Preferential Pension for Refractory Workers under List No. 1
Pension for Refractory Workers Employed in Hot Work Areas under List No. 1
Ukrainian legislation provides for several types of pensions, including old-age pensions, disability pensions, long-service pensions and survivor’s pensions. The most common type is the old-age pension. One form of an old-age pension is a preferential old-age pension, which differs from the general pension primarily by providing for a reduced retirement age.
To qualify for a preferential pension, a person must generally have been employed in work involving more difficult or harmful working conditions than ordinary employment. The relevant occupations and types of work are determined by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and included in List No. 1 and List No. 2. List No. 1 generally provides for a retirement age of 50, while List No. 2 provides for a retirement age of 55.
In the ferrous metallurgy industry, including steel and ferroalloy production, there is an occupation known as a refractory worker employed in hot work areas. This occupation is included in List No. 1 and may therefore entitle an employee to an old-age pension on preferential terms.
The work of a refractory worker may include laying regenerator walls using standard and shaped refractory bricks; covering regenerators and coke chambers; lining doors and risers; constructing curved furnace walls, vaults and arches using ordinary clay and thermal-insulation bricks; lining air and gas pipelines with refractory bricks; installing prefabricated structural elements of industrial furnaces made of heat-resistant blocks; and performing other work under particularly difficult and hazardous conditions.
Retirement requirements for refractory workers generally include reaching the age of 50 and having at least 25 years of insurance record, including at least 10 years of qualifying work as a refractory worker.
What should a refractory worker do to apply for a preferential pension?
An applicant should submit an application to the Pension Fund of Ukraine together with the required supporting documents. These may include a passport, taxpayer identification number, employment record book, military service documents and education documents.
Particular attention should be paid to the accuracy of all documents and the absence of errors or improperly made corrections. The employment record book is especially important because it is one of the principal documents used to confirm a person’s employment history, including periods of employment under preferential working conditions.
When reviewing an employment record book, it is important to check whether it contains corrections, whether employment entries have been properly completed, and whether all necessary details are present. If an employment entry has been completed incorrectly, there is a risk that the Pension Fund may refuse to include the relevant period in the applicant’s insurance or preferential service record.
In practice, the Pension Fund may request additional clarifying certificates confirming employment in an occupation that qualifies for a preferential pension. Such certificates may indeed be necessary in certain circumstances, particularly where the employment record book is unavailable or where its entries do not contain sufficient information to establish the nature and conditions of the work performed.
If the Pension Fund refuses to recognize qualifying service despite sufficient evidence, such a refusal may be challenged in an administrative court. Ukrainian courts have developed case law concerning the confirmation of preferential service records, including cases in which pensioners successfully challenged refusals by the Pension Fund.
In particular, courts have indicated that where an employment record book contains properly completed entries that make it possible to establish the nature of the work performed and the relevant working conditions, additional clarifying certificates should not automatically be required.
An example of this approach can be found in the decision of the Donetsk District Administrative Court of 28 January 2021 in case No. 200/11189/20-а. The court emphasized that the employment record book is the primary document confirming a person’s employment history. However, where the employment record book does not contain sufficient information concerning working conditions and the nature of the work performed, the employee’s special service record may be confirmed by clarifying certificates issued by enterprises, institutions, organizations or their legal successors.
