Early Retirement for Workers with a Degree of Disability Greater Than or Equal to 45%

Workers employed by another person and self-employed workers included in any of the Social Security System schemes who prove:

• That they are registered or in a situation equivalent to registration on the date of the causal event.
• That over their working life, they have worked for an effective time equivalent to, at least, the minimum contribution period required for accessing the retirement pension, being affected during that time by any of the diseases that generate disability listed in the following section and, within that period, for at least five years with a degree of disability equal to or greater than 45%, due to the same diseases.

The disabilities for which there is proven evidence of a general and appreciable reduction in life expectancy and which could lead to a reduction in the retirement age are listed in the annex to   Royal Decree 1851/2009, of 4 December, which implements Article 161 bis (currently Article 206 bis) of the General Law on Social Security, regarding the early retirement of workers with disabilities of a degree equal to or greater than 45%.

The minimum retirement age for workers affected by one of the disabilities listed in the previous section, with a degree of disability greater than or equal to 45%, will be, as an exception, 56 years old (as of 01/01/2012).

To calculate the effective time worked,  all absences from work will be deducted, except for:

• Those which are due to having a medical certificate for a common or occupational illness or an accident, whether work-related or not.
• Those which are due to suspension of the employment contract because of maternity, paternity, adoption, fostering, risk during pregnancy or risk during breastfeeding.
• Absences from work with entitlement to remuneration.

The period of time by which the worker retirement age is reduced, will be counted as an effective contribution period for the sole purpose of determining the percentage to be applied to the corresponding regulatory base to calculate the amount of the retirement pension.

Workers that meet the required conditions to avail themselves of the provisions of  Royal Decree 1851/2009, of 4 December, which implements Article 161 bis (currently Article 206 bis) of the  General Law on Social Security  concerning the early retirement of workers with a degree of disability greater than or equal to 45%, and Royal Decree 1539/2003, of 5 December, which sets out retirement age reduction coefficients for workers who prove they have a significant degree of disability, can choose to apply whichever is more favourable to them.

If the worker is affected by any of the disability-generating diseases referred to in the annex to Royal Decree 1851/2009, of 4 December, which implements Article 161 bis (currently Article 206 bis) of the General Law on Social Security, regarding the early retirement of workers with a degree of disability equal to or greater than 45%, this must be accredited by a medical report that indicates, in any case, the date on which the disease began or manifested itself, whether this is the date of birth or a later date.

The accreditation that the disability derives from one of the diseases listed in the annex and that the degree of disability has been equal to or greater than 45% for at least five years must in any case be made by means of certification from the Institute of Social Services and the Elderly or from the corresponding body in the respective Autonomous Community that has received the transfer of the functions and services from the former, and must also indicate, in all cases, the date on which the disability began or manifested itself.

A total degree of disability equal to or greater than 45% shall be deemed to exist in those cases in which, in accordance with the certificates indicated in the preceding paragraph, the following conditions are jointly accredited:

a) That the sum of the percentages of disability reached through the different ailments that appear in the certificate, as well as the percentage corresponding to the “complementary scales”, if applicable, results in a percentage of total disability equal to or higher than 45%.

b) That at least one of the ailments listed in the disability certificate is one of those listed in the annex and that the percentage of disability reached by this disease or these diseases that generate disability listed in the aforementioned annex represents at least 33% of the total degree of disability accredited.