Recognition of early supplementary pension rights in an insurance contract: critical reflections on the unsatisfactory legal solution

Abstract

Supplementary pension schemes have gained increasing importance as a complement of the Spanish public system of social security. Scientific doctrine and Courts have had to judge many controversial issues in this area. One of them has been the recognition of early supplementary pension rights when the labour contracts end before the event giving rise happens covered by an insurance policy. The majority of case laws qualified these rights as expectation of rights. Then, the mobilisation or rescue of the rights is not commonly recognized, unless these rights are expressly recognized by collective agreement or insurance contract. The solution is too unfair for workers. For this reason, this research proposes a legislative change to prevent the loss of prospective entitlement rights.