A worker with breast cancer, several clinical diagnoses and a disability level of 65% saw her request for permanent disability rejected by the Social Security services in Spain. The Superior Court of Justice of Navarra confirmed the decision, understanding that, despite the complexity of the clinical condition, the woman maintained functional conditions to exercise her usual profession as a concierge (conserje).
According to the Spanish website Noticias Trabajo, the case generated debate as it showed that disability and contributory work incapacity are not equivalent in the Spanish system. The woman, who worked as a building concierge and had been unemployed since 2014, requested absolute permanent disability or, alternatively, total disability.
Among the health problems he mentioned dysthymia, anxiety, HIV with an undetectable viral load, obesity, calcific tendinitis and a recent surgical intervention due to a malignant breast carcinoma (radiotherapy completed in June 2023).
Despite this, the court emphasized that the impact of these pathologies on specific work ability must be assessed on an individual basis. The clinical reports analyzed by the Equipo de Valoración de Incapacidades indicated that the worker remained conscious and oriented, with preserved mobility and without relevant changes in memory or concentration that would make professional performance unfeasible.
High disability does not mean guaranteed disability
According to , the defense argued that the 65% disability certificate, issued by the autonomic administration ANADP (and not “ANADAP”), should be equated to recognition of permanent disability.
The judges clarified that this equivalence only exists for non-contributory benefits provided for in Spanish legislation; in the contributory route, what counts is the functional limitation and the real capacity for the usual profession. This distinction is consolidated by the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence, which removed the automatic equation between ‘permanent incapacity’ and ‘disability’.
Professional tasks considered light influenced the decision
One of the decisive factors was the nature of the functions. The court considered that maintenance tasks are, as a rule, light and routine, not requiring high physical effort or significant levels of stress.
Based on this, and given that the acute oncological treatment had been completed and the depressive symptoms had stabilized (no changes compared to previous assessments that had already been rejected), he concluded that there was no total or substantial impediment to carrying out the activity.
A case that highlights the difference between diagnosis and functional limitation
The decision reinforces a frequently misunderstood point: a serious diagnosis or a high degree of disability do not automatically determine the right to permanent contributory disability. What matters is the way in which the limitations interfere with the exercise of the profession or other compatible functions, according to the LGSS regime on permanent disability.
And in Portugal?
In Portugal, the granting of a disability pension does not depend on the degree of disability on the Multipurpose Medical Certificate of Disability (≥60%). Under the general regime, Social Security decides based on permanent incapacity for work, certified by the Disability Verification System (SVI)/medical board; At CGA, retirement due to disability depends on the CGA medical board.
The National Disability Table applies mainly to work accidents/occupational illnesses, and is not the basis criterion for the disability pension under the general scheme.
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