The permanent disability pension Unlike other benefits such as retirement or widowhood, it does not depend only on contributions, but on demonstrating limitations to work, whether for the usual profession or any other. Even so, there are workers who gather medical reports, diagnostic tests and even administrative resolutions, but they forget a document that can be decisive when claiming permanent disability. This is the professionogram, a report that describes in detail what the job is really like and what physical, technical and organizational demands it implies on a day-to-day basis.
Labor lawyer Víctor Arpa summarizes it directly in one of his videos. “Did you know that there is a document that can be key to gaining your permanent disability? It’s called a professional certificate and very few people know about it.” As he explains, “it is a report that details exactly what you do in your job, your functions, schedules, tools you use, physical conditions required, risks and the skills necessary to do it well.”
The General Social Security Law explains that permanent disability is assessed by anatomical or functional reductions that reduce or nullify the worker’s work capacity. Furthermore, to set the degree, the impact of these limitations on the profession practiced before the causative event must be taken into account. The norm itself differentiates between partial, total, absolute and great disability, and in its transitional regime it makes it clear that partial and total disability are connected to the usual profession.
That is why Arpa insists that this document can make a difference. “The company must prepare it.” And he adds that, if you work in a small business, “you ask your boss directly” and, if it is a large company, “the human resources department.” Its usefulness is clear, because “it helps the judge or the INSS see if you can really continue doing your usual profession.”
The importance of the professional profile also fits with the Occupational Risk Prevention Law. This standard obliges the company to evaluate the risks of the position, plan preventive activity and maintain documentation on this evaluation and on working conditions. It also defines a working condition as any characteristic that significantly influences the generation of risks to the worker’s health, including the organization of work.
In practice, this report allows the medical problem to be brought to bear on real work. Accrediting an injury in the abstract is not the same as demonstrating that a cook needs to handle knives, stand for hours, and maintain fine manual dexterity. Talking about lower back pain is not the same as proving that a warehouse worker lifts weight regularly. That is where, according to Arpa, “without a professional certificate it is more difficult to demonstrate that your limitation prevents you from working.”
The lawyer himself also clarifies that it does not always weigh equally. “For absolute permanent disability or severe disability it is not so necessary because we are already talking about any job.” However, in partial or total disabilities for the usual profession, he maintains that “the professional program is vital.”
Therefore, its final message is clear and very practical for any worker who is thinking about claiming. “If you are going to claim a permanent disability, don’t forget it. Always ask for your professional certificate. It can be the evidence that makes the difference between being granted it or being denied it.”