In recent years we have seen how more and more companies hire a private detective to monitor their sick workers, with the suspicion that they are using them fraudulently. A use that, if confirmed, can lead to disciplinary dismissal. Well, although it is less known, labor lawyer Alberto Benítez has explained that they can also monitor beneficiaries of a permanent disability.
“Of course they can monitor you with a detective and if they also monitor you and you carry out one of these following activities that we are going to tell you about now, keep in mind that you could be left without a pension,” he begins by warning. It must be taken into account that if the permanent disability has originated from a common illness or non-work accident, the body that manages it is the National Social Security Institute (INSS).
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In this case, Benítez explains that “this organization does not have any budget for a detective.” However, things change if the disability arose as a result of an occupational disease or work accident. The reason is that, in these cases, it is the mutual insurance companies that are in charge of the management, “and the mutual insurance companies do usually employ detectives.”
What activities can be done and which cannot?
The lawyer responds that, the first thing is to think “with common sense.” “If you have a permanent disability, for example, a total disability as a bricklayer, due to a hernia that has developed with reticulopathy, a lot of limitation and a lot of pain, you cannot go to your friend’s plot on the weekend to help him build a wall or help him clean a house. That is obvious,” he points out.
Furthermore, he adds that if this incompatible activity is carried out on public roads, “for example, running if you have a physical ailment, going to the gym and in other cases working in an absolutely incompatible profession,” those are the cases “in which you will surely get a detective.”
That said, he makes it clear that “if they put a detective on you and catch those activities that are totally incompatible with your permanent disability. I guarantee that 99% of you will be left without a pension.”
Benítez, in his post on Instagram (@bufetejuristas), explains that this surveillance can only occur in public spaces (streets, bars, parks or open social networks), but that it is totally prohibited in private spaces. That is, they cannot record inside the house, look through your window or invade your privacy.
Lastly, as a reminder, he warns that the detective’s report is valid evidence for a disciplinary dismissal and withdrawal of benefits.