The Government has approved a new regulation on flexible retirement that will come into force on 28 August 2026. This reform makes it easier for certain pensioners to return to work and make part of their pension compatible with income from work. We explain clearly what this novelty entails:
How did it work until now?
Flexible retirement allowed an already retired person to rejoin the labour market through part-time employment, while simultaneously receiving part of the retirement pension.
However, it was only possible for salaried workers and the compatible working day had to be between 25% and 75% of the ordinary working day.
What changes with the new regulation?
The new regulation introduces important changes in flexible retirement, but not all of them apply equally to the self-employed and employees.
- Self-employed workers
The main novelty is that flexible retirement is also open to self-employed workers.
This will allow a retired person to resume an activity on their own and make it compatible with part of their pension.
However, two important aspects must be taken into account:
- In general, the compatible pension will be 25% of the recognised retirement pension.
- To access it, the pensioner must not have been registered as self-employed during the three years immediately prior to retirement.
- Employees
In the case of salaried workers, the reform also introduces new features:
- From August 28, it will be possible to work between 33% and 80%.
- In certain cases, if the person returns to work after having been retired for at least six months, the part of the pension compatible with work may be increased by between 15% and 25%.
