To receive a contributory retirement pension in Spain, it is necessary to be registered or assimilated and have at least 15 years of contributions throughout your working life. In addition, it is mandatory to comply with the specific requirement, which is that at least two years are included within the last 15 years prior to the time of application. Failure to meet these requirements may result in Social Security denying your retirement pension. This is what happened to Elisenda, a worker who, despite having accumulated more than 21 years of contributions, was denied a retirement pension by Social Security. The reason was that did not meet the specific deficiency due to a prolonged interruption in their contributions during the final years of their working life. In other words, he did not meet the minimum two years required within the stipulated period.
As detailed in the ruling, in October 2022, Elisenda requested a retirement pension from the National Social Security Institute (INSS), which was denied because she did not meet the specific deficiency requirement. Although had contributed to the Social Security system for more than 21 yearsdid not reach the two years of contributions (730 days) necessary within the last 15 years prior to his application, registering only 651 days.
This worker accumulated a total of 7,957 days of contributions, of which 540 corresponded to contributions similar to child care, also known as fictitious contributions. For each child, 270 days are assigned, and by having two children, this worker was able to add 540 additional days.
Even so, the reason they denied him the pension was that, between May 30, 1994 and September 11, 2001, she did not make contributions nor was she registered as a job seekerwhich caused it to not comply with the specific deficiency requirement established in article 205.1.b) of the General Social Security Law.
Not satisfied with this decision with the Social Security resolution, this worker decided to go to court. In the first instance, the Social Court No. 8 of Zaragoza ruled against him, supporting the Social Security decision. Subsequently, he filed an appeal before the Superior Court of Justice of Aragon, which also rejected his request. Finally, in a last attempt, he took the case to the Supreme Court, for which he had to file an appeal.
Parenthesis Doctrine
Once in the Supreme CourtElisenda sought to have the so-called “parenthesis doctrine” applied to her, a legal principle that allows discount certain periods of inactivity or without contributions when these interruptions are due to causes beyond the control of the worker, such as involuntary unemployment. In other words, the idea was that the last years of your working life in which you could not work will not be counted, in order to have the right to the pension.
In this sense, the Supreme Court determined that in this case, this worker did not meet the requirements. The reasons were that, for more than seven years, she did not contribute nor was she registered as a job seeker, and no evidence was presented that she his work inactivity would have been involuntary. Therefore, the High Court could not apply the doctrine due to this lack of justification and the prolonged period without contributions.
With this, the Supreme Court determined that the worker did not comply with the requirement established in article 205.1.b of Royal Legislative Decree 8/2015, which regulates the General Social Security Law, which is, as we have said before, having contributed at least two of the last 15 years prior to the application.
For everything, Elisenda did not meet the requirements to access the retirement pensionalthough this does not mean that you will not have the right in the future. If the worker meets all the requirements, she may resubmit an application for recognition.