Social Security allows you to contribute without working through what is known as “special agreements“, which allow you to continue paying the contributions out of your own pocket so that benefits such as the retirement pension are not affected. This alternative is useful when approaching retirement age you are laid off or the unemployment benefit is exhausted, since it prevents the amount from going down or even the Social Security having to fill in those blank years with the “listing gaps”.
This is so, as stated in the Order TAS/2865/2003which establishes that the signing of this agreement determines the extension of the status of registration or assimilated to registration in the corresponding regime. That is, unlike when working as an employee, here it is the worker himself who assumes the cost and obligation to pay Social Security contributions.
Now, like any rule, there are a series of requirements and conditions that must be met to be able to access this modality.
How does it work and who can subscribe to it?
To access this agreement, Social Security first requires that you have covered a minimum contribution period of 1,080 days (about three years) in the twelve years immediately preceding the withdrawal from Social Security.
If this condition is met, it can be subscribed to by workers who withdraw from Social Security, who exhaust the contributory level benefits or the unemployment subsidy of the State Public Employment Service (SEPE), or those who cease their activity and are hired with a salary that gives rise to a contribution base lower than the average of the last twelve months.
The deadline for submitting the application is one year from the cessation or end of the unemployment. If requested within the first 90 calendar days, the agreement will take effect from the day following the withdrawal; If done later, it will only have effect from the date of submission of the application.
How much do you have to pay?
As explained by the Social Security websiteyou do not pay a fixed amount, but you must choose between contribution bases that are more advantageous and that correspond to the following:
- The maximum base of the contribution group corresponding to the professional category in which you were registered, provided that you had contributed for it for at least 24 months in the last 5 years.
- The average of the base for which it would have been quoted in the last 12 months.
- The current minimum contribution base.
- You can opt for a contribution base that is included among the above.
With this, a coefficient of 0.94 must be applied. On the other hand, Social Security explains that the fee will be paid within the following calendar month, that is, unless the last regime in which you have been registered is in the RETA (that of the self-employed). In this case, it is entered within the same month.
While this agreement is paid, in addition to contributing to the retirement pension, contributions will be made to the pension for permanent disability and death and survival, derived from common illnesses and non-occupational accidents, and for social services benefits.
Practical example
To understand it better, a practical example would be that of a 59-year-old worker who is fired and exhausts his two years of unemployment at age 61. If his historical regulatory base was 2,500 euros per month and he stops contributing until his legal retirement, those blank years will considerably reduce the calculation of his pension.
However, when signing a special agreement within the established deadlines, this worker decides to choose the base of 2,500 euros and pay the resulting fee out of pocket (applying the coefficient of 0.94). In this way, Social Security will recognize those years as having contributed uninterruptedly with that high base, saving the amount of your final pension.
Exceptions and special modalities
However, there are specific situations in which the law adapts this agreement to the worker’s circumstances. Apart from the general agreement, Social Security has modalities designed for specific cases.
Among them, the agreement for non-professional caregivers of people in a situation of dependency stands out, the special agreement applicable to recipients of the subsidy for those over 52 years of age, for workers who reduce their working hours to care for a minor or family member, or the agreements for workers subject to collective dismissal procedures (ERE) that include people over 55 years of age.