How Nursing Assistants Caring for Patients Can Obtain a Preferential Pension
Within Ukraine's healthcare system, medical professionals who provide direct patient care are often entitled to preferential pension benefits. A particularly important position is that of a nursing assistant providing patient care, whose daily responsibilities involve direct interaction with patients, including those receiving treatment in specialized healthcare institutions.
The position of a nursing assistant providing patient care is a recognized healthcare profession involving direct patient care in hospitals, medical institutions, and social care facilities. The role extends beyond routine support duties and includes daily responsibility for patients' health and well-being, including personal care, monitoring basic health conditions, assisting with mobility within the facility, supporting personal hygiene, and providing assistance throughout medical treatment.
In specialized children's homes, which provide care for orphans and children requiring specialized medical attention, nursing assistants are responsible for caring for sick children. These institutions often serve children with disabilities, chronic illnesses, or other serious health conditions. Nursing assistants work directly with patients in children's wards where round-the-clock medical supervision is provided. Such work is classified as hazardous or arduous, giving employees the right to preferential pension benefits under Ukrainian legislation.
In Ukraine, healthcare professionals, including nursing assistants, are entitled to preferential retirement benefits if their positions are included in List No. 2 and their working conditions have been confirmed through workplace certification (attestation).
According to the Law of Ukraine "On Mandatory State Pension Insurance" and Resolution No. 461 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated 24 June 2016, "On Approval of the Lists of Industries, Occupations, Positions, and Indicators Entitling Employees to an Age Pension on Preferential Terms," healthcare professionals working directly with patients may qualify for early retirement. For women, the minimum retirement age is 50 years, provided they have at least 20 years of insurance service, including no less than 10 years of employment in hazardous working conditions.
In one such case, a female nursing assistant providing patient care filed a lawsuit against the Main Departments of the Pension Fund of Ukraine in the Cherkasy and Kirovohrad regions, seeking to have the refusal to grant a preferential pension under List No. 2 declared unlawful and annulled, and requesting that the disputed periods of employment be included in her preferential pension service.
The Pension Fund in the Kirovohrad region argued that the claimant had not reached the required retirement age and that the disputed periods could not be counted because the position of "nursing assistant providing patient care" was not specifically listed in the workplace certification documents.
The Cherkasy District Administrative Court partially upheld the claim, declared the Pension Fund's refusal unlawful, annulled the contested decision, ordered the Main Department of the Pension Fund of Ukraine in the Kirovohrad region to grant the claimant a preferential pension under List No. 2, and required the disputed periods of employment to be included in her preferential pension service.
Cases such as this demonstrate that the Pension Fund of Ukraine sometimes refuses preferential pensions based solely on formal grounds. However, Ukrainian court practice consistently confirms that where there is sufficient evidence that an employee actually performed work included in List No. 2, and workplace certification confirms the hazardous nature of the work, the courts declare such Pension Fund refusals unlawful.
Our law firm provides qualified legal assistance in matters relating to the award and recalculation of preferential pensions.
Our pension lawyers will help you collect the necessary evidence confirming employment under List No. 1 or List No. 2, prepare a legally sound claim, support your case using current court practice and Supreme Court decisions, and ensure the effective enforcement of the court's judgment by the Pension Fund of Ukraine.
Protect your right to a fair pension—every year of demanding and hazardous work deserves to be recognized and properly compensated under the law.
