Snookered!: The employers’ scam that could leave you without a pension in Spain

We all know that 147 is the magic number if you’re Ronnie O’Sullivan, playing at the Sheffield Octagon: but sometimes the maths works against us. British journalist and man-about-Ronda, MICHAEL COY, found to his dismay that 147 isn’t necessarily lucky.

YOU do everything right. You move to Andalucía and you get a job. You work long hours in trying circumstances, only to find that someone, somewhere, has done the dirty on you.

How so?

Let me ask you a question. When was the last time you pestered your Spanish boss for an up-to-date statement of your pension status? Exactly. For people brought up on the British PAYE system, it’s a no-brainer. You do the work, you get the pension. You don’t delve into it.

Spain doesn’t quite work like that.

To be fair, most of us can see the employer’s point of view. He or she not only pays your salary, but has to fork out for below-the-line costs which you know nothing about. This makes it very unattractive for small businesses to take on workers – or to put it more accurately, it’s painful for the boss if he does it by the book.

So they cheat.

Not all of them, and certainly not government departments (but it’s very hard for expats to land such jobs). What the cheating boss does is, he quietly alters your work record to read, ‘part-time’. It saves him a fortune, and you don’t complain (because you don’t know it’s happening). Things come to a head when you show up at the Seguridad Social offices to say, “Pension please” – and they tell you that you haven’t done your full 15 years.

I’ve lived and worked in Spain for decades, and it has happened to me. Worse still, I was an employment lawyer in London. So if I can get shafted, anyone can.

I’m lucky. My shortfall is only (only?) 147 days. I’m reasonably able-bodied, and so I can find some way to make up the time. But what about people who are ill, or simply can’t argue their corner?

Can you take your boss to court? Yes, you can. But it will involve years of expensive litigation, and you might well lose. Employers often argue, ‘he was in on the scam – I only took him on because he agreed to my under-the-table methods’.

What’s the answer? 

Check your status regularly (or pay an accountant to do it), or go ‘autonomo’, or win the lottery.

I always ask for a ticket which contains the digits, ‘147’.