This past August 28, the new flexible retirement regulation came into force. A measure announced by the Government to ensure that more and more retirees decide to rejoin the labor market while continuing to receive their pension, but that It also brings news regarding the priceaccording to lawyer Raúl Gómez.
This new regulation is reflected in Royal Decree 416/2026, of May 27, and its objective is to make it easier for pensioners who have already requested retirement to resume their professional career with a more flexible schedule. Likewise, they may receive both the salary for your work and the respective pension percentage.
A measure that the lawyer and collaborator of the program ‘No son hombres’ on “Onda Cero” has defined as “one of those legal reforms in the area of Social Security that when you read the headline seems great.”but when you look at the fine print you discover that maybe it’s nothing to write home about“. This is because, although it includes greater freedom in terms of the percentage of the working day, it also represents a change in terms of contribution.
What is flexible retirement?
First of all, it is important to define what is considered flexible retirement in Spain. According to the Ministry of Social Security, this occurs when The worker is already retired and receives a pension, but decides to combine it with a part-time job. Unlike partial retirement, “in which there is a transition from work to retirement,” as Gómez explains.
Due to the growing aging of the country, the difficulty of sustaining the pension system and the low effectiveness that this measure was having due to the small number of applicants, the Government has decided to make it a more attractive option. The first notable difference is that, while before it was limited to part-time work as an employee, now also includes self-employment in certain situations.
“Specifically, the pensioner who had not been registered as a self-employed worker during the last 3 years immediately prior to the moment in which his retirement pension accrued may do so,” says Gómez. Likewise, the Social Security magazine specifies that in these cases, retirees will continue to receive up to 25% of their pension, to which the money generated from your work activity will be added.
News regarding the day and bonuses
In the event that you are going to opt for an employed job, the part-time work is extended, ranging between 33% and 80%, compared to the previously established margin of between 25% and 75%. In these cases, “the pension is reduced in inverse proportion to the work done,” explains the lawyer. However, those who are going to access flexible retirement 6 months from when they retired, they will receive an incentive in their pension.
As established in the new regulation, the pension of those who work a working day between 55% and 80% of the ordinary working day will receive an incentive of 25%. Those whose working hours are 33% or higher, without reaching 55%, will receive an additional 15% to their benefit. This amount is totally compatible with the salary received for the work activity carried out.
Contributions will not serve to improve the pension
However, Raúl Gómez warns that, while conditions have improved for pensioners who decide to access flexible retirement while they are working, the worsens when they decide to stop working. This is because, with the previous regulation, the contributions that were generated during this period of return to work were accumulated to improve the pension.
On the contrary, “the new rule expressly establishes that the contribution made during flexible retirement It will not have effects to improve the pension that was already recognized“, warns the lawyer. Likewise, remember that it will not have any effects on the economic delay supplement, in general. An issue to take into account if you are reflecting on accessing this type of retirement.