Social Security allows workers who are 65 years old and have contributed at least 15 years to access a retirement pension if they stopped working before April 1, 2013. However, this modality is not valid for all workers, since a series of very specific conditions must be met, included in the regulations prior to the pension reform, regulated by Law 27/2011.
The seventh transitional provision of the General Social Security Law is the one that sets the ordinary retirement age, which is used to determine the age of other modalities such as early retirement. In general, there are two ordinary retirement ages. In 2026, one will be 65 years old for those who have at least 38 years and 3 months of contributions and, in the case of not reaching said contributions, the age will be 66 years and 10 months.
This double retirement age is due to the progressive calendar approved by the pension reform and which will end in 2027, when the ordinary age will be set at 67 years, except for those who have 38 years and 6 months of contributions, who will be able to continue retiring at 65 years. That is, if we have been contributing for 15 years, our retirement age will be 66 years and 10 months or 67 years if it is in 2027 onwards.
Now, the General Social Security Law is so dynamic and flexible that it includes some exceptions. One of them is in the fourth transitional provision, which allows previous rules to be applied to access the retirement pension. Specifically, section 5 allows certain workers to retire with the regulations prior to Law 27/2011.
What does this mean? Well, it allows 65-year-old workers with 15 years of contributions to access retirement, as long as the general requirements for access to the contributory pension are met. For this reason, some people can continue retiring under these conditions, although the current ordinary age is higher for those who do not reach long contribution careers.
| Affected group | Condition that must be met | What allows |
|---|---|---|
| People whose employment relationship was terminated before April 1, 2013 | Not having been included in any Social Security scheme since that date | Apply the regulations prior to Law 27/2011 |
| People affected by ERE before April 1, 2013 | That the termination or suspension derives from a file approved before that date | Apply previous legislation |
| People affected by collective agreements, company collective agreements or bankruptcy proceedings | That were approved, subscribed or declared before April 1, 2013 | Maintain the transitional regime |
| Collective company agreements | They must be registered with the INSS or the Social Institute of the Navy | Being able to benefit from the transitional provision |
Who can benefit from this retirement
The first group is that of people whose employment relationship was terminated before April 1, 2013 and who, since then, have not been included in any Social Security regime. That is, it is not enough to have lost your job before that date, but you must not have returned to work, either as an employee or as a self-employed person.
For example, a person who stopped working before April 1, 2013 and who since then has not been registered again in the General Regime, as self-employed or in any other regime of the system, could benefit from this provision if they meet the rest of the requirements required to access the pension.
The second group is that of people whose employment relationship has been terminated or suspended as a result of employment regulation files (ERE), collective agreements, company collective agreements or bankruptcy procedures approved before April 1, 2013. In these cases, the law allows the application of the previous legislation to be maintained, although the specific file will always have to be reviewed.
Not applied automatically
It must be taken into account that this retirement option at age 65 and with 15 years of contributions will be applied when Social Security verifies that the requirements of the fourth transitional provision are met.
Furthermore, the rule itself establishes that Social Security will apply the legislation in force on the date of the causative event when it is most favorable for the worker. That is, Social Security must assess whether it is appropriate to apply the previous or current regulations, depending on each case.
In this way, although the provision allows you to retire at 65 years of age and 15 years of contributions in certain cases, it will be necessary to review your working life, the date of termination of the contract and whether or not there was a new registration in Social Security after April 1, 2013.
Therefore, it is not a general route for all workers with few years of contributions, but rather a legal exception designed for those affected by the transition between the previous regulations and the pension reform. The key is in the fourth transitional provision of the General Social Security Law and, especially, in its section 5.