The Superior Court of Justice of Madrid (TSJM) has recognized the right of a worker to receive the early retirement pension with a regulatory base of 2,856.24 eurosafter rejecting the initial decision of the National Social Security Institute (INSS). The plaintiff had requested early retirement at age 58 due to a 53% congenital disability, but His application was denied in the first instance by Social Securityarguing that it did not comply with the minimum days of contributions required under your degree of disability.
According to the ruling to which he has had access NewsWorkthis worker, suffered from a congenital disability resulting from a malformation caused by thalidomide and severe scoliosis. He had worked for more than 18 years for the company Mercedes Benz Retail SA and had the necessary contributions to access 100% of the pension. Since 1982, a degree of disability not less than 33%which in 2019 was updated to 53% according to new scales.
With this new degree of disability, in February 2021, I requested Social Security to access early retirement due to disability under Royal Decree 1851/2009, but it was denied. The Social Security alleged that it did not reach the minimum 5,475 days of contributions with a degree of disability equal to or greater than 45%. Furthermore, the National Social Security Institute maintained that the plaintiff’s termination of employment had not occurred as a result of a business restructuring, another of the requirements contemplated by the regulations to access early retirement.
As stated in ruling 2916/2023, Social Security questioned the validity of the disability recognized since 1982, arguing that the update to 53% carried out in 2019 could not be backdated to compute the worker’s entire working life. In turn, it considered the contribution period insufficient under the disability criteria established by law.
For the worker, this decision did not take into account that his disability had been present from the beginning of his working career and consistently affected their ability to work. After the initial refusal, the plaintiff filed a prior claim, which was also rejected, and finally went to court seeking justice.
He was entitled to 100% of the retirement pension
In the first instance, the Social Court No. 32 of Madrid ruled against her, that is, it ruled in favor of Social Security, which is why she was denied access to her retirement pension. Given this ruling, the plaintiff filed an appeal before the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid (TSJM).
In the TSJ of Madrid, the case focused on determining whether the worker met the legal requirements to receive the early retirement pension with the full regulatory base of 2,856.24 euros per monthconsidering your degree of disability and your contribution history. After reviewing the arguments of both parties, the court recognized that the plaintiff’s disability, although recalculated in 2019, had been present since 1982, when he was granted a degree of no less than 33%. This consideration allowed the court to retrograde the calculation of contributions under the necessary degree of disability.
Disability recognized from the beginning of your working life
The court considered that the plaintiff had sufficiently proven his disability since 1982derived from congenital malformations and severe scoliosis, according to the scales in force at that time. This rejected the Social Security argument, which placed the start of the relevant degree of disability in 2019. According to the TSJM, the plaintiff complied with the required contribution days under the regulatory degree of disability, which allowed early retirement.
Furthermore, the court highlighted that the plaintiff largely met the requirement of having a degree of disability greater than 45%, since he was recognized as 53% in the 2019 review. This factor, combined with the current regulations, justified the application of the reducing coefficients that allow the minimum retirement age to be reduced in these cases.
Regarding the regulatory basis, the TSJM determined that The pension had to be calculated at 100% of this, that is, 2,856.24 euros per monthand that the INSS had to pay the benefit retroactively from the effective date, set on February 16, 2021. The ruling also established that the plaintiff had the right to the corresponding revaluations of his pension.
To base its decision, the TSJM based itself on the article 206 bis of Royal Legislative Decree 8/2015which regulates early retirement for people with disabilities, and in previous Supreme Court rulings that establish clear precedents on the retroactive application of the degrees of disability recognized under previous regulations. Finally, the court determined that the INSS had incorrectly interpreted the regulations and confirmed the worker’s full right to receive the pension in its entirety.