Who risks losing the pension?

Decrees function in a retroactive way. It means that they influence the relations which were formed before the Decrees were adopted. Before the Decrees 5 years of pensionable service were enough for people to have legal basis for pension while reaching retirement age. The only demand was overall employment record (25 years for men and 20 years for women).

Now there is no exceptions and no transitional periods are set aside for the people who reach retirement age during new developments and do have sufficient quantity of pensionable service according to old rules. The issue is that they do not have enough pensionable service according to new rules. This people cannot receive neither labour pension on a regular basis nor a social pension. In accordance with the law having reached the retirement age they do not even have the right neither for unemployment compensation nor for addressed social help. In fact they have no chances to be employed and to pay their bill. This is the very core of the subject.

Besides new rules of pension provision are antedated. They have made several groups of people especially vulnerable. Among them are people on maternity leave, officers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and milicyiaTranslator’s note: Belarusian police, people who nurse the aged etc.

It must be underlined that the Decrees which have aggravated the situation act retroactively. In contrast the Decree № 233 which improves the issue a bit has started only on August 1, 2017 and does not cover the period before.

1. Before the Decrees 5 years of pensionable service were enough for people to have legal basis for pension while reaching retirement age. The only demand was overall employment record (25 years for men and 20 years for women).
2. Decrees adoption has lead to the situation when people who were involved into community service over a protracted period and whose activities are not counted as pensionable service have lost the right for pension.

Among them are people on maternity leave, officers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and milicyia (Belarusian police), people who nurse the aged etc.

The Decree № 233 softens the situation, but as we see from appeals to BHCBelarusian Helsinki Committee, the problem is not solved in full measure.

Many people who have lost the right for pension due to the sharp increase of pensionable service period and the sharp increase of the age for social pension are stripped of their livelihood. This people cannot receive neither labour pension on a regular basis nor a social pension.

It means that they have no possibility to maintain a minimum standard of living, receive quality medical treatment in case of illness and injuries, pay their rent etc.

In most of cases women are those who take care of children or 1st group invalides. Periods of such activities are not included into pensionable service.

It must be taken into account that the Decrees establish equal rules for accumulated pensionable service for men and women, while their retirement age remains different. As a result women who nurse children and invalids are placed in particularly vulnerable situation.

Such an approach has indirect discriminative character: appears to be neutral in so far as it relates to men and women, but in practice has a discriminatory effect on women (art. 16, General recommendation № 28, The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women).

Such a practice contradicts prohibition of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (art. 2, The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women). In social security schemes that link benefits with contributions, States parties should take steps to eliminate the factors that prevent women from making equal contributions to such schemes (art. 32, General comment № 19, The Committee on economic, social and cultural rights).

According to the changes, set out in this Decree, pension calculation is made for a period of the last 21 year of work activities (before one could choose any 5 years from last 15 before retirement age). In the process of pension entitlement such calculation places workers who had relatively high salary at the beginning of working career in unequal position to the workers who have achieved high salaries at late careers.

Veterans of work kept on working after reaching pension age. As a rule those were lower positions with lower salaries. With new pensions order they will receive lesser individual coefficient and their pension size will reduce accordingly.

Such an issue violates constitutional principles of social fair, legal equality and prohibition of discrimination. These principles are the core of declared state politics of Belarus.

It is impossible to explain the logics of the regulation. From the point of view of pension system a 5 children family is a positive phenomenon and is worth of state support (There is a shortened pensionable service period for the mother of 5 children. It is 5 years). Upbringing of 3 children is also valued as socially useful, and all possible period of childcare (9 years of maternity leave) is included if not into pensionable service period but into overall employment record. But for those who upbring 4 children, nursing fourth child is not included into any service record. So after the third child one better have twins.

Pension legislation reform was conducted out of public view, without deep analysis of introduced standards enforcement, without wide public debates which take into consideration current social-economic, demographic and gender conditions settled in Belarus.

If any deliberately retrogressive measures are taken, the State party has the burden of proving that they have been introduced after the most careful consideration of all alternatives and that they are duly justified by reference to the totality of the rights provided for in the Covenant, in the context of the full use of the maximum available resources of the State party (art. 42, General comment № 19, The Committee on economic, social and cultural rights).