Facts
By order dated June 27, 2013, the Compensation Fund of the Swiss Master Builders' Association awarded the insured person A. (born 1949), who according to the decision of the Presiding Judge B. of ... is legally separated from her husband (born 1941), a simple old-age pension in the amount of CHF 2,078 per month as of July 1, 2013. A. filed a complaint with the claim to be awarded the maximum full pension of the Old Age and Survivors' Insurance (AHV).
The cantonal court stated that the average annual income of the insured person had been reduced by the applied calculation method, as 3 years during which she was considered co-insured through her husband were credited to her contribution period, but no income was allocated to her for this time through splitting. The court recognized this as a gap in the law and decided that these years should be taken into account for the determination of the pension scale, but should be disregarded in the calculation of the average annual income.
The Federal Social Insurance Office (FSIO) objected to this view in the appeal and considered the pension calculation of the cantonal court to be unlawful, foreign to the system and inconsistent. There is no gap in the law, as the law clearly and unambiguously regulates the calculation of the old-age pension.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court follows the FSIO's argument. It finds that the law clearly and unambiguously regulates the calculation of the old-age pension according to the average annual income, which consists of earned income, child-rearing credits and care credits. The sum of the revalued earned income as well as the child-rearing or care credits is divided by the number of contribution years.
With regard to the present case, it is established that the old-age pension of the insured person is to be based on the earned income she paid for the years 2006-2009, while no income is to be credited for the years 2010-2012. Likewise,…