Preferential Pension for Flame Scarfing Machine Operators under List No. 1
Nowadays, skilled manual labour is becoming increasingly important due to a shortage of qualified workers in the industrial sector. Ukrainian legislation provides special social guarantees for employees engaged in particularly difficult and hazardous work, including the right to an early retirement pension. However, in practice, workers may face difficulties when applying to the Pension Fund of Ukraine for recognition of their preferential service.
This article concerns flame scarfing machine operators working in the rolling production sector. Their duties include flame scarfing of hot metal in the production flow of blooming or slabbing mills.
Due to the particularly difficult and hazardous working conditions, such employees may qualify for a preferential old-age pension under List No. 1. As a general rule, they may retire at the age of 50 if the statutory requirements concerning their insurance record and preferential service are satisfied. Men generally need at least 10 years of qualifying preferential service, while women need at least 7 years and 6 months. The required total insurance record must also be satisfied in accordance with Ukrainian pension legislation.
In practice, the Pension Fund of Ukraine may refuse to recognise certain periods as preferential service when considering an application for an early retirement pension. There may be various reasons for such a refusal. For example, an incorrect date of birth may have been entered in the employment record book, the employer’s stamp may be missing from the first page, corrections may have been made contrary to the applicable record-keeping requirements, or the responsible employee may have failed to sign or stamp an employment entry.
However, errors or formal deficiencies in employment documents do not necessarily mean that a worker loses the right to have the relevant employment period included in their insurance or preferential service record. If the Pension Fund refuses to recognise such a period, the worker may challenge the refusal before an administrative court and seek recognition of the disputed period of employment.
Therefore, if the Pension Fund of Ukraine refuses to recognise your preferential service under List No. 1 or denies your application for an early retirement pension because of errors in your employment documents, the decision may be challenged in court. Depending on the evidence and circumstances of the case, the court may order the disputed employment period to be recognised and require the Pension Fund to reconsider or grant the pension in accordance with Ukrainian law.
