New rules are aligning part-time and full-time workers under the same Social Security framework, with changes taking full effect this October. The reform follows court rulings recognizing long-standing disparities in how part-time work was counted. The impact is expected to be especially meaningful for women, who are disproportionately represented among part-time workers. This article explains the main changes and new features of the standard.
What changes are coming into effect?
A decree issued this October improves the conditions for part-time workers, defined as individuals who do not work the full day and might work only a few days a week or a few hours a day. The legal innovation introduces equality between full-time and part-time workers in terms of contributions and benefits.
Courts have repeatedly criticized the practice of counting fewer contribution days for those who do not work full-time. Beginning on October 1, each day a worker is enrolled in Social Security will be treated as a premium day, regardless of the actual hours worked that day.
This change enables many workers to reach retirement earlier, since their contribution period will be counted more fully. For example, previously a person contributing 50% of a full-time schedule for 20 years would receive 15 years of pension rights; now that period will count as 20 years.
What benefits does it affect?
p>The amendment preserves by law the designated days used for pension calculations. Since a 2019 Constitutional Court decision, Social Security has already treated part-time hours as full-time for retirement purposes. The new law codifies this approach so that all periods of part-time work are counted as if they were full-time when calculating future pensions.
This adjustment could significantly raise the pension for individuals who have not yet retired, effective from the date of the reform. It also raises the retirement age by recognizing more complete contribution periods tied to part-time work.
Another notable change is how benefits are calculated for childbirth, temporary disability, permanent disability or death, and widowhood. Any benefits claimed after January 1 will be calculated as if the employee had always worked full-time, increasing the amount payable.
What happens to the days already quoted?
Social Security now interprets all days worked as full-time days for the purposes of determining new benefits, even if the work occurred before or after the reform took effect. This reinterpretation applies only to new benefits, not to those already granted.
Who benefits from the changes?
p>In Spain, the total number of part-time workers is around 2.8 million. The reform’s real beneficiaries are women, who account for about 70% of part-time jobs.
Are there any retroactive effects?
There are no retroactive changes for benefits currently in payment. In other words, a retiree receiving benefits today who worked part-time does not gain an automatic increase in benefits or a retroactive adjustment. The enhanced coefficients apply to future entitlements. Those who retire in the future may see a substantial increase in pension payments as the new rules take effect.