Preferential Pension for Furnace Fettling Machine Operators in Ukraine
After working throughout their entire life, people naturally want to enjoy a well-deserved retirement and live on their pension. As a general rule, people in Ukraine retire at the age of 60. However, employees who work under difficult or particularly hazardous working conditions may be entitled to retire earlier.
The occupation of a furnace fettling machine operator may sound relatively simple and safe. However, according to the Ukrainian Classification of Occupations, these employees operate fettling and shotcreting machines when fettling and shotcreting the rear wall and roof and ramming the charging-door covers of open-hearth furnaces with a capacity of 100 tonnes or more. The hazardous nature of this occupation becomes evident considering that such work is performed near high-temperature smelting furnaces.
Given the nature and conditions of this work, Ukrainian legislation provides such employees with preferential retirement conditions. In particular, they may qualify for retirement at the age of 50 if they have worked in the qualifying occupation for at least 10 years for men or 7 years and 6 months for women. However, this is not the only requirement. The employee must also have the required total insurance record.
In practice, when documents are submitted to the Pension Fund of Ukraine, it may turn out that the employment record book has not been properly completed. For example, employment entries may contain corrections, the employer’s stamp or the signature of the responsible official may be missing, or the employee’s surname, first name, patronymic or date of birth may have been recorded incorrectly. One way to resolve such problems is to contact the enterprise or enterprises where the person worked and obtain clarifying certificates. If the enterprise has been liquidated, the relevant documents may be obtained from the appropriate archival institution.
If neither clarifying certificates nor other supporting documents resolve the problem and the Pension Fund unlawfully refuses to grant a pension, the refusal may be challenged before an administrative court. If the relevant employment periods and other conditions for preferential retirement are properly established, the applicant may seek recognition of the qualifying service and the granting of an old-age pension on preferential terms.
