Will this group gain the right to early retirement? There is an appeal

According to the website weekly-rolniczy.pl, the Małopolska Chamber of Agriculture has submitted a request to the National Council of Agricultural Chambers (KRIR) to restore the possibility of early retirement for farmers – 55 years for women and 60 years for men, provided that they have documented at least 30 years of paying contributions to the Agricultural Social Insurance Fund (KRUS).

Will early retirement for farmers be possible again?

Let us remind you that farmers could apply for early retirement until the end of 2017. The current Act on seniority pensions (benefits that can be obtained after achieving specific length of service and contribution periods, regardless of retirement age) does not provide for separate regulations for those insured in KRUS. A farmer is entitled to the benefit only after reaching the age of 60 for women and 65 for men. The length of time you have paid contributions does not affect the possibility of shortening your years of service.

The Małopolska Chamber of Agriculture expects the regulations to be clarified and included in the system of previous benefits. The organization points out that the current rules do not take into account the specific nature of work on farms. Farmers emphasize that field work involves many years of physical strain. Therefore, they want to be covered by solutions similar to those applicable to employees insured by the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS).

Will farmers’ and employees’ pensions be equalized?

In turn, the Lublin Chamber of Agriculture appeals to return to the principle according to which the lowest pension from KRUS was equal to the minimum pension received by ZUS beneficiaries. The basic pension from KRUS is PLN 1,691.02, and from ZUS – PLN 1,878.91 gross. This means over PLN 100 difference. The organization indicates that farmers are discriminated against other beneficiaries.

– I will be talking to the Minister of Finance and my colleagues from the government – said the Minister of Agriculture, Stefan Krajewski, on Radio Zet, when asked about the possibility of equalizing the lowest pension from KRUS with the lowest pension from ZUS. – There has been a discussion about KRUS for years (…) There is agreement on the changes – PLN 100 is not such an amount that it could overturn the entire budget. – he added.

For years, the basic agricultural pension was equal to the lowest employee pension. Changes in this respect took place in March 2017, when the amounts of these benefits differed.