The Superior Court of Justice of Aragon has denied a worker who had both legs amputated access to a pension of 1,642.92 euros per month for absolute permanent disability plus a supplement of 963.90 additional euros for severe disability. Social Security denied permanent disability because the worker was already of normal retirement age and already met the requirements to retire.
According to the ruling of the Judiciarythe worker began medical leave in June 2022 due to circulation problems in his legs and, what began as a treatable process, led to serious complications. In 2023 he had to undergo surgery six times in different hospitals in Aragon, with two failed attempts to restore circulation to his lower limbs and an emergency operation for internal bleeding. On December 27, 2023, his left leg was amputated. On April 10, 2024, the right.
Given this situation, Social Security opened a file to recognize his permanent disability and four days later they denied it. The reason is that the worker had already reached the ordinary retirement age (66 years and 7 months). Since he was not satisfied, he decided to appeal to the courts and both the Social Court number 1 of Zaragoza and then the Superior Court of Justice of Aragon once again ruled in favor of Social Security.
To understand this criterion, you must know that severe disability is the maximum degree of permanent disability and is granted when the person cannot work in any type of job and also needs the help of a third person for the most basic acts of daily life such as eating, dressing or moving. In this case, Social Security pays a specific monthly supplement to cover this assistance, which in this case amounts to 963.90 euros per month, more than 13,000 euros per year that the worker will not receive.
Permanent disability cannot be recognized upon reaching retirement age
The TSJ does not question that the worker has the injuries that would justify this recognition, but the problem is in what the General Law of Social Security. Article 195.1 says that “the right to permanent disability benefits derived from common contingencies will not be recognized when the beneficiary, on the date of the causative event, is of the age provided for in article 205.1.a) and meets the requirements to access the retirement pension.” Both conditions were met for this worker, since he was 67 years and 7 months old and met the requirements to retire.
The worker alleged that a 2022 Supreme Court ruling allowed this criterion to be made more flexible for those who retired early due to disability with a reducing age coefficient. The Court rules it out, because this doctrine applies when the worker has not yet reached the ordinary retirement age, a situation that does not occur in this case.
For this reason, the worker could not access permanent disability but could access the retirement pension.
Difference between retirement pension and permanent disability
The worker requested the retirement pension in April 2024 and it was recognized in May, with a 4% increase for having retired later than the legal age. It charges 99.82% of a regulatory base of 1,841.46 euros per month, plus that extra percentage.
If the severe disability had been recognized, he would have received 1,642.92 euros for the absolute permanent disability plus the 963.90 euros for the supplement. The monthly difference is around 768 euros, or more than 10,700 euros per year.