The Ministry of Labor asked the Social Security Institute (ISS) for an “in-depth study” on the calculation formula used by the institute to set unified pensions, the ISS told Lusa.
On Friday, the Ombudsman’s Office challenged the calculation formula used by the ISS to set unified pensions, considering that it “unfairly” limits the access and value of these benefits, to the detriment of citizens.
In response to questions from the Lusa agency, the ISS began by stating that the institute and “the General Directorate of Social Security has a different understanding from that of the Ombudsman’s Office regarding the calculation formula used by the ISS to set unified pensions”adding that “an in-depth study on the matter has now been requested by the guardianship”.
The ISS emphasizes that it “values the institutional relationship with the Ombudsman’s Office, guided by transparency, cooperation and mutual respect” and that all letters sent “deserve the best attention and response”.
For the Ombudsman’s Office, “maintaining the current interpretation means unfairly limiting access to and the value of pensions, putting into question the protection of workers who had contributory careers divided between different regimes”, which is why it sent a letter to the president of the ISS Board of Directors, expressing its disagreement.
At issue is the interpretation of the regime made by the ISS and the Directorate-General for Social Security (DGSS), which consider a minimum of 12 months of discounts under the Social Security regime to be required for the purposes of attributing a unified pension (attributed in cases of contribution to both regimes – Social Security and Caixa Geral de Aposentações).
According to the Ombudsman, “this requirement does not result from the law, but from a ministerial order”, which highlights that it is a “legal instrument without the force to create or restrict rights in relation to legal diplomas of a higher hierarchy”.
Thus, he maintains, “the practice followed by Social Security contradicts the unified pension regime”.
In this context, the Ombudsman’s Office recommended that the ISS “change its position” and start considering, for the purposes of totalization, “all periods with non-overlapping remuneration records within the scope of Social Security, even if less than 12 months”.