A retired person in Alicante will receive more than 6,200€ in pension debts after the High Court of Justice of the Valencian Community accepted the right to retroactive receipt of the maternity supplement from the moment the pension commenced.
This marks a correction of a prior ruling by Social Court No. 6 of Alicante. While the claimant acknowledged the entitlement to the supplement, the court had limited retroactivity to a three-month window in accordance with certain Social Security regulations. In February of the previous year, the Supreme Court ruled against that limitation on the retroactive application of the maternity supplement, providing a new basis for the retiree’s appeal.
The case concerns a man who retired in July 2018. Following the European Court of Justice decision that the maternity supplement, as a form of compensation for women’s caregiving burdens, could not be discriminatory, he sought to receive the supplement in December 2020 on grounds of his gender.
After an initial denial by Social Security, the man pursued a legal path with the assistance of the law firm Unive. The matter was brought before Social Court No. 6 in Alicante, which recognized the right to increase the pension in light of the European ruling. Yet, in line with the then-current Social Security Law, retroactivity remained limited to three months.
The decision in February of the following year echoed a broader shift: the Supreme Court held that the non-retroactivity cap could not be applied in these circumstances because the European decision did not establish a retroactive limit. This ruling provided the plaintiff with a viable path to appeal to the TSJ, which subsequently sided with him.
As a consequence, the retiree stands to receive up to 6,248 Euros in back payments from Social Security, with 2,473 Euros already dispensed by the public institution following the initial ruling. In addition, the monthly pension is set to increase by approximately 5% going forward.
A court in Alicante accepted a man’s claim for maternity supplementation
The policy allowing men to claim maternity supplementary benefits took shape after the CJEU deemed it discriminatory to restrict such benefits to women. This development, paired with subsequent legislation, enables any parent whose caregiving duties were affected by child-rearing to apply for the supplement, provided the circumstances meet the program’s criteria. Although the European decision opened the door, it does not automatically grant retroactive eligibility to every man; retroactive claims were permissible from the date the program’s rules were amended to reflect the European ruling. From January 2016, when maternity supplement regulations first took effect, through February 2021, eligible individuals could pursue retroactive claims as the law evolved.