Minister Jose Luis Escriva. /
Teachers, judges or military personnel, among other public employees belonging to the passive classes, can advance their retirement five years with 100% of the pension if they have contributed for 35 years
Possible new twist to retirement precisely the same month in which the first measures agreed by the Government and the social agents to reform the pension system have already been launched. The Ministry of Social Security will study launching new incentives to delay the effective retirement age, in this case aimed at civil servants in passive classes who extend their working life beyond 60 years.
At least this was indicated yesterday by CSIF, the majority union of the group of public employees, after the meeting they held with heads of the department led by José Luis Escrivá. From the ministry they maintain that they will “analyze”, as they always do, each and every one of the measures that are presented to them. The proposal made by this union is to incentivize passive class personnel who decide to extend their working life beyond 60 years with a cumulative 5% per year.
It should be remembered that civil servants who belong to the Passive Class Regime can retire voluntarily after 60 as long as they meet certain requirements, such as having contributed for 30 years, having provided a minimum period of 15 years of service to the State and, in addition, have worked during the last five years prior to retirement for the Public Administration. Although they must have 35 years of contributions for their pension to be 100%.
The passive classes constitute a regime that enjoys a series of privileges but that is on the way to extinction, since it has been closed since 2011. However, more than 800,000 people are still listed on it –according to CSIF estimates–, who are teachers, career soldiers, judges, prosecutors, Public Administration officials, personnel transferred to the Autonomous Communities and even presidents, vice presidents, ministers and other political positions, to which reduction coefficients are not applied with 35 years of work, as is the case with the rest of salaried and self-employed workers who retire before the ordinary age for many years of contributions.
The right that this group has maintained for decades was not modified in the agreement reached by the commission of the Toledo Pact, despite the fact that there were reluctance to shield it, since Europe looks closely at this type of special regime. What the Government did do a few months earlier, in full confinement and via royal decree, is to transfer the management of this regime to Social Security, since until then it was run by the Treasury.
This change of powers caused a certain stir and uncertainty among officials, who feared losing their acquired rights and suffering some kind of cut in their pension. This led to a wave of voluntary early retirement in 2020, more than 10,500 people, which represents a strong increase of almost 22% compared to the average of 2018 and 2019, according to CSIF data.
This union maintains that if 50% of these civil servants had extended their working life, savings for the State of 49.5 million euros could have been generated. “This proposal, in addition to being viable since it does not generate spending, would allow the amount of the pension of civil servants belonging to passive classes to be increased by up to 25% and thereby correct economic inequality with respect to the General Regime,” said CSIF.
The passive class regime also includes nearly 680,000 public employees and pensioners, who represent a monthly expense to Social Security of 1,245 million euros.
Early retirement for health workers
Another of the measures proposed by the union and that Escrivá will analyze -which does not mean that it will start- is to recognize early retirement for health personnel due to the hardship of their working conditions, establishing for this reduction coefficients for lower the age, as has been done with the local police.
CSIF claims this advance payment at retirement age, taking into account the professional characteristics of certain groups that carry out particularly arduous work, with effects on health, exposure to biological or chemical risks, associated with the workplace, shifts, night work, etc.
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