They had the right, and now they are pensioners at a loss. Less favorable rules in ZUS
Women born in 1954-1959 and men born in 1949-1952 and 1954 who took early retirement before June 6, 2012, had their benefits from ZUS reduced.
They acted in accordance with the law and, after the law was changed, they were punished with reduced benefits from ZUS – earlier retirees had their benefits deducted on average from PLN 1,000 to even PLN 1,200 per month. The government is still delaying the publication of the judgment of the Constitutional Tribunal favorable to this group of seniors, and the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy has refused to disclose the findings regarding the law resolving the dispute over the benefits of early retirees.
The interested group of retirees is not small – it numbers approximately 175,000. seniors. The Ombudsman pointed out that for this part of the seniors it was a “change of rules during the game”.
Wait, daddy. Pensioners still do not know what will happen next with their benefits
Early retirement was legal. But those who took up the opportunity before June 6, 2012, half a year later, had their benefits reduced by the amounts previously taken when they claimed the national pension after reaching the relevant age. ZUS calculated the benefit according to new, less favorable rules.
In June 2024, the Constitutional Tribunal (TK) found that such provisions were harmful, but the government has not yet published the verdict. The Council of Ministers is of the opinion that the judgments of the Constitutional Tribunal in its current composition should not be published so as not to perpetuate the crisis of the rule of law.
The Ministry of Family announced the recalculation of benefits and initially assumed that the new act regulating the problem would enter into force on June 1, 2026. However, this did not happen and the solution was not implemented.
The state budget does not include compensation for wrongs. Pensioners go to court
The “Fakt” daily found out that a meeting on this matter was held in April between deputy ministers: Sebastian Gajewski from the Ministry of Family and Jurand Drop from the Ministry of Finance.
“As a result of the meeting, the act is planned to enter into force in 2027. This is due to the existing risk of lack of consent of the Ministry of Finance to the proposed variants and a significant burden on ZUS with additional new tasks (widow’s pensions, June pensions),” said the Ministry of Family.
However, no detailed solutions were disclosed. The Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy is of the opinion that information from meetings of deputy ministers does not constitute public information.
Based on the Constitutional Tribunal’s judgment, many seniors decide to fight individually in the courts. Positive verdicts result in one-off compensation ranging from several to even PLN 30,000 and an increase in benefits by approximately PLN 1,500-2,000 per month.
