Despite the proclamations of the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Mariana Jurečka, the creation of a list of demanding professions that would have the right to early pensions without reductions has not yet been accomplished. The work on the list is ongoing, and the submission seems to be delayed by several months. Jurečka initially promised to submit it at the turn of the year.
“Currently, final negotiations are underway with the Ministry of Health,” said Jakub Augusta, a spokesman for the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MPSV). The Ministry of Health, with its subordinate organizations, is working on a list of risk factors determining the range of demanding professions.
The submission of the proposal could be by mid-year, according to Tomáš Dvořák, a spokesman for the Confederation of Industry and Transport. The Chamber of Commerce pointed out from the discussions that precisely defining demanding professions would not be easy. “Specifically, some data need to be defined so that the state administration collects them in the appropriate form. We believe that if such a list is severe, it will not be possible to submit a proposal earlier than a year, possibly longer,” said Miroslav Diro, a spokesman for the Chamber of Commerce.
The issue of early pensions for heavy occupations has been discussed for thirty years. It’s essential in the context of pension reform, which significantly worsened the departure for early pensions and will, in the future, break the 65-year boundary for retirement, which was supposed to cap for most people in 2035. Gradually, people will retire even at 67 years and later.
However, many people from strenuous professions cannot handle this. That’s why, for example, miners, rescuers, and company firefighters already have an exception. Employers pay higher insurance for them, and they can retire several years earlier without reductions.
The question also is which professions the list will cover. “The range is defined by the performance of work classified into risky categories according to the Public Health Protection Act, in selected specific risk factors,” said Augusta. But neither he nor Jakob specified these factors.