Some Poles will not receive retirement pensions: ZUS plan
16:13
People who have made social security contributions for too short a period will not receive any retirement pension, but instead will receive a cash payout. The government will be examining this proposal made by the Polish Social Insurance Board (ZUS).
Prime Minister Beata Szydło announced at the beginning of the year that her government would carry out an overhaul of the retirement system. She gave ZUS responsibility for preparing a rescue plan – it has just published its recommendations.
The most controversial aspect of the proposals is the plan to deprive thousands of Poles of any retirement pension. The plan would affect those working sporadically in full-time positions or under specific-task contracts. Only those who prove they have had at least 15 (women) or 20 (men) years of so-called contribution periods would have the right to pensions.
“Without doubt, people with a very short length of service should not have the right to a monthly pension. But it seems that ZUS has set the length of service too high. It could have been five years of paying contributions,” said Łukasz Wacławik, a social security specialist at Kraków's AGH University of Science and Technology.
