More than 150,000 Romanians could have their pensions doubled, after a bill already submitted to the Senate proposes to amend the pension law, which has just entered into force.
This time, the changes that would be made to the pension law target the most disadvantaged Romanians among the beneficiaries of the public pension system.
According to the document, the pensions that this category of Romanians will receive could be almost twice as high as at the moment.
The recently submitted legislative proposal aims to change the provisions of Law 360/2023 regarding the public pension system, in the sense of increasing the points awarded to these Romanians for each year worked, from 0.57255 points to one pension point.
“For each useful year made within the former cooperative agricultural units, as well as for each year of contribution made by farmers with individual households in non-cooperative areas, until the date of entry into force of Law no. 80/1992 on pensions and other insurance rights social benefits of farmers, the annual score is 1 point”, the legislative proposal states.
The new proposed amendment to the pension law is justified by the fact that the existing differences between the pensions received by former farmers – because it is them – and those of the other categories of pensioners are a form of discrimination.
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“One cannot talk about equity in a democratic regime when there is such a large discrepancy between pensions,” the statement of reasons states.
The second argument invoked is that “former agricultural workers live with reduced pensions (…), which do not provide them with a decent living after a long professional activity.
Thus, they often find themselves in economic difficulties when it comes to procuring medicines, food and paying for the services necessary for living”, it is written in the statement of reasons submitted to the Senate.
If this draft law is adopted, approximately 150,000 pensioners who worked in the agricultural field will benefit from the new changes.
The proposal to amend the pension law also talks about the budgetary effort related to such increases.
“This increase will not excessively burden the burden of the state and the application of the budget.
The statistical trend shows that this category is decreasing. These people represent a forgotten category that needs social support.
However, it is unlikely that this will perpetuate itself in future generations and create a long-term budgetary problem”.
Currently, the number of pensioners from agriculture is almost three times lower than in 2015, when their number was almost 465,000, according to avocatnet.ro.
To apply, the draft law must be voted by the Parliament, promulgated by the president and published in the Official Gazette.
The new pension law, published in the Official Gazette
On December 6, 2023, the pension law, adopted by Parliament in November and promulgated by President Klaus Iohannis, was published in the Official Gazette.
It applies starting from January 1, 2024. Some of the provisions enter into force from the beginning of the year, and most from September.
The new law states that from January 1, 2024, pensions will increase by 13.8% and will be recalculated in September. The pension point will thus be 2,032 lei.
At the same time, the retirement age will be the same for women and men, respectively 65, introduced gradually.
Also, the minimum contributory contribution period to benefit from the old-age pension will be 15 years.
Stability points or bonus points, provided for in the new pension law
According to the new law, those who work in special conditions or special conditions, benefit from an additional number of 0.25 or 0.50 points for each month in which they carried out activities in special conditions.
The old law provided for the increase of the monthly scores achieved in those periods, an increase of 25% or 50%, depending on the group.
The calculation difference between the two laws can even generate 7 points against the pensioner/insured who worked under special conditions, so a lower pension.
Jobs in special or special conditions are considered to be the ones that can lead to occupational diseases over time.
The total number of points achieved by the insured is obtained from the summation of his annual points, including those related to non-contributory periods, and the number of stability points.
The insured’s annual score is determined by dividing by 12 the sums of the monthly scores achieved in a calendar year.
A number of stability points are granted for the contributory contribution period achieved over 25 contributory years as follows:
– 0.50 points for each year achieved over 25 years. Example: between 25 and 30 years old, 2.5 points are awarded;
– 0.75 points for each year achieved over 30 years. Example: between 30 and 35 years, 3.75 points are awarded;
– 1 point for each year achieved over 35 years.
