The Ministry of Inclusion and Social Security proposes a drastic reduction in the fees that scientists and researchers will have to pay for the retroactive regularization of their former internship periods. The main change is to allow, instead of establishing the contribution based on the current quota, those of the year in which the activities were carried out to be applied.
In this way, what would be about 290 euros for each month that one wanted to recover according to current regulations, would remain at 40 euros per month if the practice had taken place in the 80s, or 140 euros if it had been carried out until 2006, according to the unions’ calculations. For its part, the ministry gives another indicative figure. If the fee to apply were that of 1997, the amount would be 101 euros. There is another added element with a very diverse impact and it is the possibility of deducting this fee in the income tax return.
It is the approach that the Minister of Inclusion and Social Security, Elma Saiz, had advanced in an interview in “La Vanguardia” and that her team subsequently conveyed to the social agents at the dialogue table held. The fees are one of the issues that has caused the most protests because former scholarship recipients, and in this area it especially affects scientists and researchers, point out that it represents an excessive expense. They said that a recovery of the full five years at 290 euros per month would lead them to have to pay more than 17,000 euros. In this area, Social Security has corrected the situation.
Another notable aspect of the ministry’s new plan is the extension of the rescue period. If a maximum of five years was contemplated, the new approach allows up to seven years in some cases. That is, people who have already redeemed two years with the regulation that was established in 2011, will also be able to fully apply the new five-year period.
Two other additional modifications are to extend the period for payment installments to a maximum of five years and to extend until December 31, 2027 the period for which interested parties can benefit from this retroactive regularization.
Calculating how many people can benefit from this retroactive regularization is a very difficult task, because what is open is an option for a certain number of scholarship recipients, but each one must calculate whether or not it is convenient for them to pay these additional fees to recover pension rights. The ministry recalls that 25,000 scholarship recipients signed up for the 2011 regularization to recover their contributions.
They also point out that this regularization “is an opportunity and an exceptional procedure that former students and more senior researchers can add years of contributions to be able to access a pension or improve its amount.” They are the scholarship holders who carried out internships that did not contribute, and therefore, that did not grant retirement rights. This is a situation that has changed since January 1, when the contribution for internships, both paid and unpaid, is already applied, and more than 600,000 students already receive this protection, but the rights of years have yet to be recovered. previous.
The ministerial order published by Social Security on May 1 provoked a revolt among scientists and researchers, which has led to this change by the administration, which has been welcomed by the unions, although at the moment there is still no agreement. They see it as a positive step, but not enough. “The Government has modified the position and has come closer, not sufficiently,” said Carlos Bravo, Secretary of Public Policies of CC.OO. For her part, Cristina Estévez, Secretary of Institutional Policy of UGT, has requested that the government subsidize a part of the fees that former scholarship recipients must pay to recover their pension rights.