Women’s pensions in 2027: what mistake could cost you your pensionable service
Lawyer Alena Chmona spoke to UNIAN about the rules governing women’s retirement in 2027.
What length of service will women need in 2027
In 2027, women who have accumulated at least 34 years of insurance service will be entitled to a pension at the age of 60.
If they have between 24 and 33 years of service, they will be able to retire at 63.
If a person has between 15 and 23 years of service, an old-age pension will be available at 65.
In other words, age alone is no longer the sole criterion. The key question is how many years of service the Pension Fund will credit to a person.
What can be counted towards the insurance record
The lawyer explains that insurance service may include more than just years of formal employment.
Maternity leave, part-time work, caring for parents or relatives with disabilities, as well as periods of work as a sole trader, may be counted.
However, in each case, documents are required to confirm the right to such service.
Maternity leave
If a woman was working and took maternity leave, this period should be counted towards her service record.
If a woman was not working and was on maternity leave before 2004, she must provide the Pension Fund with a child’s birth certificate to confirm her service record.
If the maternity leave was after 2004, a birth certificate alone is no longer sufficient. It is also necessary to confirm that the woman received state child benefit, as contributions to the Pension Fund were made from these payments.
Part-time work
For part-time work, the formalisation of the employment relationship and the payment of contributions to the Pension Fund are of key importance.
If a person has a main job where pension contributions are paid on their behalf and they also work part-time, the length of service is counted according to the general rule – one year for one year.
There will be no double service record for working in several places at the same time.
Caring for relatives with disabilities
The period spent caring for parents or relatives with disabilities may also be counted towards length of service.
To do this, you must confirm that the relatives are indeed disabled and that the care was officially registered.
The person caring for the relative must be registered and receive state benefits from which contributions are made to the Pension Fund of Ukraine.
Service record for sole traders
To have an individual entrepreneur’s service record counted, you must confirm the entrepreneur’s registration, proof of contributions to the Pension Fund and, if necessary, provide documents confirming registration under the single tax scheme.
The lawyer notes that an individual entrepreneur’s service record must be counted even if only the minimum contributions were paid.
According to her, the Pension Fund may sometimes count a shorter length of service if contributions were paid at a lower rate, although the law provides for a different approach: one year of work as a sole trader should be counted as one year of service.
What mistake could cause you to lose years
The biggest risk is problems with documents.
The Pension Fund may not count part of your service record if there are deficiencies in your employment record book, if there is no dismissal order or order number, if entries are incorrectly recorded, or if there are other formal errors.
The lawyer cited an example from her own practice where a person’s education was not counted towards their service record due to the absence of the secretary’s signature on the diploma. This concerned education prior to 2004, which by law should be included in the service record.
How not to lose your length of service
Women planning to retire in 2027 should check all their documents in advance.
First and foremost, this includes your employment record book, educational diploma, certificates from companies, institutions, educational establishments and other documents that can confirm your length of service.
If you need to confirm your service record prior to 2004, you can contact not only companies or institutions but also archives.
In complex cases, you can gather evidence and take the matter to court.
What you should do now
To avoid discovering a problem at the last minute, it is worth checking your insurance record via the Pension Fund.
If some periods are not shown or there are errors in the documents, it is best to start gathering evidence in advance.
This is particularly important for those planning to retire at 60 or 63, as even a few uncredited years can push back your retirement age.
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