Early Retirement in Ukraine After Termination of Employment

Pursuant to Part 1 of Article 115 of the Law of Ukraine “On Compulsory State Pension Insurance”, persons whose employment contracts have been terminated under certain circumstances and who, on the date of dismissal, have no more than one and a half years remaining until they reach the statutory retirement age may be entitled to an early old-age pension, provided that they are registered with the State Employment Service, no suitable employment is available to them, and they have the required insurance record.

Therefore, the main conditions for early retirement are: dismissal on the grounds prescribed by law, age (no more than 1.5 years remaining until the statutory retirement age), absence of suitable employment through the State Employment Service, and the required insurance record.

As regards the grounds for dismissal, early retirement may apply where an employee is dismissed at the employer’s initiative due to changes in the organisation of production and labour (including liquidation, reorganisation, bankruptcy or restructuring of an enterprise, institution or organisation, or a reduction in the number or staff of employees), as well as where an employee is found to be unable to continue performing the duties of their position due to their health condition.

If the dismissal occurred because the employee was found to be unable to continue performing the duties of their position due to their health condition, registration with the State Employment Service is not required. However, the employee’s inability to continue working in the relevant position must be confirmed by a document containing information from the primary medical records of a healthcare institution, namely:

– a certificate issued by a healthcare institution containing information about the final conclusion of a medical advisory commission regarding the need to change the employee’s place or conditions of work, as recorded in the register of conclusions of such commission;

– a notification to the employer concerning the disability group and the cause of disability, or an extract from the examination report of the medical and social expert commission, or an individual rehabilitation programme (if provided by the person);

– a medical certificate confirming that an employee of a particular category has undergone a preliminary or periodic medical examination, issued by the medical examination commission of a healthcare institution.

Copies of the relevant medical documents must also be submitted to the Pension Fund authorities when applying for an early old-age pension.

If the dismissal occurred at the employer’s initiative due to changes in the organisation of production and labour, the person must register with the State Employment Service within 30 calendar days from the date of dismissal, and no suitable employment must be available to that person for seven calendar days.

The insurance record required for an early old-age pension is 35 years for men and 30 years for women.