The Ministry of Participation, Social Security and Migration is negotiating with employers and unions to expand incentives for continued work after retirement. Retirees may voluntarily choose to stay employed beyond the legal age limit, while their pension can be complemented by a portion of their salary. The reform aims to ease the burden on public coffers by asking active workers to contribute more while offering higher skilled professionals the option to extend their careers. The focus is on practical cases, such as doctors, rather than roles that do not demand peak professional performance.
Alongside expanding career paths for those in physically demanding roles, policymakers also anticipate possible reductions to the legal retirement age for the most dangerous or strenuous occupations. The specifics remain unsettled, and unions express concerns about making retirement easier for hazardous jobs while maintaining safeguards for more strenuous but less dangerous work. The ongoing uncertainty has prompted careful negotiation between government officials and union representatives.
These discussions were the bulk of the talks led by the Secretary of State for Social Security, Borja Suarez, and his counterparts from the major employer and union groups. In a four hour meeting, the unions proposed higher contributions from companies with long-tenured staff and a greater emphasis on continuous service since labor reforms were enacted. Business representatives described the session as a productive exchange and agreed to resume discussions in late January with participants switching roles to broaden perspectives.
The core aim behind the pension reform is to shore up a sustainable public system in the face of an aging population. Earlier legislation introduced penalties for early and voluntary retirement, and the current administration seeks to deepen that approach with new amendments. Stakeholders confirm that no detailed incentives were laid out by the Social Security authorities yet, but there is a clear intent to allow retirees to keep contributing to social security while receiving benefits. The idea is to maintain a smoother transition from full-time work to retirement, helping to stabilize public finances while keeping experienced professionals active in the labor market.
One policy approach under discussion is a model sometimes called active retirement. This option lets a retiree receive 50 to 100 percent of their pension while earning a salary or income from self-employment. For wage earners, the partial pension is accompanied by continued earnings, while self-employed workers could access up to 100 percent of the public benefit if they hire at least one employee. These mechanisms are intended to harmonize retirement income with ongoing work, reducing the total cost to the treasury while preserving workforce experience.
Difficulty and danger
During the meeting, the participants also tackled how to reassess retirement age for high-risk tasks, including the development of objective indicators to determine eligibility. The ministry signaled a commitment to publish these indicators to inform the public. The agenda also covers the role of cooperating partner associations in layoff and temporary disability processes during recovery from serious injuries, aiming to streamline and clarify procedures for workers facing health challenges.