Preferential Pension for Employees Working with Radioactive Substances
As a general rule, a person may retire at the age of 60 provided that they have the required insurance record, which was 28 years in 2021. However, in certain cases, the right to a pension may arise earlier. In particular, persons employed in hazardous and difficult working conditions may qualify for retirement as early as the age of 50.
Ukrainian legislation provides for two special lists of hazardous occupations – List No. 1 and List No. 2. List No. 1 covers occupations involving particularly harmful and particularly difficult working conditions and may entitle employees to retire at the age of 50. List No. 2 covers less hazardous occupations and generally provides for retirement at the age of 55.
This article concerns pensions for employees working with radioactive substances where the activity at the workplace exceeds 10 millicuries of radium-226, or an equivalent quantity of radioactive substances in terms of radiotoxicity, as well as employees working with gamma-therapy equipment and those engaged in repairing equipment under such conditions.
This type of employment is covered by List No. 1 and therefore may entitle an employee to an old-age pension on preferential terms. Such work generally involves employment at enterprises dealing with radioactive substances and beryllium.
To qualify for an old-age pension on preferential terms, employees engaged in the above-mentioned work must generally reach the age of 50 and have at least 25 years of insurance record, including at least 10 years of employment in the relevant hazardous occupation.
Employment involving radioactive substances may be confirmed by an employment record book. For this purpose, the employment record should contain sufficient information confirming the nature and conditions of the work, for example, that the employee was employed full-time at an enterprise working with radioactive substances at a workplace where the activity exceeded 10 millicuries of radium-226.
If the employment record book does not contain such or similar information, or if the records contain errors or inaccuracies, it may be necessary to obtain an additional employment certificate. Such a certificate may be obtained from the employer or, where appropriate, from an archive.
If the employment documents are properly prepared, an application for a preferential pension should be submitted to the Pension Fund of Ukraine. However, in practice, the Pension Fund may require additional employment certificates even when the employment record book already contains sufficient information. In such cases, it is important to determine whether this requirement is lawful.
Ukrainian courts have developed a legal approach according to which an additional certificate is not required if the entries in the employment record book sufficiently confirm the working conditions and the nature of the employee's duties. Therefore, where the employment record book contains all the necessary information, a requirement by the Pension Fund to provide an additional certificate may be unlawful.
An example of relevant judicial practice is the judgment of the Supreme Court dated 27 April 2020 in case No. 648/1613/17, in which the Court applied this approach when assessing documents confirming a person's employment record.
