Green light for workers in hazardous jobs to retire early without losing their pensions

BarcelonaA victory for workers in hazardous jobs, who for years have been demanding early retirement without losing their pensions. The Council of Ministers approved a royal decree this Tuesday regulating the prior procedure for determining in which cases the retirement age can be brought forward through the so-called reduction coefficients. This measure is intended to benefit those professionals "in jobs of an exceptionally arduous, dangerous, or unhealthy nature" and with high mortality rates who until now were ineligible. Under no circumstances may retirement be brought forward before the age of 52.

The unions criticized the fact that the application of the reduction coefficients was limited to a few professional groups: seafarers, flight attendants, railway workers, artists (due to the specifics of their work, they receive contributions more irregularly), bullfighting professionals, firefighters serving the administration, the Ertzaintza (Basque Police), and local police officers. However, the new royal decree more clearly defines which activities are eligible for it and takes into account factors such as "exposure to extreme temperatures, noise, or vibrations; the permanent use of physical force; or exposure to physical, chemical, or biological agents."

The Minister of Social Security, Elma Saiz, explained that the request to implement the recognition of the coefficients will be made jointly with employers' organizations, unions, self-employed workers, and, in some cases, the public administrations themselves. It must be submitted to the Directorate General for Social Security Regulation, which will issue a morbidity and mortality report, compiling relevant information from the Labor Inspectorate and the Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Finally, these reports will be sent to an evaluation committee, which will include the social partners and will decide whether applying the reduction coefficients to this specific group of workers is justified. Once the procedure is resolved, the process to reduce the ordinary retirement age can be initiated, without affecting the future pensions of those affected.

Regulatory Change

"We know that there are particularly difficult jobs and others that become especially complicated in the final years of working life. This isn't just a hunch; the data confirms that there are activities with higher accident rates and, in particular, there are activities with more workplace accidents and more associated occupational diseases," Minister Saiz emphasized regarding this measure. The Spanish government emphasized that this regulatory change brings Spain closer to the policies approved by other countries such as France, Austria, and Italy, which already consider similar procedures to decide whether certain professions can retire early.