No amendments to the retirement law are planned – Rafalska
10:28
Poland’s Minister of Family and Labour, Elżbieta Rafalska, confirmed that there would be no amendments to Poland’s controversial law that returns the age of retirement to 60 for women and 65 for men, and stated that the law was simply a return to previous retirement conditions in Poland. She was speaking to the Polish press on Wednesday evening. “We restore the state before January 1, 2013, and here we do not change anything,” said Rafalska. The draft law was adopted by the lower house of the Polish Parliament on November 16. According to reports, it will be before a Senate discussion committee this Friday.
However, some groups of employees have pointed out perceived inconsistencies with respect to age and gender of retirement contained in the re-instated law. For instance, female employees in the prosecutor’s office, as well as judges, would not automatically be eligible for retirement prior to 65 years of age. Chairman of the Trade Union of Prosecutors and Employees of the Prosecutor's Office of Poland prosecutor Jacek Skała told reporters that there is no agreement in it (the new legislation) referring to when women performing work in the office would be eligible for retirement. “Our profession is associated with above-average workloads and in return we have an above-average length of work? I hope that the Senate, the president and the Attorney General will notice this problem,” Skała said. Poland’s new law on the age of retirement has been controversial because critics of the law claim that it will exacerbate economic challenges posed by Poland’s growing deficit.
