Entrance to an office of the General Treasury of Social Security in Madrid, in an archive image.Marta Fernández (Europa Press)
They told her that it was “absurd”, that no one would fight for it, and that no similar cases were remembered, but Laura Martín, a career official of the Secondary Education Teachers Corps, had a goal: to return to teaching classes in a Training Center. Professional, despite the fact that Social Security had recognized his total permanent work incapacity that guaranteed him a monthly benefit for which he would end up earning 200,000 euros in total over almost two decades.
And she got it.
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“Resolves to uphold the request for rehabilitation made, due to the disappearance of the disability that led to his retirement due to permanent disability,” the official bulletin of the Community of Madrid (BOCM) stated on Wednesday.
A dispassionately bureaucratic phrase that hides a story in which the pain of two broken elbows, the passion for teaching, the vertigo due to the drastic cut in income when going from salary to benefit, and the abyssal, deep, and born from the same womb, to go to the reserve at 49 years old.
“Hell,” summarizes Martín on the phone.
"A nightmare".
It's 2018. Martín is out for a walk, and he falls as if he had fallen from a helicopter, according to what he says.
Consequence: he breaks his left elbow.
Months later, in 2019, he falls again.
And he breaks his right elbow.
The result of the two accidents is that he ends up with prostheses in the radial heads of both joints.
These are injuries that reduce her mobility, but she continues working, and she even faces the coronavirus pandemic as head of vocational training at the center where she works.
In September 2022, apply for permanent partial disability.
In June 2023, Social Security recognizes the total for the usual profession, as it is determined that it is “limited to tasks that require strength and dexterity and complete mobility of both members.”
The difference between what was requested and what was received is radical: if the partial permanent disability is compatible with Martín maintaining his job, and has the advantage of receiving compensation, the total permanent disability for his usual profession prevents him from continuing to teach - although can work in other areas―, and recognizes the right to receive a benefit each month.
And then, surprise: this teacher appeals to be able to return to work in her profession.
Seven months of anguish have just begun.
“All the value that my students give me every day was taken away from me by a piece of paper in June 2023,” Martín laments about the day he was notified of his total disability.
“I was satisfied with the INSS medical report, but in my opinion I can continue contributing to my work for a few more years, I want, I must and I have to do so because my principles do not allow me to be proud of collecting a disability benefit and having the Community pay.” a payroll to whoever covers a position that I must cover,” he argues.
“I'm not afraid of being able to earn a living, but why give up so soon from something I earned with so much effort?” he asks, since the permanent disability he was granted was compatible with another job.
“I already knew that my work brought me happiness, dignity, satisfaction, and feeling useful, but now, after these seven months, I value it even more and I reaffirm myself in it,” she continues.
And he concludes: “I don't want to feel like I'm cheating on my country or abusing, my injuries are compatible with my profession and I also want to develop all the professional potential acquired at 50 years old and give my students everything I know how to do.”
Everything is summarized in the teacher's response to the Social Security medical report that recognizes her mobility problems.
It is a declaration of love for work, and the summary of a vocation that one does not want to let slip before its time, the first step to recover a lost and much loved treasure.
“Even though I agree with your medical report,” the statement of claim reads, “I believe in my humble opinion that I can continue working in my usual profession, as I have been doing for more than three years since my discharge, with my rank limitation.” joint in the left elbow that makes some practical tasks difficult, but not many, much less all of them,” he argues.
“In addition, I have the possibility of requesting a course load.”
Martín does not hold anyone responsible for what happened.
If anything, he says, it is all due to his mistake.
He acknowledges that he never thought that he could be granted total permanent disability when requesting partial disability, which is compatible with work.
He explains that the change in situation was difficult to digest, as he unleashed a storm of emotions by abandoning his usual occupation and drastically reducing his income, which was cut to 55% of the regulatory base of his salary.
And he thanks the Community of Madrid for having resolved the rehabilitation procedure for him in ten working days, when it is an administrative process, he says, that lasts up to six months.
A spokesperson for the central government explains that these types of cases occur “sometimes.”
For its part, the Community of Madrid limits itself to reporting that it processed the reinstatement when requested.
For Martín, there are two doors that he still does not seem determined to open: that of requesting partial permanent disability in court, and that of claiming total permanent disability in a few years, if he no longer feels capable of doing his job.
But behind these administrative considerations there is a person who seems willing to do anything to continue teaching: Martín returns to work knowing that 70 kilometers separate him from the new destination to which he will have to go from now on.
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