Preferential Pension for Female Textile Workers in Ukraine
Under Ukrainian law, the general right to an old-age pension arises upon reaching the age of 60. However, employment in certain occupations entitles a person to a so-called “preferential” pension, meaning that they may retire at a reduced pension age. This applies, in particular, to female workers in the textile industry who are employed on machines and equipment. Women who have worked in such occupations for at least 20 years are entitled to retire at the age of 55. In practice, however, the Pension Fund sometimes prevents individuals from exercising this right. This occurs when the Pension Fund authorities, while considering a pension application, incorrectly apply the wrong legal provision — namely, paragraph 2 of part 2 of Article 114 of the Law of Ukraine “On Compulsory State Pension Insurance” (which provides for a preferential pension under List No. 2 for persons engaged in wet spinning) instead of paragraph 6 of the same part of the Article (which provides for pensions for female workers in the textile industry).
Ms Volkova approached us with a similar issue. She had devoted more than 30 years of her life to working as a spinner and carding machine operator. Having accumulated the required period of special employment, Ms Volkova expected to be granted a pension and therefore applied to the Pension Fund. However, the Pension Fund issued a decision refusing to grant her a pension, arguing that Ms Volkova did not have the required preferential employment record under List No. 2.
After analysing the Pension Fund’s decision and our client’s documents, we established that the refusal was unlawful. Ms Volkova had completed the required number of years of employment in textile production occupations and had reached the applicable pension age. Therefore, she was entitled to a pension under paragraph 6 of part 2 of Article 114 of the Law of Ukraine “On Compulsory State Pension Insurance”. Our lawyers prepared a statement of claim and filed the case with the court. The arguments in the claim were based on the following grounds.
According to our client’s employment record book, she had worked for 30 full years as a “spinner” and “carding machine operator”. Employment in such occupations, pursuant to the “List of Textile Industries and Occupations in Which Employment Entitles Workers to an Old-Age Pension upon Reaching the Age of 55 and Having at Least 20 Years of Such Employment”, approved by Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 583, entitles a person to an old-age pension upon reaching the applicable reduced pension age and having the required period of such employment.
Ms Volkova had a properly completed employment record book containing all the information necessary to establish her entitlement to a preferential pension. The entries concerning her periods of employment themselves contained information about the nature and conditions of the work covered by paragraph 6 of part 2 of Article 114 of Law No. 1058 and the relevant List.
Furthermore, although Ms Volkova was 54 years old on the date she submitted her pension application, she was nevertheless entitled to a pension because women born between 1 October 1968 and 31 March 1969 are entitled to retire upon reaching the age of 54.
Despite the clearly formulated legal position, the court of first instance made an error and issued an incorrect judgment. Although the claim was partially upheld, the court incorrectly established the circumstances of the case and, as a result, ordered the Pension Fund to reconsider the issue of granting Ms Volkova a preferential old-age pension under paragraph 2 of part 2 of Article 114 of the Law of Ukraine “On Compulsory State Pension Insurance”, treating her as a woman employed full-time in other occupations involving harmful and difficult working conditions under List No. 2, taking into account the court’s findings.
Understanding that such a judgment would not produce the required result for our client, we decided to appeal it. In the appeal, we drew the court’s attention to the fact that paragraphs 2 and 6 of part 2 of Article 114 of Law No. 1058 establish pension rights for two different categories of workers, namely:
1) employees working full-time in other occupations involving harmful and difficult working conditions included in List No. 2, approved by Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 461 dated 24 June 2016;
2) female workers in the textile industry employed on machines and equipment in occupations included in the relevant List approved by the applicable legislation.
Ms Volkova belonged specifically to the second category, as confirmed by the relevant entries in her employment record book.
Having considered the case, the appellate court agreed with our arguments, overturned the judgment of the court of first instance and ordered the Pension Fund to reconsider Ms Volkova’s application for a pension, including the relevant periods of her employment as a spinner and carding machine operator in her preferential employment record for the purpose of granting a pension under paragraph 6 of part 2 of Article 114 of Law No. 1058. Within one month after the appellate judgment was issued, the Pension Fund complied with it, granted our client a pension and paid her the pension arrears accrued during the court proceedings.
The court judgment is available at this link.
