The Social Chamber of the High Court of Justice of the Canary Islands (TSJC), with Justice Gloria Poyatos Matas as the presiding judge, has dismissed the appeal filed by the Ministry of the Interior against the judgment issued by the Social Court No. 9 of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The court ruling fully upholds the order for the General State Administration to pay a public employee assigned to the Las Palmas II Penitentiary Center (Juan Grande, southern Gran Canaria) the amount of €3.945,60 as a supplement for temporary incapacity (IT) corresponding to the period between July 28, 2016, and April 7, 2017.
The litigation stems from a claim for payment filed by an employee working as a permanent staff member, holding the position of senior technician specializing in electrotechnical installations, under the framework of the Third Single Collective Bargaining Agreement for staff of the General State Administration. The plaintiff, assigned to the prison located in the province of Gran Canaria, went on sick leave due to a common illness on July 28, 2016, and this period of incapacity continued until his discharge due to recovery or improvement in April 2017. During this time, the employer applied deductions and withheld salary supplements, citing budgetary stability regulations and the simultaneous execution of disciplinary sanctions involving suspension from employment and pay.
The main legal controversy centered on the interpretation of the limits set forth in Article 9 and the Eighteenth Additional Provision of Royal Decree-Law 20/2012, of July 13, on measures to guarantee budgetary stability and promote competitiveness. The legal representation of the Ministry of the Interior argued in its appeal that temporary disability supplements should not operate as an automatic salary supplement to reach full earnings, but rather as a tool to curb absenteeism, limiting the percentages to be received during sick leave. Additionally, the state's defense attempted to introduce into the appeal the economic impact of complying with suspensions from employment and pay imposed on the employee.
The regional court dismissed the arguments of the State Attorney's Office after analyzing the applicable regulations and the procedural actions at the lower court level. The court reasoned that the allegation regarding disciplinary sanctions constituted a new issue not formally raised during the trial held in the labor court, which directly contravened the procedural prohibition against introducing new facts or legal arguments during the appeals phase. Regarding the financial aspect of the claim, the judges declared that the provisions of Royal Decree-Law 20/2012 require the employer to pay supplementary temporary disability benefits when the basic levels of common incapacity are exceeded, and that the administration cannot evade paying the outstanding salary differences.
Since the appellant did not challenge the mathematical rigor of the calculation of the claimed salary differences, the High Court of Justice of the Canary Islands (TSJC) upheld the plaintiff's right to receive the net amount of €3.945,60 awarded at the lower court. The ruling also orders the appellant administration to pay court costs in the amount of €800, thus consolidating the legal precedent regarding employer obligations in public sector workplaces in the region and reaffirming the legal certainty surrounding the remuneration of personnel assigned to essential services and penitentiary institutions in the archipelago. This judicial decision strengthens oversight of the cuts to temporary disability benefits implemented by the State in strategic operational centers in the province of Las Palmas, establishing a firm precedent regarding the inviolability of the supplements recognized in public sector collective bargaining agreements.
