The Superior Court of Justice of Madrid (TSJ) has ruled in favor of a disabled worker to access early retirement with 100% of the pensionthus revoking the decision of the National Social Security Institute (INSS) and the General Treasury of Social Security. The plaintiff, Herminia, had requested a retirement pension at age 61, arguing that she met the requirements due to a 58% disability, but her application was initially rejected by Social Security considering that it did not prove the required years of contributions. with the required degree of disability.
The worker, who suffered poliomyelitis in her childhood (a disease known as polio), worked for more than 35 years facing the consequences of this disease, initially recognized with a degree of disability of 35%. Since it complied with the requirements of Royal Decree 1851/2009, which regulates early retirement for people with a degree of disability equal to or greater than 45%Herminia applied to Social Security for a retirement pension. However, this was deniedsince Social Security considered that did not comply with the 15 years of minimum contributions required with a degree of disability equal to or greater than 45%, arguing that this percentage was only recognized as of 2016 after a review of his file.
This was due to the fact that, in the eyes of Social Security, the years worked with the initial degree of disability of 35% could not be counted under the new scale, which in 2016 raised their degree of disability to 58%. Herminia, not satisfied with this criterion and considering that the update of the percentage did not reflect a worsening of her condition, decided to present a claim to Social Security, which was rejected. Due to this refusal he decided to take his case to court.
The application of reducing coefficients
The Social Court No. 14 of Madrid initially dismissed Herminia’s claim, arguing that did not meet the requirement of having contributed for 15 years with a degree of disability equal to or greater than 45%since this percentage was only officially recognized in 2016 after an update of the scale. Despite the refusal in the first instance, Herminia filed an appeal before the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid (TSJM), which this time did, He agreed with him and corrected the decision by considering that the criteria applied by Social Security was restrictive and contrary to the spirit of the regulations..
The TSJM recognized that the worker had lived with the consequences of polio since childhood and that the initial grade of 35%, awarded in 1990, was raised to 58% in 2016 not due to a worsening of their condition, but rather due to an update of the assessment system. For the court, it was proven that Herminia had worked and contributed with the same functional limitations since the beginning of her working life, thus meeting the requirements to access early retirement. Consequently, it was determined that He was entitled to a pension of 100% of his regulatory base, calculated at 2,137.27 euros per month.
Reduction of retirement age due to disability
The Court was based on Royal Decree 1851/2009, which establishes that workers with a degree of disability equal to or greater than 45% can advance their retirement, as long as they prove a minimum contribution period and that said disability has been caused by pathologies. specific. Furthermore, the TSJM stressed that people with permanent disabilities who suffer from greater physical wear and tear and a shorter life expectancy should benefit from positive treatmentin accordance with the spirit of the standard.
In this case, the court applied an integrative approach, assessing the global impact of Herminia’s disability since its first evaluation in 1990. In this way, it corrected the Social Security criteria by recognizing that the worker had the right to retire early without The change in the scale will affect the calculation of the years worked.