In Ukraine, early retirement for length of service is available only for representatives of certain professions associated with increased risk or significant physical or emotional stress. Such pension payments have a special procedure for appointment and differ from the regular old-age pension.
This is reported by Finway
Features of length of service pension: who is eligible
Unlike regular pension payments, early retirement depends not on the applicant’s age but on the presence of special work experience in certain positions. An important condition for receiving this pension is dismissal from the position that granted the right to early payment. If a pensioner is re-employed in a similar position, the pension payment is temporarily suspended during the period of work.
Professions eligible for early retirement
Workers in the following categories can apply for a pension regardless of age, provided they meet the experience requirements:
- Artists — with a creative experience of 20 to 35 years;
- Aviation and flight test personnel — for men, 25 to 26.5 years of service is required, for women, 20 to 21.5 years, depending on the retirement date;
- Medical, educational workers, and social sector employees — with more than 25 years of experience;
- Athletes — with at least 25 years of experience, of which no less than 6 years in national teams.
For some professions, in addition to the required work experience, reaching a certain age is also important. In particular, after reaching 50–55 years for men and 45–50 years for women, provided the appropriate experience, pension payments may be granted:
- air traffic controllers and aviation technical staff;
- flight attendants;
- workers in railway and metro transport;
- specialists engaged in fieldwork, geological exploration, logging, and timber rafting;
- mechanized dockworkers in ports;
- workers of the maritime, river fleet, and fishing industry fleet.
“The length of service pension is appointed and paid only on the condition of dismissal from the job that grants the right to such a pension. If a person is re-employed in a position that provides for length of service, the pension payment is suspended for the entire period of work.”
How the pension amount is calculated and grounds for refusal
The amount of the pension is determined individually for each applicant and depends on the duration of the insurance experience, as well as the amount of salary from which contributions were paid. Pension appointment is possible only after dismissal from the relevant position and application to the Pension Fund.
Refusal to grant a length of service pension may occur in the following cases:
- insufficient special work experience;
- failure to reach the necessary age for certain categories;
- absence of supporting documents regarding work in special conditions.