Preferential Pension for Electric Locomotive Drivers under List No. 1
Preferential Pension for Electric Locomotive Drivers in Metallurgical Plants under List No. 1
The development of metallurgy, mining and heavy industry requires the work of thousands of employees whose occupations involve particularly difficult and hazardous working conditions. Such workers may be exposed to high temperatures, dust, toxic gases, noise, vibration and other occupational hazards that may adversely affect their health.
Ukrainian legislation provides special social guarantees for employees working under hazardous conditions. One of the most important guarantees is the possibility of obtaining 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 worker to retire considerably earlier than under the general pension rules.
Among the occupations included in List No. 1 are electric locomotive drivers employed in tunnels of metallurgical plants. Their duties may include operating electric locomotives used to transport ladles containing molten pig iron from mixer departments to converters with a capacity of up to 250 tonnes and to open-hearth furnaces. Their duties may also include participation in the maintenance and repair of electric locomotives.
To qualify for an early retirement pension under List No. 1, the employee must satisfy the statutory requirements concerning retirement age, total insurance record and preferential service. 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 a preferential pension for an electric locomotive driver may be more complicated. The Pension Fund of Ukraine may refuse to recognise certain periods of employment as preferential service, which may ultimately result in a refusal to grant an early retirement pension.
One of the most common reasons for such refusals is the absence of proper workplace certification. The Pension Fund may argue that without workplace certification the particularly hazardous or difficult nature of the employee’s working conditions has not been properly confirmed and therefore the relevant period cannot be included in preferential service.
However, an employee should not lose pension rights because the employer failed to conduct workplace certification or conducted it late. The employee is not responsible for the employer’s failure to comply with its statutory obligations concerning workplace certification.
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 responsibility for failure to conduct, or for the late conduct of, workplace certification rests with the employer rather than the employee. Therefore, such failure cannot in itself constitute grounds for refusing to grant an old-age pension on preferential terms.
If the Pension Fund of Ukraine refuses to recognise your employment as an electric locomotive driver in a metallurgical plant 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 records, workplace certification documents and the Pension Fund’s refusal and determine the appropriate legal strategy for protecting your pension rights.
