European justice does not see discrimination in denying maternity supplement to early retirement. The CJEU does not agree with a Catalan worker who had denounced discrimination based on sex.
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has indicated that it does not perceive discrimination on grounds of sex in the case of a Catalan worker who was denied a maternity allowance in her retirement , as it was early.
In its ruling this Wednesday, European justice ruled that the maternity pension supplement for women who retire early of their own free will is not linked to the sex of the affected worker, but to the conditions under which retirement is accessed , so the alleged discriminatory treatment does not occur on grounds of sex.
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As justified, unequal treatment can only refer to cases of discrimination between male workers, on the one hand, and female workers, on the other. Therefore, the situation denounced by the worker is outside the scope of the Directive on equal treatment for men and women.
The litigation dates back to December 2017, when the National Institute of Social Security (INSS) in Spain granted an INSS worker in Barcelona an early retirement pension of her own free will . The worker claimed that, according to the General Social Security Law, that pension should include the maternity supplement for being the mother of three children.
In May 2018, the INSS rejected her claim because, according to Spanish law, this supplement does not apply in cases of early retirement at the will of the interested party.
The worker filed a lawsuit against this INSS decision, considering that Spanish legislation gives rise to discrimination against women who, due to having voluntarily retired early, cannot enjoy the aforementioned supplement.
The Barcelona Court hearing the case asked the Court of Justice to interpret the principle of equal treatment recognized in the Directive.
In particular, it asked whether the fact that a regulation establishes a maternity pension supplement in favor of women who have had biological children or adopted children in cases of retirement at the expected age or early retirement for certain reasons can be considered discriminatory. established by law, but not in cases of early retirement at the will of the interested party.
