Preferential Pension for Skip Operators under List No. 1
Preferential Pension for Skip Operators under List No. 1
The development of metallurgy, mining and other heavy industries requires the work of thousands of employees whose jobs involve difficult and hazardous working conditions. Mining and metallurgical work may expose employees to dust, toxic gases, high temperatures, noise, vibration and other occupational hazards.
Ukrainian legislation provides additional social guarantees for employees working under hazardous and particularly difficult conditions. One of the most important guarantees is the right to an early retirement pension.
For this purpose, Ukrainian legislation provides List No. 1 and List No. 2, which contain occupations, positions and types of work that may entitle employees to an old-age pension on preferential terms.
List No. 1 generally covers underground work and occupations involving particularly hazardous and particularly difficult working conditions. Employment in an occupation included in this list may allow a person to retire significantly earlier than under the general pension rules.
One of the occupations covered by preferential pension rules is the skip operator. The duties of a skip operator may include cleaning skip pits at blast furnaces, collecting spilled raw materials and coke fines and loading them into skips, operating small-skip lifting equipment and pumps when automatic systems are disconnected, as well as participating in equipment maintenance and repairs.
To qualify for a preferential old-age pension under List No. 1, the statutory requirements concerning age, total insurance record and preferential service must be satisfied. As a general rule:
- the employee must reach the age of 50;
- men must have at least 25 years of total insurance record, including at least 10 years of qualifying preferential service, while women must have at least 20 years of total insurance record, including at least 7 years and 6 months of qualifying preferential service.
In practice, however, obtaining an early retirement pension for a skip operator may be more complicated. The Pension Fund of Ukraine may refuse to recognise certain periods of employment as preferential service, which can result in a refusal to grant a pension under List No. 1.
One of the most common reasons for such refusals is the absence of proper workplace certification confirming particularly hazardous or difficult working conditions. The Pension Fund may argue that without such certification the employee’s working conditions have not been properly confirmed and therefore the relevant period cannot be included in preferential service.
However, an employee should not be deprived of pension rights because an employer failed to conduct workplace certification or conducted it late. Responsibility for organising and conducting workplace certification rests with the employer rather than the employee.
This position is supported by the case law of the Supreme Court of Ukraine. In its decision of 19 February 2020 in case No. 520/15025/16-a, the Court concluded that failure to conduct, or late conduct of, workplace certification by the employer cannot in itself constitute grounds for refusing an employee an old-age pension on preferential terms.
Therefore, if the Pension Fund of Ukraine refuses to recognise your employment as a skip operator as preferential service or denies your application for an early retirement pension under List No. 1, such a decision may be challenged before an administrative court. A pension lawyer can analyse your employment record, workplace certification documents and the Pension Fund’s decision and determine the appropriate legal strategy for protecting your pension rights.
