Dissertation_Paula Aleksandrowicz_12 ... - Jacobs University

Table 6: Crucial pension reforms in Poland since 1989
Date of passing the Contents
legal act(s)
1975 Introduction of an early retirement pension for disabled persons and for women aged 55 and with a
30 years´ contribution period
1982 Introduction of an early retirement pension for workers ´working under special conditions or
performing work of special character´ (at the age of 60 for men and 55 for women)
1989 Workers from closed companies may retire early if they have a contribution record of 35/40 years.
(invalid from 1998)
1990 Workers in companies with at least 20 employees who had been laid off because of organisational,
production-related or technological reasons or because the company has gone bankrupt, are entitled
to an early retirement pension if they have a contribution record of 35/40 years. (invalid from Jan.
1998)
1991 Increased earnings relation of pension level: It is calculated based on the average wage received in an
increasing number of years: from 3 consecutive years in the year 1992, to 10 consecutive years in the
year 2000.
Imposing limitations on earned income when receiving a pension if earned income exceeds 60% of
base amount. Pension payment is suspended if earned income exceeds 120% of base amount.
1994 Introduction of pre-retirement benefits for persons dismissed for operational reasons and with a
contribution period required for the receipt of an old-age pension.
1996 Introduction of pre-retirement allowance for persons entitled to unemployment benefit, amounting to
120-160% of the regular unemployment benefit. (invalid from Jan. 2002)
1997 Introduction of occupational pensions as third-pillar pensions (extended in 2004) and of open-ended
pension funds as second-pillar pensions.
Stricter rules for granting a disability pension (the level of disability is not any more assessed based
on medical criteria, but on the remaining capacity to work).
1998 Introduction of an NDC-based first-pillar old-age pension scheme with an obligatory second pillar for
persons born 1969 and later, and voluntary for persons born between 1949-1969. Transitory rules for
persons entitled to an early old-age pension for work ´under special conditions´ or ´of special
character´, for women, and for persons incapable to work till the end of 2006. Benefit payment is
suspended if the pensioner continues to work with the previous employer.
2004 Introduction of individual old-age pension funds as third-pillar pensions.
Stricter eligibility rules for the receipt of pre-retirement benefits, a lump-sum payment instead of
orientation on the future old-age pension level.
2005 Transitory rules for persons entitled to an early old-age pension extended to the end of 2007
(postponed in 2007 by another year). Introduction of an unlimited entitlement of miners to early
retirement.
2007 Men who have filled 35 insurance years may retire at the age of 60 if they will have met the required
conditions by the end of 2008 (due to an appeal based on the Anti-Discrimination Legislation).
2008 Law on Bridging Pensions
Early retirement pensions for certain professions will be cancelled from 2009 if no law on bridging
pensions is passed until the end of 2008.
Source: own compilation based on http://isip.sejm.gov.pl, http://www.mps.gov.pl/bip/, www.zus.pl,
www.gazeta.pl and Golinowska (2000: 66-69).
The Polish old-age security system before the grand reform of 1999 consisted of one
PAYG tier financed solely out of employers´ contributions. The system generated income
redistribution due to the pension formula which took into account the average wage in the
economy. Moreover, while there was no ceiling on contributions, the pension level could
not exceed 250 per cent of the average wage in the economy. The old-age pension in the old
system consisted of a flat-rate component (24% of the average wage in the Polish economy),
an earnings-related component (1.3% of the assessment basis for contributory periods) and a
supplement (0.7% of the assessment basis for non-contributory periods). Working longer
did not substantially raise the pension due to the low crediting of each year of work.
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