The extraordinary pay of pensions is one of the most anticipated moments for pensioners and retirees, since it is the month in which they receive double their payroll, that is, double the amount they usually receive. Although this extra is collected in the months of June (summer extra pay) and November (Christmas extra pay), a full monthly payment is not always charged, specifically when it comes to the first year of collection, suspension or death of the pensioner.
Alfonso Muñoz Cuenca, a Social Security official, explains in a video when extraordinary payments are collected and, above all, how they are calculated in cases in which the pension has just been recognized (less than a year of collecting it) or when it is extinguished (due to the pensioner’s death). “Generally, pensioners receive the extra pay in the June and November monthly payments,” explains Alfonso, adding that “as a general rule, the amount of an extra pay is the same as an ordinary monthly payment.”
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Now, as he explains, this does not happen when the pensioner has just started collecting the pension or when he or she dies. In these cases, “both in the initial recognition of the pension and in the event of termination of the benefit, this extra payment is paid at the rate of one-sixth for each month that the pensioner has been registered,” explains the Social Security official.
How extra payments are calculated
The calculation of extraordinary payments is made in accrual periods, where there are two throughout the year. “The months between December 1 and May 31” correspond to the extra pay for June, while “the months between June 1 and November 30” correspond to the extra pay for November, Explain.
Now, something important that new retirees should keep in mind is that just one day will be enough to generate a month of accrual. “It will be enough to only charge one day, just one day of one of those months, for one sixth to be counted.” This means that if a pensioner begins to collect his pension on the last day of the month, that month will already count as one sixth of the calculation of the extra pay.
To understand it better, Alfonso gives an example. “Let’s imagine that a pensioner is recognized with a retirement pension in the amount of 1,200 euros with effect on April 25. This pensioner will collect his monthly payment and when the June monthly payment arrives, he will collect his normal monthly payment, plus two-sixths corresponding to the months of April (even though he started the pension on April 25) and May.”
The example, in the pocket of a pensioner, would be in such a way that if the pensioner in June will collect 1,200 euros of his ordinary monthly payment plus 66.66 euros (two sixths of 1,200 euros, that is, 200 euros divided by 3). Therefore, Alfonso explains, “he will receive 400 euros of extra pay” in total, although the reference to 400 euros includes the full proportion that corresponds to him.
What happens when a pensioner dies
In cases where a pensioner dies and therefore the pension is extinguished, the mechanics are very similar. Alfonso explains that “the extra pay will be paid together with the last monthly payment paid to the pensioner. And if not, it will be paid as accrued and not received.”
If we follow the example that we have given before, “let’s imagine that this pensioner dies on September 25. Well, in the September monthly payment, this pensioner will receive 100 euros plus then four-sixths corresponding to the months of June, July, August and September,” explains the INSS official. In this case, the calculation would be 100 euros of the ordinary monthly payment plus the 400 euros of the four sixths (100 euros x 4 months divided by 6). “Therefore, he will receive 800 euros in extra pay,” Alfonso ends by saying.
If we look at what it says Social Security websitein the event that the death registration is processed before the next monthly payroll is issued, the settlement would be deposited directly into the pensioner’s bank account, without the need for the heirs to carry out any type of additional procedure.
Extraordinary payment for permanent disability resulting from a work accident
Alfonso Muñoz explains that in the cases of permanent disability pensions resulting from a work accident and occupational disease, these are “paid in 12 monthly installments because the extra pay is prorated in the ordinary monthly installments.” That is, it is not that you do not have extra pay, but that it is paid month by month within the ordinary monthly payment.
Therefore, each month they charge a slightly higher amount, but they do not have the ‘extra’ as such in the months of June and November. This difference is because, as the official Alfonso Muñoz explains, benefits derived from work accidents and occupational illnesses are paid in 12 monthly installments. This is so, since this is stated in article 46 of the General Social Security Law, which establishes the payment in fourteen installments corresponding to contributory pensions derived from common contingencies.