Can Caregiving Periods Be Included in Pensionable Service in Ukraine?
When applying for a pension, one of the key factors is the applicant’s insurance record, particularly the total number of years accumulated. For example, persons who retired in 2023 were generally required to have at least 30 years of insurance record in order to qualify for an old-age pension at the age of 60.
In addition to ordinary periods of employment, pensionable service may, subject to the requirements of Ukrainian legislation, include certain periods of education (if completed before 1 January 2004), military service, periods of childcare leave until the child reaches the age of three, as well as periods during which a person provided care for a person with a disability, a child with a disability, or a pensioner who, according to a medical opinion, required permanent assistance from another person.
The inclusion of periods during which a person provided care for someone requiring permanent assistance is particularly important. For such a period to be included in the future pensioner’s pensionable service, the circumstances and legal grounds for providing care must be properly confirmed. In certain cases, this includes receiving a care allowance or compensation from the competent social protection authority. However, the Pension Fund may refuse to include such periods if the register of insured persons does not contain information concerning the payment of insurance contributions. Svitlana Oleksiivna Mirkina faced exactly this situation. The Pension Fund refused to include in her insurance record a period during which she cared for a pensioner who, according to a medical opinion, required permanent assistance from another person. As a result, she was also refused an old-age pension. Svitlana Oleksiivna therefore had to apply to the court to protect her pension rights.
Having considered our arguments and the evidence submitted in the case, the court ordered the Pension Fund to include the disputed period of care in Svitlana Oleksiivna Mirkina’s pensionable service and to grant her a pension.
In its judgment, the court stated that periods of caring for a pensioner who, according to a medical opinion, required permanent assistance from another person could be included in pensionable service for periods before 2004 on the basis, in particular, of an official document confirming the factual circumstances of such care. From 1 January 2005, such a period could be confirmed where the caregiver received the relevant compensation for caring for a pensioner who required permanent assistance according to a medical opinion from the competent labour and social protection authority. The granting and payment of care benefits are administered by the relevant social protection authorities in accordance with Ukrainian legislation.
Since S. O. Mirkina provided documentary evidence confirming that she had cared for a pensioner who, according to a medical opinion, required permanent assistance from another person and that she had received the relevant compensation for providing such care, the Pension Fund had no sufficient grounds to exclude this period from her insurance record.
The court judgment is available at the following link: https://reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/110240366
