Dissertation_Paula Aleksandrowicz_12 ... - Jacobs University

etirement any more. Persons born between 1949 and 1969 who will not meet the
requirements for early retirement by the end of 2008, and whose professions will be deemed
by the Medical Committee as unsuitable for work until standard retirement age, will be
granted so-called ´bridging pensions´; the respective law was passed by the Polish
Parliament in December 2008 (http://www.mpips.gov.pl/index.php?gid=1265). Younger
birth cohorts will receive preventive aid with job switching and re-training. The plans and
proposals of the Ministry and other actors (trade unions and parliamentary factions) for
bridging pensions have changed several times. A Medical Committee was commissioned
two times (in 2000 and 2006) with preparing a list of occupations which should be entitled
to early exit. Bridging pensions will be payable for up to five years and financed by
employers and the state budget.
The disability pension is granted as a permanent or limited (5-year) pension in case of an
illness, accident or occupational disease; the assessment is since 1997 solely based on work
capacity and not on medical criteria. The required insurance period ranges from 1-5 years
depending on the age at which the work incapacity has occurred (Uścińska 2005: 201). If
the work incapacity resulted from a work accident or an occupational disease, the pensioner
may retire five years prior to standard retirement age and receive 50 per cent of the old-age
pension on top, which may rise his/her income above former wages (Golinowska/Pietka
2003: 326). The pension reform of 1999 did not change the formula for the disability
pension, due to which its calculation is more favourable than that of the reformed old-age
pension, especially for people with low wages and gaps in employment (Wiktorow 2007:
491). The disability pension requires also a shorter insurance period and, until 2006, could
be claimed as a life-long pension. Only from 2009, disability pensions will be calculated
according to new rules.
Employers in companies with high accidents rates have to pay a 20 per cent higher
contribution to the accident insurance. Planned changes stipulate its rise even by half in
high-risk companies and its lowering by half in low-risk companies (Solska 2008: 42). This
may incite companies to invest in occupational safety and health, just as is the case in
Finland which has a similar system.
In April 1997, pre-retirement benefits and allowances were introduced as replacement
for early retirement pensions for workers from closed companies. The motive was to lower
the expenditures for early exit. Pre-retirement benefits (świadczenia przedemerytalne) were
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