Retirement age in Belarus for men and women

How does the retirement age change according to the reform?

The retirement age in Belarus has undergone reform in 2021; before this time it was 60 years for men and 55 for women. After the start of the changes, Belarus plans to raise the retirement age to 63 years for men and 58 years for women. The transition period involves gradual growth for six months each year. The retirement schedule in the Republic of Belarus is presented in table form.

The retirement age in Belarus in 2021 is 61.5 years for the strong half, 56.5 for the weak.

By 2022, the retirement age for men and women in Belarus will increase to 63 and 58 years, respectively. Separate age restrictions are established for those who have not worked the minimum length of service; they will be able to receive a social pension at 65 years old for men and at 60 years old for women.

About minimum pensions

Citizens of the Republic of Belarus receive several types of payments. The size in each specific case is determined by several factors - the pensioner’s ability to work, length of work experience, and so on. There is a minimum pension. It applies to almost everyone, regardless of individual conditions.

• Mother-heroines, with any category of disability.
• Disabled people of the third group.
• Those who received 1st and 2nd degree disability.

They are paid from 50 to 100% of the minimum age pension.

Additional benefits are available to those who have suffered injuries or illnesses as a result of their professional activities.

It is important to find out in advance what documents you will need to collect to resolve the issue. The government plans to reduce the required amount of length of service for those citizens who were engaged in socially significant activities. The procedure for obtaining the appropriate status is also simplified for them.

But even after the completion of the reforms, the retirement age remains one of the earliest compared to other European countries. In most countries it is 60-65 years. At the same time, different terms for men and women are rarely provided; in this regard, they retain the same rights.

IMF on the pension system of Belarus

Representatives of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expressed their opinion on the retirement age in Belarus. Experts believe that the government does not need to stop at the changes made in 2022; the optimal retirement age for the country is 65 years for all citizens.

In addition to raising the retirement age in the Republic of Belarus, the following measures are proposed:

• refusal of early termination of employment;
• training pre-retirees and protecting them from dismissal;
• indexation of benefits taking into account inflation.

The IMF has the right to dictate its demands, since it is the main creditor of Belarus. The condition for issuing loans is the ability to influence the internal policy of the state.

The main arguments of experts for reform are the large number of people of retirement age and the lack of working population. Critical for the economy and the pension fund is the ratio of pensioners to workers, which is 1 to 1.5.

The IMF recommends that the country's leadership consider options for reducing budget expenditures on social security, which amount to 35%.

Retirement age in the world

In addition to the Republic of Belarus, the following states are planning to increase the pension threshold in the near future:

• Russian Federation, where raising the age for both sexes to 65 is being discussed;
• Kazakhstan, whose plans are to equalize the age for women with men (63 years) from 2021;
• the United States of America, where the threshold may increase from 65 to 69 years;
• Estonia, where in 2026 the age will be 65 for everyone.

The reason for the initiation of reforms for the countries of the former Soviet Union is considered to be the demographic crisis of the 1990s, which led to a decrease in the birth rate.

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Preferential categories

The increase in the retirement age in Belarus also affected benefit categories of the population, which include:

• employees of enterprises with hazardous conditions;
• civil servants;
• mother of 5 children;
• parents of disabled children;
• disabled war veterans;
• mothers of military personnel;
• dwarfs and midgets;
• teachers.

They have a reduced insurance period of 5 years. For workers with hazardous working conditions - 12.5 years, then their retirement in Belarus will take place at 58 years old, the same retirement age is established for civil servants. Teachers must work for at least 25 years to qualify for the preferential category.

Additional benefits from the state in Belarus

The list of all benefits for recipients of pension payments looks like this:

• there is no requirement to pay taxes on real estate that belongs to a citizen (if people of working age do not live in it);
• for procedures related to the work of a notary, you need to pay only 50 percent of the state fee;
• During the summer season , from May 1 to September 30, the price of tickets for commuter trains and buses, as well as for water transport, is halved.

A citizen can use the benefit if he declares his own right. In order to buy tickets at a reduced price, you must show your ID to the conductor. To receive benefits for paying for electricity and gas, you must contact the organization that supplies these resources with an identification card and other documents.

Certain benefits are not intended for all pension recipients, but only for some groups of them. These include:

• labor veterans;
• former law enforcement officers;
• persons who participated in the Great Patriotic War;
• people who eliminated the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster;
• people with disabilities.

These categories of Belarusians are partially or completely exempt from paying for utilities and have the right to undergo health procedures free of charge.

In 2021, some of the previously existing benefits were canceled or replaced with pension supplements.

So, now retirees:

• pay taxes on interest on deposits;
• pay taxes on lottery winnings;
• pay a state fee for permitting a car to operate and for technical inspection;
• cannot buy tickets on public transport in cities at a reduced price.

If the lottery winnings are not personal, then no tax is required to be paid, in accordance with subparagraph 17 of paragraph 2 of Article 153 of the Tax Code of the Republic of Belarus. If the winnings are personal, that is, to receive it you need to provide a passport, you must pay income tax. The amount of this tax is 4 percent of the amount won.

Reference! Some organizations issue internal decrees under which pensioners can receive additional benefits for goods or services. The law does not oblige companies to provide benefits to citizens of retirement age, so you should not be surprised if pensioners can buy goods at a reduced price in one store, but not in another.

Work experience and social pension

Pension reform involves not only increasing the retirement age in Belarus, but also changing the minimum length of service requirements. The law sets out a program for its growth from 15 to 20 years by 2025 every year for six months.

We are talking about the insurance period, which includes the following periods of a citizen’s life:

• official employment with payment of insurance premiums;
• entrepreneurial activity;
• sick leave;
• maternity leave;
• child care up to 3 years old;
• caring for a disabled person;
• Military service;
• receiving unemployment benefits.

Studying in higher educational institutions is not included in the calculated length of service. A threshold has been established after which length of service ceases to be taken into account when calculating pensions - 45 years for men, 40 for women.

Those citizens who did not have time to complete the required length of service are entitled to an old-age payment - 25% of the established subsistence level.

Basic rules for minimum experience

When assigning payments, the Government and other regulatory authorities take into account several indicators:

1. Date of the application.
2. Development based on insurance experience.
3. Number of years or age.

The minimum insurance period is the time during which money was transferred to the Social Protection Fund. For 2020, this figure is 17.5 years. The plan is for six-month increases every 12 months until the figure reaches 20 years by 2025.

The following periods are deducted from the insurance period:

• Study.
• Serving in the army.
• Maternity leave.

The social pension is used for those who do not have the minimum length of service.

Losing a job at least a year before the planned retirement requires the use of early pension. But in this case, the accumulated experience should be greater.

In the case of beneficiaries, the age is also gradually increased by three years. The right to refuse payments is granted to pensioners who retain their jobs, so that later the amount of compensation due will increase. In 60 months you can almost double the amount, the standard reward is from 6 to 14%.

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Special conditions apply to disabled people and mothers of many children. But here each case is considered individually when retirement in the Republic of Belarus is formalized.

Amount of pension payments in Belarus

Retirement in Belarus in 2021 involves receiving a payment that cannot be lower than the following amounts:

Additional payments apply for some categories. Recalculations are carried out periodically if the average salary in the country has increased or the level of the cost of living has changed. Depending on inflation, as in Russia, payments are not indexed.

The pension amount is calculated based on salary for the last 24 years, but not more than the average value increased by 4 times. The average pension payment is 438 Belarusian rubles, which is 13,724 Russian rubles.

Thus, the pension sector of Belarus, just like the Russian one, is going through a stage of reform. The main reason for this is the increase in the number of pensioners and the decrease in the number of working citizens, which negatively affects the state of the budget and the socio-economic development of the country. In the Republic of Belarus the situation is complicated by the fact that the government is forced to comply with the requirements of the IMF due to its debt to it. International experts make it clear that the current increase in the retirement age is not enough; further changes will be required.

Old age pension: employer actions

Upon reaching a certain age, an employee may have the right to an old-age retirement pension (hereinafter referred to as the pension). Let us recall the conditions and general procedure for assigning a pension. In addition, we will figure out what actions are important for the employer to take in order to track the moment of reaching retirement age and assigning pensions to employees.

Conditions for assigning an old-age pension

An employee may have the right to a pension if several conditions coincide <*>:

1) reaching the established retirement age;

2) having a certain minimum length of service for a pension:

- insurance. Simply put, this is the amount of time during which mandatory insurance contributions to the Social Security Fund were paid for the employee;

— labor, which mainly includes the total period of work under an employment contract, a contract or as an individual entrepreneur <*>.

Some periods are counted towards a person’s length of service, despite the non-payment of insurance contributions to the Social Security Fund during this time. For example, when an employee received higher education full-time, was on sick leave or on maternity leave <*>.

Note! The length of service for calculating a pension includes the time spent on maternity leave in a total of no more than <*>: - 9 years - until 12/31/2020; - 12 years - from 01/01/2021.

Requirements for the age and length of service of an employee to receive a pension vary depending on the following circumstances :

1) a man or woman is retiring. At the same time, the length of the insurance period is the same for workers of both sexes;

2) a pension is assigned:

- on a general basis <*>;

- for work with special working conditions <*>;

- on preferential terms for certain categories of citizens <*>.

Let us remind you that starting from 2021, the generally established retirement age and insurance period will increase annually by six months. The retirement age will reach its maximum in 2022, and the insurance period - in 2025. In subsequent years, these indicators will remain unchanged. Let us consider in more detail the conditions for assigning pensions for women and men on a general basis in Table 1 <*>.

Table 1

It may happen that by the time the employee reaches retirement age and after reaching it, he will not have the necessary insurance (work) experience to assign a pension. The legislation provides for the possibility of assigning a pension in these cases, but subject to certain conditions. Let's consider these conditions in Table 2 <*>.

table 2

A few words about the size of the pension

The size of the pension depends on the length of work experience and the level of earnings from which insurance contributions to the Social Security Fund were paid. The specific amount of the pension that a citizen will receive after retirement is determined by the body providing pensions <*>.

As a general rule, a pension is assigned in the amount of 55% of the employee’s average monthly earnings, but not less than the minimum pension amount. The minimum pension in Belarus is 25% of the highest BPM value on average per capita for the last two quarters <*>.

Note: To determine the earnings from which the pension will be calculated, an individual earnings coefficient is used. It represents the arithmetic average of the coefficients for the entire period of work, obtained from the ratio of the employee’s actual earnings and the average salary of employees in the republic in the same months. The coefficient is difficult to calculate on your own, since the amount of actual earnings and the average salary are constantly changing.

Compiling a list of workers of retirement age for the next year

The employer is obliged to promptly prepare the documents necessary for the employee’s retirement and submit them to the body providing pensions. In this case, the documents must be completed in full and contain reliable information. Violation of these obligations may result in liability for the employer <*>:

- administrative - in the form of a fine in the amount of 20 to 50 BV;

- material compensation to the employee for damage caused to him in the form of the amount of pension not received by the employee due to the fault of the employer.

Judicial practice When submitting documents for a pension to an employee, the employer did not provide a copy of the certificate of the victim of the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. As a result, the employee did not receive the pension supplement due to him. Material damage in the form of unpaid pension supplements was recovered from the employer in favor of the employee.

Taking into account the above, it is important for the employer to monitor the approaching retirement age of its employees and prepare in advance the documents necessary to receive a pension. For these purposes, at the beginning of each year, it is advisable for the employer to compile a list of employees who will reach retirement age in the next year and become eligible for a pension (hereinafter referred to as the list). It is advisable to include in the list:

— general information about the employee: full name, date of birth, position (profession) indicating the structural unit;

— information regarding the assignment of a pension: type of pension, basis for its assignment, total length of service, special experience if any.

Note! As a general rule, an employee reaches retirement age and, accordingly, acquires the right to a pension on his birthday. The documents confirming the employee’s birth may not indicate the exact date of birth. In this case, it is considered that the employee reaches retirement age <*>: - on the last day of the month of birth - if only the month and year of birth are indicated; - July 1 of the corresponding year - if only the date and year of birth are indicated; - July 15 of the corresponding year - if nothing is indicated except the year of birth.

In practice, the list is compiled on the basis of data from work books and personal cards of employees. It is advisable to list employees in chronological order depending on the date of acquisition of the right to a pension. In this form, the list will be convenient for the employer in monitoring the onset of retirement age. The same rule was in effect earlier, when the list was mandatory.

Procedure for assigning a pension

The procedure for assigning a pension begins from the moment the employee receives an application for a pension in the prescribed form (hereinafter referred to as the application). Let us remind you that working citizens apply for a pension through their employers at their last place of work <*>.

The documents that an employer must collect to assign and accrue a pension to an employee include documents confirming work experience and earnings. For the period since 2003, this information is confirmed by an extract from an individual personal account issued by the Federal Social Security Service <*>.

As a rule, by the time the employee’s application is received, the documents for granting a pension have already been collected.

Note: A retired employee may refuse to receive a pension for the duration of his work in order to increase it in the future. This can be done immediately after the pension is assigned. In this case, it is advisable for the employer to submit the employee’s refusal statement simultaneously with the documents for assigning him a pension <*>.

After receiving the employee’s application, the employer must take the following steps step by step:

1) within 5 working days, submit form PU-3 (type of form - assignment of pension) for the employee for the current year to the district (city) department of the Social Security Fund <*>;

2) prepare on the basis of the collected documents for the assignment of a pension <*>:

— or a submission for the assignment of an employee’s pension (hereinafter referred to as the submission) in the form, after which familiarize the employee with it against signature;

- or refusal to submit. Refusal to submit a claim usually occurs due to the fact that the employee does not have enough work or insurance experience to qualify for a pension. The employer is obliged to inform the employee in writing about the refusal and its reasons.

Note! The employee’s application and the employer’s submission must indicate whether the employee is retiring or continues to work <*>. This is due to the established restrictions on the amount of the calculated pension during the period of work of the pensioner;

3) within 10 calendar days, submit a package of documents for the assignment of a pension to the body providing pensions at the employee’s place of residence <*>.

The general procedure for the actions of the body providing pensions after it receives documents for assigning a pension is sequentially presented in diagram <*>.

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Reform to raise the retirement age is ending in Belarus

— Since the times of the Soviet Union, life expectancy has at least increased significantly for both men and women, and the share of heavy physical labor has decreased significantly. As a result, fully able-bodied, healthy people retire. This, on the one hand, can limit professional fulfillment, and on the other, increases the burden on the Social Protection Fund,” explains Anastasia Luzgina. — Now we need to analyze the results of the first increase in the retirement age, but, in my opinion, we will have to return to this issue later. This is dictated by an increase in life expectancy, an increase in the length of service for receiving a labor pension, and a lack of resources in the Social Security Fund. Raising the retirement age is not a unique case: due to the fact that many countries are experiencing an increase in life expectancy against the backdrop of low birth rates, there is automatically a need to raise the retirement age.

In general, says Gleb Shimanovich, almost all countries are now faced with the need to reform the pension system. This is due both to the aging of the population and to changes in the labor market: the development of informal employment, the shift towards robotization.

— According to statistics, women live longer than men and retire earlier. In addition, women spend time on maternity leave, while no one has canceled the minimum insurance period for receiving a labor pension for everyone (this year it is 18 years and will increase by six months every year until it reaches 20 years. - Note ed.). In my opinion, the retirement age for women could be raised to the same 63 years as for men, and only then consider the possibility of further increases based on life expectancy and the working age of the population,” comments Anastasia Luzgina. — Of course, medicine continues to improve, people, especially in recent years, are striving to lead a healthier lifestyle. And if, thanks to this, more and more people remain able to work at 60-65 years old, it is possible that we can talk about a further increase. But first of all, we still need to consider the issue of equalizing the retirement age, because there is a clear imbalance here.

— If we want to ensure a high standard of living and, for this purpose, increase the state pension, then the question is: at the expense of what and who will this happen? This will require enormous resources. At the same time, there are people who did not work or worked but did not pay contributions because they received their salary in an envelope. They, too, do not give up their pension when the time comes, but everyone else provides it. It turns out that everything should be fair, those who earn more will receive more in old age - there is no escape from the funded pension,” comments Anastasia Bobrova. — Regardless of whether the retirement age continues to rise, the state will provide a certain basic level of pension. But if we are talking about the transition to quality, then there must also be individual savings. Everyone chipped in for the basic pension, but what’s in excess is every man for himself.

— Both the person who received 500 rubles and the person who received 2000 rubles, in total, contributed 35% of their salary to the Social Security Fund. But at the same time, their pension will differ by only 100-150 rubles, and this is not a lot of money. Therefore, the second step is the differentiation of pensions and the revision of the very formula for their calculation. This will also help fight “gray” salaries, because a direct relationship will be built: the more you pay into the pension fund today, the higher your salary will be tomorrow, explains Zhanna Tarasevich.

Laws

Below we highlight a list of bills on the basis of which the pension system of Belarus is formed, including the retirement age:

• Presidential Decree No. 137 of April 11, 2016;
• Resolution of the Council of Ministers No. 728 of September 15, 2016;
• Law No. 1596 – XII of April 17, 1992;
• Law No. 204-Z dated June 14, 2003;
• Presidential Decree No. 705 of November 30, 2006;
• Law 14-Z of 01/09/2017;
• Presidential Decree No. 570 dated December 8, 2014.

To continue the topic, we suggest watching the video.
The authorities of Belarus, along with Russia, will begin gradually raising the age of pensioners in 2021 to reduce budget expenditures. However, the majority of Belarusian citizens are against the new reform, but no one took into account the opinions of citizens before introducing the new bill. Therefore, pensioners have to come to terms with the innovations that are described in this material.

Reduced length of service, more benefits and a new type of pension

For mothers who gave birth to at least four children and raised them until the age of 8, the decree provides another guarantee: the insurance period for assigning them an old-age pension has been reduced to 10 years. That is, from the beginning of the year, such mothers will be granted a pension if they have ten years of insurance experience, and not eighteen, as before. But the requirement for total experience remains the same - 20 years. Since January 1, 2021, five such pensions have been appointed in the Grodno region.

With questions about the assignment of an old-age labor pension or a transfer from a received disability pension to an old-age pension, you must submit an application and a package of documents to the department of labor, employment and social protection at your place of residence.

– The size of such a pension will depend on the insurance period developed: from 73 percent of the pensioner’s subsistence level budget for 10 years to 100 percent of this budget for 19 years (an additional 3 percent for each full year). For example, for 19 years of work with payment of contributions, the old-age pension with incomplete insurance coverage will increase by 1.5 times in relation to the social pension. At the same time, the condition for the age of granting a pension for this category of citizens remains the same. Like the social pension, the old-age pension with incomplete insurance coverage will be assigned to men upon reaching 65 years of age, and to women at 60 years of age. Since January 1, 2021, such pensions have already been assigned to 103 citizens in the Grodno region, -

added Alina Voronyuk.

Parents of children
with disabilities
According to current legislation, mothers and fathers who raised disabled children for at least 8 years until they reached adulthood are entitled to a number of social benefits: early retirement, length of service with mandatory payment of insurance contributions for assigning them a labor pension is 5 years .

– A woman who is on maternity leave, thanks to the decree, has the right to a survivor’s pension for her deceased husband. Previously, unemployed women enjoyed this right in a similar situation. The measure taken will equalize social guarantees for women caring for children, regardless of their status,

– said Alina Voronyuk.

What you need to know about early retirement in Belarus

You can become a pensioner early if you permanently reside in the country. You also need to reach a certain age established by Article 11 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus dated January 5, 2008 No. 322 “On professional pension insurance”. In addition, it is necessary to develop the work experience provided for by the same legislative act.

People who have the right to apply for both early and other pensions can choose any of them. As for the amount of payments, it is calculated by finding the private total pension savings and the expected period for providing pension benefits (in months).

The period for provision of early pension provision is considered to be the period from the month that follows the month of filing the application for registration of payments until the month when the citizen reaches the appropriate age.