As of: February 4, 2024, 7:23 p.m
By: Amy Walker
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A special regulation for people with reduced earning capacity who were born before 1961 will soon expire.
This means that there is no longer any entitlement to a disability pension under the old law.
Berlin – More than 20 years after the law was changed, a form of pension is now slowly dying out.
The old occupational disability pension, which was changed to the disability pension in 2001, is now expiring for the last few years and is one of the important changes for pensioners in February.
Anyone born before January 1, 1961 is still entitled to this form of pension under the old law.
All those born later would receive the newer disability pension in an emergency.
We explain what exactly that means here.
Disability pension or occupational disability pension: that’s the difference
On January 1, 2001, the occupational disability pension (BU pension) was abolished in Germany and replaced by the employment disability pension (EM pension).
The central difference between the two models concerns occupational protection: under the old law, you could receive a BU pension if you were no longer able to work in your chosen profession (less than six hours a day).
According to the new law, you will only receive a disability pension if you cannot work at all - including in another profession.
The requirements have become stricter since 2001.
However, the new rules only applied to new pensioners: anyone who had already received a BU pension before 2001 could continue to receive it.
In addition, a so-called protection of trust was introduced for all those born up to 1961: Anyone born before January 2, 1961 could also receive a BU pension according to the old law.
All later cohorts will receive a disability pension under the new law.
People with disability pensions have been allowed to earn more since January 1, 2024.
© Christin Klose/dpa-tmn
So: Anyone born on January 1, 1961, or born in 1960 or 1959 will still receive the BU pension if they are partially incapacitated in their chosen profession.
However, this claim is now slowly expiring.
BU pension only applies to a few age groups - those who are now reaching retirement age
But why?
On the one hand, this is due to the standard age limit that has now been reached for these age groups.
Everyone who was born in 1958 or earlier will have reached regular pension age at the beginning of 2024.
So you no longer receive an occupational disability pension, but either an old-age pension, an early pension (“pension at 63”) or a severe disability pension.
Depending on the month of birth, those born in 1959 will reach retirement age in 2025/2026, those born in 1960 will reach retirement age in 2026/2027.
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At the end of this year, those born in 1959 will also be entitled to a pension for those who have been insured for a particularly long time (at least 45 years).
Those born in 1960 will be entitled to early retirement with a deduction later this year.
However, you have to accept a 0.3 percent reduction in your pension for each month that you retire earlier.
On the other hand, some of the 1959 and 1960 vintages will be included in the so-called grandfathering scheme this year.
This means: Anyone who receives a disability pension (or disability pension) 24 months before reaching their old age pension can rely on the fact that the actual pension later will not be worse than what they are already receiving now.
The old-age pension must never be lower than the EM pension previously received.
Example
Helmut K., born on June 1, 1960, used to work as a bricklayer, but has been partially unable to work since 2020.
This means he can only work less than six hours a day in his desired job.
In order to bridge his loss of income, he receives an occupational disability pension.
He receives 800 euros a month from the pension insurance.
Helmut will reach regular retirement age in October 2026, then he will be able to receive a retirement pension without deductions.
In October 2024 it will benefit from grandfathering.
This means that from October 2024 he can be sure that he will never receive less than 800 euros from the pension insurance.
If he decides to take early retirement (with a deduction of 0.3 percent per month that he retires earlier), he can take the grandfathering into account in his calculation.
Essentially, those remaining incapacitated under the old law now have more options as they move toward retirement age.
In addition, they can feel secure that they will no longer be worse off as a result.
However, before you switch from disability pension to old-age pension early, you should always seek advice - ideally from the pension insurance company.