RTVE to Allow Postponement of Exam for Those Affected by DANA

This Saturday, the exams for the RTVE informant positions, suspended due to the leak of questions in the call on September 29, are repeated. The public corporation will allow the postponement of the exam for those affected by DANA who can justify it. About 5,000 people had applied for the first public broadcaster's exams in 15 years.

The new questions, prepared by the ten members of the opposition tribunal, were ready on Thursday, two days before the test, on Saturday at 5 p.m., at the campus of the Complutense University in Somosaguas (Madrid). With a new questionnaire and a backup one, they were not supposed to be printed until Saturday morning, but since Friday was a holiday, their printing was brought forward.

Many candidates will not be able to travel to Madrid from the Mediterranean coast and other areas due to the consequences of the terrible DANA that caused death and destruction in areas of Valencia and Castilla-La Mancha. The terrible tragedy, which claimed almost 160 lives, caused a hundred road closures in the Valencian Community and Castilla-La Mancha. The high-speed rail connection between Valencia and Madrid also remains closed.

"In light of the severe consequences of DANA that have affected our country, RTVE reminds all candidates that there is a protocol in place to postpone/repeat the tests of the announced selection processes," the public corporation has communicated.

Candidates affected by this tragedy must submit a written request to the employment commission (comisionempleo.protocolo.2llamamiento@rtve.es) "expressly requesting the test to be conducted on a new date, detailing and proving the reason that prevents its completion on the scheduled day." The protocol to postpone or repeat the tests applies in three situations: force majeure; physical impossibility due to pregnancy and/or childbirth and unforeseen and serious health situation not attributable to the candidate.

Two exams have been created, one main and another as a precaution against possible leaks, something not foreseen in the previous call, with 100 questions and 20 reserves each. RTVE has implemented a security system to safeguard the printed questionnaires, without specifying where they will be until the time of the test. In addition to the composition of the two exams, the opposition tribunal asked the company for both questionnaires to be printed as well in case one or the other had to be used as a security measure.

The modifications for the new exam were announced on October 3, days after the cancellation of the first exam. The 5,000 candidates received a message through the internal platform on Sunday, September 29, announcing the cancellation of the exam "due to force majeure" three minutes before its scheduled time at 11 a.m. The tribunal debated for the previous four and a half hours whether to cancel the test, as it was, after confirming that almost all questions and answers had been leaked.

RTVE reported the leak to the Police on the same day, the 29th, and all tribunal members resigned the following day. The corporation launched an internal investigation and later promoted the anti-leak plan that was not fulfilled, as it contemplated printing the exams on the same Saturday. A first complaint was followed by another from the Workers' Commissions union, which was referred to the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (UDEF).

On Thursday, October 17, RTVE opened a disciplinary file against a corporation worker as a result of its internal investigation. A day later, a UGT affiliate was arrested as the alleged perpetrator of the leak. The arrested person, who was not part of the tribunal, refused to testify and was released.