Facts
The case concerns the question of whether the determination of disability for partially employed insured persons must still be carried out according to the so-called mixed method even under the Federal Act on the General Part of Social Insurance Law (ATSG).
The Federal Supreme Court concludes that the previous case law and administrative practice on the application of the mixed method according to Art. 27bis of the Ordinance on Disability Insurance (IVV) continues to be valid even after the entry into force of the ATSG. The legislator did not intend to harmonize the previous assessment of disability for partially employed persons, which was not carried out according to the same criteria in all parts, but to continue to allow singular solutions in the individual social insurances.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court states that the ATSG itself does not contain any regulation on the determination of disability for partially employed persons. However, Art. 27bis para. 1 IVV provides that for insured persons who are only partially employed, the disability for this part is determined according to Art. 16 ATSG. If they were also active in a field of activity according to Art. 8 para. 3 ATSG, the disability for this activity is determined according to Art. 27 IVV ("non-employed persons"). In this case, the proportion of employment and the proportion of activity in the other field of activity must be determined, and the degree of disability must be assessed accordingly based on the impairment in both areas (the so-called mixed method).
The Federal Supreme Court upholds the previous case law and administrative practice on the application of the mixed method, as the legislator…