To access the permanent disability pension, you must go through a medical tribunal known as the Disability Assessment Team (EVI), which will ask us a series of questions, which many describe as “trick questions” and that lead to a denial of permanent disability. This is explained by lawyer Miriam Ruiz Acosta, from Compromiso Legal specialized in labor law and Social Security, where she narrates how a worker who, after a work accident, 18 months of medical leave and a visit to the Disability Assessment Team (EVI), received a resolution denying permanent disability.
Not for lack of injuries, but because the summary medical report documented that he swept and scrubbed the door of the building for several minutes. “They denied him permanent disability for sweeping and scrubbing the door of his house. Yes, it is just as I told you,” says the lawyer.
The worker had suffered a work accident with several broken ribs. The 18 months of temporary disability have been exhausted that establishes article 174 of the General Law of Social Security as the maximum period of medical leave, Social Security initiated the permanent disability procedure ex officio. After going through the medical court, the resolution came and it was denied.
Ruiz Acosta reads the literal text of the synthesis report (the document that the EVI prepares just after the evaluation and that determines whether or not the benefit is granted). What it said was this: “It has been proven that the man walks for a long period of time without the help of any artificial support. In addition, he carries out activities of sweeping and scrubbing the street door in front of his building for several minutes while standing. He bends down repeatedly and also carries weight by picking up buckets of water,” the report states.
The conclusion of the EVI was that these activities demonstrated that the worker did not present “serious anatomical or functional reductions that would disable him for his profession. We can say that this person is denied permanent disability for sweeping and scrubbing the door of his house,” summarizes the lawyer.
trick questions
The key to the case is how the EVI obtains that information. “Many times when you go to the medical court they ask you questions about your daily life that a priori seem to have no intention, but which, as you can see, can determine that you are denied a permanent disability,” warns Ruiz Acosta.
The usual questions about what activities you do at home, if you can walk, if you drive or if you shop do not seek to know the general situation of the applicant. They serve to build the argument of the synthesis report. And that report, as this case demonstrates, can collect verbatim what the worker said about his routines.
Preparation prior to visiting the medical court is, therefore, decisive. It is not about lying, but about accurately explaining the real limitations and the effort or pain involved in the activities carried out. There is a legally important difference between “I sweep the front door” and “sometimes, with a lot of pain and taking twice as long as normal, I can sweep for a few minutes before having to stop.”
The lawyer adds a point that most are unaware of. Although the denial resolution can be challenged, “that does not prevent you from having the obligation to return to your job,” it warns. Challenging a denial of permanent disability does not have suspensive effects, which means that while the judicial process is being carried out, the worker must return to his company. Only when there is an active temporary disability or a new medical leave can this reinstatement be postponed.