Permanent disability (incapacidad permanente) is the route when an illness or accident leaves you with lasting after-effects that reduce or cancel your ability to work. Not every degree gives you a pension, and what you receive depends more on the degree, your contributions and how your base is calculated than on how serious you feel it is. Here is what the Ley General de la Seguridad Social (LGSS, the General Social Security Law) says about each degree, what you will not find in the law, and an example to work out your minimum contributions.
An employer’s check is different from a medical discharge: see the limits on employer checks during sick leave in Spain.
The law recognises four degrees, and the percentages are set by regulation
Article 194 LGSS distinguishes four degrees: partial, total, absolute and severe disability. It also says the classification depends on the percentage of reduction of working capacity set by regulation, and that the effect on your profession before the triggering event is taken into account. That regulation is not in the text. So, until it is approved, transitional provision 26 keeps the old wording, with definitions based on your usual profession.
One practical consequence: you will not find in the law the exact percentage of the base you receive in each degree. What the law does give is the definitions and the form of the benefit.
| Degree | How the law defines it | What you receive |
|---|---|---|
| Partial | A loss of at least 33% of normal performance in your profession, without preventing its main tasks | Lump sum |
| Total | Prevents you from doing all or the main tasks of your profession, but you can do another | Lifelong pension (sometimes a lump sum if you are under 60) |
| Absolute | Completely prevents you from any profession or trade | Lifelong pension |
| Severe disability (gran incapacidad) | Permanent disability plus needing another person for the most essential acts of life | Lifelong pension plus a supplement |
Partial is a one-off payment and needs 1,800 days of contributions
Under article 196.1, partial disability is a lump sum, not a pension. To claim it you need 1,800 days of contributions within the ten years before the sick leave that led to it ended (art. 195.2), unless it comes from an accident or occupational illness.
Total and absolute are lifelong pensions, with one exception
Article 196.2 says total disability is a lifelong pension that can exceptionally be replaced by a lump sum if you are under sixty. It also provides for an increase, in the percentage set by regulation, when your age, lack of training or social and work circumstances make it hard to find a job in another activity. The pension for ordinary illness cannot be lower than the minimum set each year by the State Budget Law.
Absolute disability (art. 196.3) is a lifelong pension without those variants. And article 198 confirms that the total pension is compatible with a salary if the duties are not those that caused the disability.
Severe disability adds a supplement
Article 196.4 adds to the pension a supplement calculated as 45% of the minimum contribution base at the time of the triggering event plus 30% of your last contribution base for the cause of the disability. It can never be lower than 45% of the pension you receive without it. It is meant to let you pay the person who looks after you, and it is not suspended even if you do work that is incompatible with the pension (art. 198.2).
How the base is calculated for ordinary illness
For permanent disability from ordinary illness, the base reguladora (regulatory base) comes from dividing by 112 your contribution bases for the 96 months before the month prior to the triggering event (art. 197.1.a). The last 24 months count at face value and the earlier ones are updated with inflation.
A simplified example, without inflation updating: if your contribution base was €2,000 in all those months, the sum is 2,000 × 96 / 112 = €1,714.29.
A percentage is then applied according to your years of contributions, using the scale in article 210.1: 50% for the first 15 years and 0.19% more for each extra month up to month 248. The years you still lack until ordinary retirement age count as contributed, and with fewer than 15 years the percentage is 50%. If you end up with 20 years, that is 60 extra months: 50% + 60 × 0.19% = 61.40%, and the base becomes 1,714.29 × 61.40% = €1,052.57. Finally, the percentage of the degree recognised is applied to that amount (art. 197.1.b), and the regulation sets it.
How many years of contributions you need for a pension
For pensions (total, absolute, severe disability) caused by ordinary illness, article 195.3 requires:
| Your age at the triggering event | Minimum period | Within the last 10 years |
|---|---|---|
| 28 | 4 years (one third of the time between age 16 and that moment) | Not required |
| 40 | 5 years (a quarter of the time since age 20, with a minimum of 5) | 1 year (a fifth) |
| 45 | 6 years and 3 months (a quarter of the 25 years elapsed) | 15 months (a fifth) |
For an accident, work-related or not, or an occupational illness, no prior contributions are needed (art. 195.1). For absolute or severe disability from ordinary illness, if you are not registered as working, the minimum is fifteen years (art. 195.4).
What happens to your job and to review
The Workers Statute (art. 49.1.n) allows the contract to be ended for severe, absolute or total disability when reasonable adjustments cannot be made, there is no compatible vacancy or you refuse the proposed change of post. And the INSS resolution must state from when a review for improvement or worsening can be requested (art. 200.2 LGSS).
Why your case may be different
- Your degree depends on your profession. The same injury can be total for a driver and partial for an office clerk. What counts is your activity before the triggering event.
- Collective agreement or private insurance. Some agreements or policies improve disability payments. You will not find that in the law.
- Your real amount. The percentage for each degree, the increase for some total cases and the minimum amounts depend on rules I could not check. Ask Social Security for a simulation.
- Retirement age. At 67 the pension is renamed retirement without changing its amount (art. 200.4).
If a medical discharge reaches you before you are cured, see what to do if you disagree with a medical discharge. For what you are paid during sick leave, see how much sick leave pays.
This information is general guidance. When deadlines or money are at stake, speak to an employment lawyer (abogado laboralista) or a union.