471. The regulation will enter into force the day after its publication, on October 27.

Legal protection and background

The text develops Law 15/2023, of December 21, on Employment, which assigns to Lanbide the responsibility of guaranteeing all services of the Basque Employment Network. Article 56.3 of that law explicitly provides for collaboration with employment agencies, and Article 57 regulates the figure of open agreements: tools that enable the participation of different entities, without selecting one over another and without the obligation to submit bids. This formula is supported by the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union and is based on the ninety-ninth additional provision of Law 9/2017, of November 8, on Public Sector Contracts.

The precedents are not insignificant. The Resolution of January 23, 2015 (BOPV, February 2, 2015) and the Resolution of October 27, 2022 (BOPV, November 7, 2022) established the procedure to become a collaborating entity of Lanbide, but without remuneration and limited to the search and registration of offers. The Decree takes a step further: full and paid management.

Who may participate and under what conditions

Any natural or legal person with the status of an employment agency may sign the agreement, according to Article 43 of Law 3/2023 and Royal Decree 1796/2010, provided that the following conditions are met:

• At least two people for public attention in each center, of whom at least 50% must hold a university degree.
• At least 50% of the staff providing attention to workers must have six months of experience in employment programs or human resources management.
• An IT system capable of using Lanbide’s offer management application, verified by a responsible declaration.

Applications may be submitted from January 1 to March 31, but an exception has been established for 2026: one month from the day after publication, that is, from October 27 to November 26. The resolution period is three months, and silence implies that the application has been rejected. After receiving approval, the agreement must be signed within 15 days.

Remuneration: 112 euros per offer and 500 euros per hire

Remuneration is linked solely to results and is paid according to the activities verified by Lanbide:

• 112 euros for the processing of an offer (excluding VAT), provided it ends in a hiring, if at least three suitable candidates are sent or if the offer has been published on Lanbide’s website for at least 15 days.
• Additional amount according to the qualification level: 5% for level B and 10% for level C.
• 500 euros for each Social Security registration, if the hired person remains in the company for six continuous months.
• Increases according to the collective: 50% for those under 30 in the Youth Guarantee System, 100% for those over 45, 150% for those with a disability of 33% or more, and 150% for victims of terrorism or gender-based violence.
• An additional 50% in cases of long-term unemployment, and 15% for those receiving the Minimum Income Guarantee or the Minimum Vital Income.
• At the end of the year, an additional 5% or 10%, depending on the percentage of information provided by companies regarding the results.

Payment will be made monthly, and the remuneration for hirings will only be paid after six months have passed. Agencies may not receive any remuneration from either the users or the companies, and they may not subcontract the activity.

Validity, control and impact

The validity of the agreements is from the date of signing until March 31st of the second natural year, and they will be automatically extended for one year, up to a maximum of two times. Lanbide will evaluate each agency after one year, and if the evaluation is not passed, the agreement will be terminated; in that case, and if false offers are registered, the agency may not reapply for twelve months. Economic control may also be carried out by the Economic Control Office of the Basque Government and the Court of Auditors of the Basque Country.

The decree also establishes a spending limit: Lanbide will annually specify the maximum volume of activities that can generate remuneration, and once that limit is exceeded, it will take over the service directly. Some offers are excluded, such as contracts through temporary employment agencies or companies within the agencies’ own groups.

The regulation opens the management of job mediation to the private sector, with public remuneration and without selection competitions, but Lanbide maintains the registry of offers, the verification of suitability, and the control of availability. For the unemployed, therefore, the core of the change is not only the participation of more agencies, but also paying them according to their activity results and evaluating them annually.

Fuente: Boletín Oficial del País Vasco, number 204, October 26, 2026, Section I (General Provisions) (official reference: 2026/4471).