Minimum length of service for retirement under the new pension reform

What is the minimum length of service for pension payment?

Work experience is the total duration of work and other activities. For the payment of a pension, the insurance period is important, i.e. the periods of time when a person received income and the employer made contributions to the Pension Fund for the person. If it is less than established by law, then he will not be able to be assigned an old-age insurance pension.

The minimum period of work is not the only condition for assigning insurance pension payments. In the Russian Federation, the so-called point system is used. A person needs to score a certain number of points (receive the appropriate individual pension coefficient (IPC)), otherwise, even if he has the required period for paying insurance premiums, he will not be assigned an old-age insurance pension.

It is also useful to read: How pension points are calculated

Important! Disabled people receive insurance pension payments provided they work at least 1 day.

The system with points and insurance (work) experience began to be used in 2015. Before this time period, different rules applied.

It is also useful to read: How to increase pension points

Legislative regulation

The rules for assigning and calculating old-age pensions are strictly regulated and enshrined in law. They are regulated by the following regulations:

• Federal Law No. 167 of December 15, 2001 “On compulsory pension insurance in the Russian Federation.”
• Federal Law No. 400 of December 28, 2013 “On insurance pensions.”
• RF PP No. 1015 dated October 2, 2014 “On approval of the rules for calculating and confirming the insurance period for establishing insurance pensions.”
• Federal Law No. 424 of December 28, 2013 “On funded pensions”.
• Federal Law No. 446 of December 27, 2021 “On the expected period for payment of funded pensions for 2020.”
• Federal Law No. 111 of July 24, 2002 “On investing funds to finance funded pensions in the Russian Federation.”
• Federal Law No. 75 of May 7, 1998 “On non-state pension funds”.

All of the listed regulations are used by the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation in order to determine the required length of work (insurance) experience, calculate individual pension coefficients and the final amount of a citizen’s future pension.

For civil servants, as well as citizens serving in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, cosmonauts, pilots, as well as their families, when calculating old-age pensions, another legislative act is used - Federal Law No. 166 of December 15, 2001 “On state pension provision in Russian Federation".

Types of work experience

Russian legislation regulating pension payments actively uses the concept of seniority. But it is necessary to take into account that there are different types of it, each of which plays an important role in certain situations.

The following types of work experience are distinguished:

1. General – takes into account the total duration of work or activity useful to society. Calculated on a calendar basis. Actively used until 2002.
2. Insurance – the total duration of activity when insurance premiums were paid. This is what is used now when determining the possibility of assigning a pension.
3. Special – periods when a person worked in a profession or under conditions that provided for the assignment of pension payments on preferential terms or in a special manner. Plays an important role in determining the start time of payments. It includes a significantly limited list of activities.
4. Continuous – the duration of continuous work at 1 enterprise or in several organizations, if the transition period does not exceed the norms established by law. Currently, this concept has been completely eliminated in the pension system.

It is also useful to read: How to calculate total work experience

The most important factors for assigning pension payments are insurance and special service. The age at which a person can retire and various payment parameters directly depend on them.

Length of service refers to special length of service, but it in itself is a legal fact sufficient to assign a pension. If you have the required length of service, the person’s age and other parameters will not be important for assigning a pension.

Read more: What is length of service?

What is the minimum length of service for calculating a pension in Russia?

Initially, the system of calculating pensions based on length of service and points began to be used in 2015, but the transition to it is being carried out gradually. Every year the number of points increases, and the period for payment of insurance premiums for retirement increases.

If in 2015, 6 years of payment of insurance premiums and 6.6 points (coefficients) were enough to receive, then in 2021 the requirements are already much higher - 10 years and 16.2 points. In 2024, the requirements for the period for payment of insurance contributions reached its maximum - 15 years (in this case it will be necessary to have at least 28.2 points), and in 2025 the transition to a new system for assigning pensions will be fully completed, and the requirements for the coefficient will increase to the maximum - thirty.

Table. Requirements for the minimum duration of periods for paying insurance premiums and the individual coefficient in different years.

The minimum requirements for IPC and periods for payment of insurance premiums are the same for women and men. But one more condition is that the age attainment will vary.

Reference! In 2021, a law was passed to raise the retirement age. Now there is a gradual increase in it.

Women

Starting from 2021, there is a gradual increase in the age for determining payments from the Pension Fund for women. If before 2021 it was 55 years, then by 2023 it will reach 60 years. The retirement age is raised gradually - 1 year is added annually.

Women who, according to the old rules, were supposed to retire in 2021 and 2021, were given a small benefit. They will be able to arrange payments six months earlier than provided for by the new rules, i.e. at the age of 55.5 and 56.5 years, respectively.

For men

For men, the retirement age is also raised by 5 years. Until 2018, they could retire at age 60 according to standard rules, but from 2023 this will only be possible at age 65. The increase also occurs gradually - 1 year is added to the age of future pensioners annually.

In 2021 and 2021, benefits are also provided for the assignment of pensions six months earlier than required under the new rules.

At what age is it prescribed?

It is necessary to distinguish two groups of the civilian population that meet the established age criteria: representatives of northern nationalities and citizens of Russia.

For men in the Far North, the right to receive social pensions begins when they reach 55 years of age, and for women at 50 years of age.

Citizens of the Russian Federation, to whom persons without a Russian civil passport and having a residence permit are also equated, must be of age: man - 65 years, woman - 60 years.

What periods of work experience are taken into account?

The work experience takes into account according to standard rules the periods when contributions to the Pension Fund were made. This reflects the essence of the ongoing reforms, as a result of which pension provision will have to be based on the insurance principle.

Typically, contributions to the Pension Fund per person are paid by the employer. This rule is met if the citizen is officially employed and the employing organization makes all transfers to extra-budgetary funds required by law. All funds received from the employer are accounted for in a separate personal account, and point coefficients are calculated based on their amount.

All reports to the Pension Fund for the correct assignment of pension benefits in the future are also submitted by the employer. The citizen himself can at any time request from the Pension Fund a certificate of his personal account and find out about the accumulated coefficients and other important information.

Important! If a person operates as an individual entrepreneur, then he pays contributions to the Pension Fund for himself.

Read more: Individual entrepreneur pension

Additional time is included in the length of service when a person is on sick leave, on leave to care for a child up to 1.5 years old, or undergoing military service. If a citizen has to care for a disabled child, an elderly relative, etc., then this time will also be included when calculating the insurance period.

Read more: Is maternity leave included in seniority?

This video talks about periods of work and other periods that are counted towards the insurance period for a pension:

The size of the social pension by age in 2020

This type of support for older people is determined by the following rules:

• is established in a fixed monetary amount;
• indexed annually by the amount of inflation for the previous period;
• is compared with the cost of living in the region of payment.

The last time government payments were indexed was April 1, 2021. From this date, the amount of social support for elderly citizens is 5283.84 rubles.

In some cases, the fixed amount is increased. Namely:

1. In territories related and equated to the Far North, an appropriate increasing coefficient is applied. If the recipient moves to more southern regions, then his content is recalculated (decreased).
2. If a person previously received a disability pension, then after reaching the 65th or 60th birthday (for men and women, respectively), social maintenance is assigned, the amount of which cannot be lower than the previous one.
3. Social supplement is established for maintenance, the amount of which is below the subsistence level of the recipient’s region of registration.

Living wage rule

Senior citizens are provided with maintenance, the amount of which cannot be lower than the subsistence level (ML).
This figure is calculated annually by the government based on prices and survival costs. Data on PM are contained in the budget law adopted annually. Thus, for 2021, a federal indicator was established to determine the need for a social supplement to pension benefits in Russia in the amount of 8,846 rubles. On its basis, each subject of the federation calculates its subsistence level and approves it by appropriate resolution. Thus, the amount of the social supplement depends on the recipient’s place of residence.

Important: employed pensioners are not entitled to additional social benefits.

How is social security payment determined?

The size of the old-age maintenance supplement depends on the following indicators:

• the cost of living in the region of registration and in the country as a whole;
• place of residence and time of residence in a particular area;
• the total amount of pension benefits.

Social benefits are accrued after the citizen’s initiative application. The calculation takes into account all payments from budgets to the applicant:

• social pension;
• cost of a set of social services;
• software at the expense of the local budget;
• other types of material support, except in kind.

Important: if the PM indicator in the region is lower than the corresponding one in the country, then the social supplement is established on the basis of the latter.

Example

Citizen Privorotov A. is registered in the Republic of Adygea.
He was assigned a minimum social pension of 5,283,894 rubles. Sotsialov A. also received the minimum payment, but he lives in the Komi Republic.

The PM was set for 2021 in the amount of:

• in general for the country - 8846 rubles;
• in the Republic of Adygea - 8138 rubles;
• in the Komi Republic - 10,742 rubles.

Based on the data provided, citizens will be assessed the following surcharge:

1. Privorotov A. to the level of PM in the country as a whole, since the PM indicator in the region of residence is lower. In total, he will receive 8846 rubles.
2. Sotsialov A. to the PM indicator in the Komi Republic, since it is higher than in Russia in general. This citizen will be charged 10,742 rubles.

Who can apply for an early retirement pension?

Although the state is raising the retirement age, benefits have been maintained for many categories of the population. They allow you to count on the assignment of collateral from the Pension Fund much earlier.

The main types of benefits for early registration of a labor pension:

1. Professional. If a person works in difficult and/or dangerous conditions, then he may be granted the right to receive security from the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation earlier than generally established norms. For example, miners or workers in hot shops can take advantage of this benefit.
2. Territorial. If a citizen works in the Far North, then he can count on the opportunity to finish his working career and retire before reaching the generally established age. These benefits are also available to certain other individuals.
3. Social. Having a certain social status allows you to retire earlier than is established for citizens without such status. For example, mothers with many children, representatives of indigenous peoples, if they lead a traditional lifestyle, etc. have the right to take advantage of such a benefit.

Important! Having the right to benefits does not lead to exemption from the need to fulfill requirements for individual coefficients, deadlines for paying insurance premiums, etc.

Terms of appointment

Conditions for obtaining the right to payment:

• reaching the appropriate age;
• availability of a Russian citizen passport or residence permit;
• permanently reside in the country, for foreigners and stateless persons - at least 15 years;
• lack of work experience;

For persons belonging to the peoples of the Far North:

• documentary evidence of nationality;
• permanent residence in the area;
• reaching age;
• unemployed status.

Is it possible to receive a pension if there is insufficient or no experience?

The Russian state is rightfully considered social. Even if a person has never officially worked in his life, and deductions have never been made for him to extra-budgetary funds, he will not be left without a means of subsistence in old age.

In the absence or insufficient experience, as well as in a situation where a person has no or insufficient points, he is assigned a social pension. It has several significant differences:

• Can only be assigned to disabled persons. It is impossible to work and receive social pension payments at the same time.
• The size of insurance pension payments, of course, will be greater than social ones. But it's still better than nothing.
• The age for assigning social benefits is higher. It is increased by 5 years and rises along with the standard age for assigning pension benefits.

Read more: Old-age pension without work experience

Having a certain length of work experience is an important condition for assigning pension insurance. If it is not enough, then the person can only count on social pension payments, which are assigned 5 years later. But we must not forget that in order to retire and receive the required monetary support from the state, other conditions must also be met.

The difference between general and insurance experience

The concept of length of service includes directly the time period during which the citizen was officially employed. The insurance period is a narrower concept, since it only includes the time during which the employer made contributions for his employee to the Pension Fund. The calculation is made in months, and a full calendar month is taken into account if the payment in it was not lower than the minimum.

Work experience is one of the most important conditions for assigning an insurance pension. If the length of service is not enough, the citizen will not be able to process payments and will be forced to either “complete” the missing years or wait for the assignment of a social pension, which can be accrued five years after reaching retirement age.