The new regulations on retirement: In relation to the Royal Decree-Law 5/2013, of 15 march, consisting in measures that favour the continuity of the working life of elderly workers and promote active aging

Abstract

The Law 27/2011, of 1 August, on updating, adjusting and modernizing the Social Security system, within the framework of the pension system reforms, in order to favour its sustainability and viability, established a new regulation of the retirement pension. Although, before it came into effect, the Royal Decree-Law 29/2012, of 28 December, on improving the management and social protection within the Special Scheme for Domestic Employees and other economic and social measures, basically suspended, for a period of three months, its application on two matters: early access to the law, and the modifications related to partial retirement.

The Royal Decree-Law 5/2013, of 15 March, which provides measures to favour the extension of working life for elderly workers and promote active aging, removes the «partial suspension» of the validity of Law 27/2011, although not with its initial content, but rather by modifying the precepts that have to do with objectives. In what refers to early retirement, it will compensate the system enough for the larger costs and lower income that is implied by early reception of pensions, and bring partial retirement back to its basic objective, which is generational transference of knowledge and experience, at the same time avoiding privileged access to early retirement.

Likewise, the new legal ruling incorporates a new regulation of compatibility between receiving a retirement pension and performing certain activities, when considering workers of retirement age who have experienced long periods of contribution, extending the current assumed compatibility before the Royal Decree-Law 5/2013 comes into effect and applying the new regulations to all regimes of Social Security.

In this paper, the regulation of access to retirement pension is explained, especially after the modifications presented by the Royal Decree-Law 5/2013, and the different assumed compatibility between the retirement pension and performing certain activities, while other changes from the same royal decree-law, which are related to Social Security, are also synthesized and reflected.