⚖️ Reduced earning capacity pension for chronic exhaustion
In brief
If a chronic exhaustion illness restricts your capacity for work permanently and severely, a pension because of reduced earning capacity may come into consideration. However, this is not an easy benefit to obtain: the condition is that, because of illness or disability, you are for the foreseeable future unable to work for at least three hours a day (partial reduction in earning capacity: at least six hours) under the usual conditions of the general labour market – regardless of whether such a job is actually available. In addition, certain insurance-law qualifying periods must be met.
The diagnosis Z73.0 "burn-out" alone does not, in experience, establish this; what is required is a separate, serious mental or physical illness with correspondingly expert-assessed functional limitations. The pension insurance first checks whether rehabilitation can restore fitness for work (principle of "rehab before pension", see separate topic page).
Step by step
- Exhaust rehab options firstWithout a completed or evidently hopeless rehab, a pension application is generally not approved.
- Have the insurance-law conditions checkedHave the Deutsche Rentenversicherung confirm your insurance account and the qualifying period met.
- Submit an applicationThe application is submitted to the Deutsche Rentenversicherung; a rehab application submitted earlier can, under certain conditions, automatically count as a pension application.
- Go through the social-medical assessmentAn expert opinion determines how many hours a day you would still be able to work on the general labour market.
- If refused, object and seek adviceRefusals are common; independent social counselling or a specialist lawyer for social law can assess the prospects of success of an objection (Widerspruch).
Deadlines
- Obtaining a reduced earning capacity pension because of burnout or general exhaustion alone rarely succeeds in practice – what matters is a serious, expert-confirmed illness with corresponding functional limitations, not a self-assessment of exhaustion.
- "Occupational disability" in the colloquial sense (you can no longer do your previous job) is in principle not enough for the statutory reduced earning capacity pension – what matters is whether you can be referred to the entire general labour market, not just to your previous occupation.
- The exact insurance-law conditions (general qualifying period, compulsory contribution periods) are complex and depend on your individual work history – be sure to get personal advice on this from the Deutsche Rentenversicherung instead of relying on rules of thumb.
- A private occupational disability insurance, if you have one, has different, usually more generous conditions than the statutory reduced earning capacity pension – this is not the subject of this page and should be checked separately.
In depth · legal basis, figures and practice – for advisers and professionals
Conditions (§ 43 SGB VI)
Under § 43 Abs. 2 SGB VI, there is an entitlement to a pension for full reduction in earning capacity if insured persons, because of illness or disability, are unable to work for at least three hours a day under the usual conditions of the general labour market. A partial reduction in earning capacity (§ 43 Abs. 1 SGB VI) exists if at least three but fewer than six hours a day are still possible. What matters is the entire general labour market, not just the last occupation exercised – a difference in pension insurance law from the occupational disability of private insurance, with which it is often confused.
Insurance-law conditions
In addition to the medical condition, the general qualifying period of 5 years must be met and at least 3 years of compulsory contributions must exist in the last 5 years before the reduction in earning capacity occurred (§ 43 Abs. 1 Nr. 2, Abs. 2 in conjunction with § 50 Abs. 1 SGB VI). There are exceptions, for example where the reduction in earning capacity results from an accident at work or in the case of certain credited periods – these depend on the individual case and should be checked individually.
"Rehab before pension" as the central hurdle
Under § 9 SGB VI, participation benefits (rehabilitation) take priority over pension benefits if they can avert, eliminate or reduce the reduction in earning capacity or prevent it from getting worse. In practice, the pension insurance therefore first checks whether medical or vocational rehabilitation promises success (see topic page Medical rehab) before deciding on a pension. This is one of the main reasons why applications for a reduced earning capacity pension because of exhaustion are often initially refused or referred to rehab.
Time limit
Under § 102 Abs. 2 SGB VI, pensions for reduced earning capacity are generally paid on a time-limited basis at first, in particular if an improvement does not appear to be ruled out – which is often the case with treatable mental exhaustion illnesses.
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