Preferential Pension for Feeder Operators under List No. 1
Modern society requires the satisfaction of numerous needs. Since the mid-19th century, with the development of metallurgy, mining and industrialization, society has required increasing quantities of metals and various ores for further processing. However, few people consider how difficult, physically demanding and hazardous to health the work associated with the extraction and processing of metals and other mineral resources can be.
Employment in the mining industry involves significant risks and is characterized by a number of specific working conditions. Rockfalls and collapses remain serious hazards, while ore extraction, pumping, transportation through mine workings and tunnels, as well as reinforcement work, may pose considerable risks to workers’ health. The main occupational hazards include unfavorable environmental conditions, dust and toxic gases, noise and vibration, and insufficient lighting.
In the future, much of this difficult and hazardous work may be performed by machines and robots. However, today tens of thousands of workers continue to risk their health and lives while performing work essential to society and the economy.
The Ukrainian state seeks to compensate workers for particularly difficult and hazardous working conditions, including by providing preferential retirement benefits. Ukrainian legislation establishes special lists of occupations and positions that may entitle employees to retire at a reduced retirement age. These are known as List No. 1 and List No. 2.
List No. 1 includes jobs, occupations, positions and employment indicators involving underground work and work performed under particularly harmful and particularly difficult working conditions, where full-time employment may entitle a person to an old-age pension on preferential terms.
List No. 2 includes jobs, occupations, positions and employment indicators involving harmful and difficult working conditions, where full-time employment may also entitle a person to an old-age pension on preferential terms.
List No. 1 includes, among others, workers engaged in crushing, grinding, sorting and processing ferrous-metal ores, non-metallic minerals and mining chemical raw materials containing 2 percent or more crystalline (free) silicon dioxide in dust. This category includes feeder operators engaged in supplying dry raw materials.
To qualify for retirement under List No. 1, certain requirements must be met:
- the person must reach the age of 50;
- a man must have at least 25 years of insurance record, including at least 10 years of qualifying preferential service, while a woman must have at least 20 years of insurance record, including at least 7 years and 6 months of qualifying preferential service.
However, in practice, obtaining a preferential pension is not always straightforward. Applicants may have to challenge decisions of the Pension Fund of Ukraine in court in order to protect their right to preferential retirement.
One of the most common problems faced by future pensioners is the absence of proper workplace certification. The Pension Fund may argue that, without such certification, the harmful or particularly difficult nature of the working conditions has not been confirmed and therefore the relevant period cannot be included in the preferential service record.
Ukrainian case law has developed an important approach to this issue. Failure to conduct workplace certification, or failure to conduct it within the required period, is the responsibility of the employer rather than the employee. Consequently, an employee should not lose the right to an old-age pension on preferential terms solely because the employer failed to conduct the required workplace certification. This approach was reflected in the decision of the Supreme Court of 19 February 2020 in case No. 520/15025/16-а.
