Glossary entry

Spanish term or phrase:

servicios definitivos

English translation:

Definitive employment/work

Added to glossary by Ruth Ramsey
May 10, 2016 17:59
8 yrs ago
1 viewer *
Spanish term

servicios definitivos

Spanish to English Other Education / Pedagogy University Transcript
Teaching Service Record (Generalitat Valenciana)

This is another heading in a teacher's service record (in Valencia). Below is the definition provided by my client.

"Servicios definitivos" is the period when, being a civil servant, you have your final destination. So, servicios provisionales and servicios definitivos are part of my civil service professional career."

Any suggestions on how to word this would be very welcome.

"Serv.Inter. = Servicios interinos

Serv.Prac. = Servicios de Prácticas

Serv.Lab = Servicios Laborales

Serv.Prov. = Servicios provisionales

Serv.Def. = Servicios definitivos"

Discussion

Charles Davis May 11, 2016:
@Neil It's not that "full-time" isn't true of people who are in "servicios definitivos", who do normally work full-time (though as Helena says they can go part-time; I know of people who have), but the trouble is that it also fits "servicios provisionales" and the others, who also normally work full-time, so it doesn't work as a term to distinguish "definitivos" from the others. By the way, "full-time" and "permanent" are different issues; you can be part-time and permanent or full-time and temporary.
neilmac May 11, 2016:
It depends on your definition I understand "full-time" to mean 5 days a weeek, 8 hours a day and (usually) to be more or less permanent. As opposed to part-time, which would be the opposite. I do not accept that my lifelong understanding and use of the term is "wrong".
Robert Carter May 10, 2016:
I have to say I agree with Helena, full-time is not what is meant here. It seems to be similar to the system in Mexico. I know teachers here who have actually been "temporary" for years, that is, they haven't been given permanent or tenured positions ("basificación"), even though they are working full-time. My wife had an "interinato" position for nearly 5 years before becoming "de base", which meant that not only was she "temporary", but was also acting as a "supply" teacher, filling in for a person who clearly wasn't returning, yet still "owned" the "plaza".

Proposed translations

+3
7 mins
Selected

Full-time service/s

One way of putting it. A literal translation also works for me (Definitive services).


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Note added at 8 mins (2016-05-10 18:07:47 GMT)
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Cf: "provisional or definitive duties..."

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Note added at 10 mins (2016-05-10 18:09:10 GMT)
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http://www.book-me.net/download/definitive-employment-guide-...
Peer comment(s):

agree peter jackson : "definitive" is better; I think, since the other services were probably full-tiime but just not in the teacher's "destino definitivo" which is what is being referred to.
6 mins
agree Helena Chavarria : I agree with Peter, 'definitive' is right and 'full-time' is wrong. All teachers, regardless of their category, can decide to work half-time.
1 hr
agree Patricia Fierro, M. Sc.
3 hrs
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3 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks Neil. I went with a literal translation in the end but included a TN as per my client's explanation of the term."
+2
1 hr

permanent employment/positions

Although you could use services as a translation for "servicios", in English we normally use work, employment or position. The "servicios" part comes from "prestar servicios" which means to work [for] or to be employed.

So in this case, you could just use "permanent positions" or "permanent employment".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permanent_employment

It might make the other terms easier to translate too, e.g. supply/substitute positions, internship positions, temporary positions, etc. (not sure about "servicios laborales", would that be labour-related positions, perhaps union-related?). Saludos.
Peer comment(s):

agree neilmac : It's a more or less permanent teaching post...
34 mins
Thanks, Neil.
agree Helena Chavarria : Yes, it's permanent unless a teacher decides they want to move to another school. In that case, they have to earn merits by doing courses,etc. and 'win' a new post. 'Comisión de servicios' also exists, which I don't have room to explain here!
1 hr
Thanks, Helena. Sounds similar to what is being implement here (Mexico), with the "concurso de plazas". Also, just to mention that "permanent" refers to the employment status (benefits, seniority, etc.), not to the specific job or post.
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14 hrs

established status

Late to the party... I would propose a different approach that expresses the effective meaning of the term rather than its literal meaning. I am very familiar with the terms themselves, since my wife is a member of this very cuerpo (in this very autonomous community).

For the "servicios" part, I think "status" is the word that best captures what it's really referring to. Of course it refers literally to the services the teacher is providing to the education system, but we're really talking here about a teacher's career path. After passing the oposición, the progress from prácticas (the first year) to provisional (the next couple of years) to definitivo is really automatic, and the work is the same; the only real difference when you become definitivo is that you get to choose your post and it is your "property", whereas in the prácticas and provisionales stages you are sent wherever they choose to send you, and although you're not an interino (which means you're in the bolsa de trabajo, you haven't passed the oposición), the post is not yet yours by right; you can in theory be supplanted by an established teacher and sent somewhere else. This can't happen, in theory, once you're "definitivo".

I think the best way of conveying the essential idea, as I say, is to use "status" for "servicios". From the teacher's own point of view this is what it amounts to, since what changes is not the nature of the work but your employment rights. The hierarchy which determines the "pecking order" within a department (who gets to choose their teaching groups first, who has priority for the rotating position of head of department, etc.) is how many years' service you have since you became definitivo.

It is quite common to refer to teachers that have been confirmed in their position and acquired long-term employment protection as "established", and this term is often used in referring to systems, like Spain's, where state teachers are civil servants. I would borrow this and use "established status" for "servicios definitivos" and "provisional status" for "servicios provisionales".

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Note added at 14 hrs (2016-05-11 08:19:23 GMT)
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My slight problem with "permanent" is that as soon as you are a funcionario you are "permanent" in the sense it's normally used (lifelong employment protection). The particular post you're assigned to is not permanent in the provisional stage, but then it's not permanent in the definitivo stage either, since you can apply to move at any time in a concurso de traslados. And "definitive" just doesn't sound natural to me in English.
Note from asker:
Thanks for your very comprehensive explanation, Charles!
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