Calculation of the Degree of Disability for Partially Employed Insured Persons with Assigned Tasks

Facts

A., born in 1971, applied to the Disability Insurance (IV) on July 3, 2014 for benefits, citing the consequences of an accident she suffered on July 8, 2012. The IV office of the canton of Basel-Landschaft initially denied her a pension claim, whereupon the parties reached a settlement that awarded A. a quarter pension as of January 1, 2015.

After the amendment to the Ordinance on Disability Insurance (IVV) entered into force on January 1, 2018, the IV office initiated a revision of the ongoing quarter pension. Applying the mixed assessment method with unchanged proportions of gainful employment and household activities, it determined a degree of disability of 42.45% and confirmed the pension entitlement.

The Cantonal Court of Basel-Landschaft overturned the decision of the IV office and ruled that A. was entitled to a half disability pension effective January 1, 2018. The IV office then appealed to the Federal Supreme Court.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court upheld the appeal of the IV office. It stated that the disability assessment carried out by the IV office was compatible with the wording of Art. 27bis IVV.

According to Art. 27bis para. 3 IVV, in calculating the degree of disability in relation to gainful employment, the earned income that the insured person could have achieved through part-time employment if they had not become disabled must be extrapolated to a full-time employment. The disabled income must therefore be determined in relation to a hypothetical full-time activity.

This interpretation corresponds to the intention of the Ordinance Issuer, who, with the amendment to the IVV, wanted to meet the requirements of the…