General Regulation

This special agreement may be signed by persons who, meeting the requirements indicated in the following section, are in one of the situations indicated below:

1. People who have ceased to be employed or self-employed, who are not registered in any Social Security scheme and are not pensioners for retirement or permanent disability.
2. Workers employed by another person with an employment contract of indefinite duration, as well as self-employed workers included in the Social Security System, provided that they continue to be registered and are 65 years of age or older and have 35 or more years of actual contributions, and are exempt from the obligation to pay Social Security contributions, under the terms established in Article 152 of the General Social Security Law regarding contributions to the General Scheme after retirement age.
3. People who have ceased to be employed or self-employed and are hired with remuneration giving rise to a contribution basis lower than that corresponding to the average of the twelve months immediately prior to such cessation.
4. Total permanent disability pensioners who have ceased work and are in one of the situations listed above.
5. People who have ceased to receive unemployment benefits or subsidies due to the termination of such benefits or subsidies.
6. Pensioners for permanent disability, in any of its degrees, who are declared fully capable or with partial permanent disability for their usual profession as a result of a revision file due to improvement or misdiagnosis.
7. Permanent disability or retirement pensioners whose pension is annulled by a final judgement or terminated for any other reason.
8. People who are removed from the corresponding Social Security Scheme as a result of having acquired the status of pensioners who are subsequently denied a pension by a final administrative or judicial decision.
   

In order to subscribe to this special agreement, the application for the special agreement must be submitted within a period of 1 year, which will be calculated as follows:

In order to sign this agreement, the following requirements must be met:

1. Requesting the signing of the agreement within the period established in the section “Application form and deadline” and by any of the means established in the section “Formalities and Procedures for Special Agreements”.
2. Have coverage, on the application date, a Minimum Contribution Period of 1,080 days in the 12 years immediately prior to cessation of the Social Security Scheme in question. For the purposes of meeting this requirement:

The following contributions are taken into account:

• • Contributions to any Social Security Scheme, including payment days.
  • Contributions to another special agreement.
  • Contribution considered effective for leave of absence to care for each child or family member up to the 2nd degree, for reasons of age, accident or illness.
  • Days contributed for the receipt of unemployment benefits or unemployment benefit for those aged over 52.
  • Contributions in other Member States of the European Economic Area or with which there is an international agreement, provided that they do not overlap and that they are prior to the date of effect of the special agreement being applied for.
  • The days on which the applicant, being the person responsible for the payment of contributions to the social security scheme in question, is not up to date with the payment of contributions prior to the date of commencement of the agreement shall not be taken into account.
    

In the case of pensioners receiving Permanent Disability pensions or Retirement whose right to the pension has been cancelled or terminated for any reason, this Minimum Contribution Period must be covered at the time the obligation to pay contribution terminated.

The starting date of this special agreement will depend on when the application for registration is submitted:

• If the application for registration is submitted within 90 calendar days from the date of the cessation of the activity or the situation determining the conclusion of the special agreement, the subscriber may choose between the following dates for the commencement of the effects of the special agreement:
• From the day of submission of the application.
• From the day following the day on which the effects of leaving the corresponding Scheme, cessation of activity, the situation determining the lower contribution, or the termination or refusal of benefits have taken effect. If no choice is made, the latter shall be the effective date.
• If the application for registration is submitted outside the period of 90 calendar days following the date of cessation of the activity or in the situation that determines the subscription of the special agreement, the starting date of the agreement shall be from the day of the submission of the application for registration of the agreement.

The special agreement reached with the Social Security shall be suspended, with respect to the obligation to make contributions and the corresponding protection, during the periods of activity of the worker or person treated as such who has subscribed to it when they determine their inclusion under the scope of any of the Social Security schemes, whether in a continuous or intermittent employment situation, whenever the Contribution Basis for the scheme is less than the Contribution Basis applied in the special agreement, except when the special agreement subscriber expresses his/her will to suspend the agreement or for the agreement to remain in effect.

The execution of activities that lead to suspension must be notified, by the agreement subscriber, within 10 natural days following the resumption of activities, with the suspension of the special agreement taking effect from the day prior to returning to work. If the notification is made following this period, the suspension will only take effect from the date of notification.

Upon completion of the cause of suspension of the special agreement, the agreement that had been subscribed may be resumed from the day following the day on which the cause of suspension ceased, if the interested party notifies this situation to the Social Security General Treasury within the calendar month following the month in which the Employment Termination occurred.

The special agreement will expire due to any of the following reasons: 

• The person concerned is included in the field of application for the Social Security System by virtue of carrying out an activity and the new contribution basis is equal to or higher than the contribution basis for the special agreement.
• Due to acquiring the status of retirement pensioner or permanent disability pensioner.
• Due to failure to pay the instalments corresponding to 3 consecutive monthly payments or 5 alternative monthly payments, except in cases of force majeure.
• Death of the subscriber.
• By decision of the subscriber. The request for cancellation of the special agreement can be made through the channels indicated in the section “Registration, deregistration or change of data of the special agreement" in the section “Special agreement procedures and formalities".
  

Contributions under this special agreement are intended to cover the following benefits:

• Retirement
• Permanent Disability resulting from common disease or non-work-related injury
• Death and survival (widow/Widower's Pension, orphanhood and other benefits in favour of family members) resulting from common disease or non-work-related injury
  

Notification of the resolution by the Treasury that the special agreement requested has been concluded must take place within three months of the date on which the application was entered in the register held by the Social Security General Treasury.

The lack of an express decision within the period provided for in the previous paragraph shall have the effect of granting the respective application by administrative silence.

• When they are made through the "Registration in special agreement" service available at the Social Security e-Office, the applications must be accompanied by the documentation described in the "Attached documentation" section of the aforementioned service.
• When formulated through the submission of Form TA.0040 - Application for registration/ change of data/deregistration/suspension/resumption of the special agreement, the applications must be accompanied by the documentation described in the instructions of the aforementioned form.

Order TAS/2865/2003 of 13 October regulating the special agreement in the Social Security System.