Even during the discussion in the State Duma of the draft law on raising the retirement age, one of the loudest arguments in favor of the need to pension reform Since 2019, according to the “hard” option proposed by the Government, the prospect of full cancellation of pensions in Russia if this issue is not resolved now and postponed for at least another 5-10 years.

The fears of the population of the country in this regard intensified even more after the statement made on August 11, 2018 by the Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin about a possible "holes" in the budget of the Pension Fund.

Indeed, many experts and economists agree that if the economic situation in the country does not improve radically, then due to unbearable budget obligations in the current conditions in the foreseeable future, and the entire pension system can be reduced to a single need allowance, the recipients of which may be the poor (low-income), disabled citizens, the disabled and other categories of persons who objectively need additional social support from the side of the state. But so far, this option is not being considered at all - the Government is still trying only to fine-tune the existing pension system.

In addition to the risks of a general cancellation of pensions, less radical options were also voiced, involving the complete or partial abolition of pension payments for certain categories of citizens, for example:

All these proposals are coming now because of the problems that have developed over the years in the country's pension system, including due to the large spending obligations of the PFR budget and low incomes. It is not enough to ensure the payment of pensions alone, and the existing deficit is annually covered from the federal budget, which is also experiencing last years certain difficulties.

How this problem will be solved by the authorities in the long term, cancel pensions or not as a result of all the changes carried out by the Government - it is too early to judge now, if only because in modern realities it is impossible to predict the effect of ongoing reforms for a long time.

Can the pension be cancelled?

Adjustment pension system has been going on in Russia for several years. However, all the changes implemented in recent years have not been able to solve main problem — PFR budget deficit, which remains highly dependent on additional transfers from the federal budget.

In this regard, many experts who are developing plans and projects for the country's economic development commissioned by the Ministry of Finance and the Accounts Chamber note that in the coming years of pensions can be canceled and replaced by means-tested payments. A similar statement, in particular, was made in 2017 by the rector of the RANEPA and an expert from the Center for Strategic Research (CSR) Vladimir Mau, who was involved in the creation of a comprehensive plan for the economic development of Russia until 2025. He also attended parliamentary hearings on improving pension legislation held in the State Duma on August 21, 2018.

Vladimir Mau noted that various decisions can be made to ensure a decent level of pensions - however, according to calculations, they are all ineffective:

1. Can be upgraded retirement age , while maintaining the current solidarity pension system (when pensions are paid from contributions paid by working citizens). But such an option, according to V. Mau, will solve all problems only if the retirement age is significantly higher than the current life expectancy and is about 75-80 years, which is basically unrealizable.
2. It is possible to increase PFR deductions from 22% to 40% to achieve the necessary balance. But this will lead to a significant increase in “gray” wage schemes, an increase in the volume of the shadow economy, and will make economic growth in the country impossible, so this option cannot be taken seriously either.

The expert noted that only the abolition of the general right to pensions and its transfer to targeted principles (in the form social payments for poverty and disability, which will be of an individual nature), will balance the pension system. Russia can move to such a model in about 20 years (in one generation, when people will rely less on state pensions).

This means that, according to expert V. Mau, in the foreseeable future, citizens will have to independently provide for their own life in old age with the help of savings, investments in real estate, at the expense of close relatives, and state pensions will be paid only to those who really need them - in connection with the state of health and difficult financial situation.

Cancellation of state pensions

During a meeting with residents of Saratov on August 11, 2018, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin also did not rule out the abolition of state pensions. He noted that the pension system has a significant deficit - a "hole", which in turn casts doubt on the possibility of further payments (moreover, if nothing is done, this hole will grow every year).

The chairman of the State Duma himself did not comment on his statement, but many Russian officials and politicians believe that the chairman of the State Duma did not mean any plans to abolish pensions, but only pointed to existing problems in the PFR budget that need to be addressed urgently. Otherwise, the pension system will simply be unable to provide all pensioners with the payments they are entitled to now, not to mention any indexation and additional payments to pensions.

Indeed, the revenue side of the PFR budget in 2018 is 8.3 trillion rubles, of which 3.3 trillion rubles. These are funds from the federal budget. For a long time now, the Pension Fund has not been able to exist solely by paying insurance premiums for working citizens, so almost 40% of it is financed by the federal budget.

Transfer to the PFR budget in 2018 in the amount of 3.3 trillion rubles. is almost 20% of the total state budget. The Government and the State Duma note that these funds could (and should) be used to solve other issues - medicine, education, road construction, etc. And every year this "hole" in the PFR budget will only increase, which will require even more additional funding for the Pension Fund from the state budget. And the payment of pensions is, unfortunately, far from the only obligation of the state to the population ...

That is why the Government proposed as a first step towards solving the problem, but this is far from the only proposal. For example, from 2021, it is planned to introduce a new version of the funded pension system - which will allow citizens to independently save for their future pension.

Cancellation of pensions for working pensioners

As part of the changes in the pension system being considered in 2018, there are no plans to cancel pensions for working pensioners, Andrey Pudov, Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation, once again stated this at a meeting of the Presidential Council on Human Rights, which was held on July 11, 2018.

For citizens who continue their labor activity, the principle that has existed since 2016 will be preserved for the coming years - i.e. the pensions themselves for working pensioners will remain, however, their indexation will still not be carried out as long as the pensioner continues to work.

The issue of abolishing pension payments to working Russians was discussed in the Government back in 2016. Then the Ministry of Finance proposed to adjust payments for certain categories of workers:

• cancel pensions for pensioners with an annual income of more than 500 thousand rubles. (in a less stringent version, it is proposed to raise this bar to 1 million rubles);
• do not pay those pensioners whose income is above 2.5 living wages.

Such measures were proposed by the Ministry of Finance to balance the federal budget for 2017-2019 - then it was expected that such a decision (even in a less stringent version) would save almost 450 billion rubles. for three years.

As a result, the initiative to abolish pensions for working pensioners was never implemented - the corresponding draft law was not submitted to the State Duma for consideration. But Olga Golodets (who at that time held the position of Deputy Prime Minister for Social Policy) noted that in general such a bill has been in existence for several years, but the Government has not yet seriously considered it.

On January 1, 2019, the pension reform to increase the retirement age begins. Negative sentiments in society on this issue do not subside. However, the possibility of an even worse scenario is not ruled out - the complete abolition of pensions for working pensioners.

The convention of the International Labor Organization states that a pension is compensation for lost earnings in case of disability. This Convention also applies to Russia.

Thus, in theory, in order to receive a pension, 2 basic conditions must be met:

• the person must be disabled;
• shouldn't work.

However, in Russia, working pensioners receive pensions. But, at the same time, since 2016, the authorities began to take restrictive measures.

Stage No. 1: freezing the indexation of pensions from 2016

Today there are about 9,000,000 working pensioners in Russia. While they are working, they are not entitled to indexation of pensions. This rule has been in effect since 2016.

However, in the event of dismissal, the pensioner receives the amount of the insurance pension and a fixed payment to it, taking into account the indexation and adjustment that took place during the period of employment, starting from the 1st day of the month following the month of termination of work. In other words, the principle of “delayed indexation” is now applied.

The cancellation of indexing at one time made a lot of noise, but, in the end, everyone resigned themselves to this state of affairs. Therefore, the authorities are not going to change decisions taken in this part. Cm. "".

Stage #2: Cancellation of pensions for working pensioners

Many people know that before the implementation of unpopular decisions, it is customary to “probe the soil”. It is discussed on the Internet that some media are now specifically raising the issue of the complete abolition of pensions for those who continue to work. After all, you need to look at the reaction of society.

Deputy Minister's Statement

As early as July 11, 2018, Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Protection A. Pudov declared that such a decision will not be made within the framework of the changes in the pension system planned by the Government - pensions will continue to be paid to working pensioners.

OPFR in the Ulyanovsk region

October 19, 2018 UPFR for Ulyanovsk region On the FIU website it says:

“Don't believe the rumors! All “missed” indexation of pensions for the period of work of the pensioner will be compensated to him after dismissal”

The branch of the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation in the Ulyanovsk region is concerned about the large number of calls from working pensioners.

Citizens are worried about the information that if you do not quit your job until the end current year, the pension will not be increased taking into account the indexations that took place during the period of their employment. This information is not true.

According to the current legislation, the pension of a working pensioner is not indexed, but after dismissal, he begins to receive a pension in full, taking into account all indexations that took place during his period of work. The date of dismissal does not matter: the rule will apply even if the pensioner quits next year or in a few years.

Output

The fact remains that more and more rumors appear about the possible limitation or cancellation of pensions for working pensioners. And as you know, there is no “smoke without fire”.

However, it is worth remembering that Art. 39 of the Constitution guarantees the right of a citizen of Russia to receive a pension benefit in cases provided for by law: upon reaching retirement age, upon receipt of a disability, or in the event of loss of a breadwinner. Therefore, it is impossible to completely cancel the payment of pensions - you can only change the conditions for receiving it.

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Citizens who continue to work after retirement are included in a special category, which is between the economically active population and persons who, due to age, are recognized as disabled. After receiving the right to a well-deserved rest, for various reasons, they continue to work, receiving both a pension and a salary. Payments for this category are regulated by separate regulations.

Features of calculating pensions for working pensioners

According to Rosstat, the number of pensioners in the Russian Federation in 2019 is more than 43 million people, and more than 10 million of them continue to work. The procedure for calculating pensions for them has a number of nuances, the main of which is lack of indexation carried out annually(working older people lose the amount that is added annually to non-working pensioners). The moratorium was introduced in 2016, and the reason was the crisis of the Russian economy.

The budget deficit led to the development and adoption of Federal Law No. 385, the provisions of which prescribed the complete abolition of annual pension supplements assigned to working pensioners. This was explained by the fact that there is no urgent need for adjustment, since receiving a salary, in addition to a pension, will help to get a higher income. living wage. The money saved in this way since the adoption of the law should be directed to the pension indexation fund for non-working citizens who have reached retirement age. The moratorium extended until the end of 2020..

January 23, 2020 co-chair of the profile working group on amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, Taliya Khabrieva stated, on the proposed consolidation of the norm on mandatory indexation of pensions, incl. working pensioners. If this amendment is adopted, the article will be rewritten, but the exact timing of changes to the main document of the state is not yet known.

In 2015, the government of the Russian Federation raised the issue of the complete abolition of pensions for working citizens. Bill was not accepted for several reasons:

• The decision would entail a sharp decrease in the number of working citizens due to mass layoffs of pensioners.
• The decision contradicted the main provisions of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which states that every resident of the Russian Federation, upon reaching retirement age, is entitled to receive payments, regardless of whether he continues to work or not.

Are there additional payments up to the living wage?

Additional payments and social supplements to pensions are paid to people whose income is less than the amount of the subsistence minimum (PM) established in a particular region of the Russian Federation. They are only entitled to unemployed persons, they are paid extra until the pension is issued at the same level, that is, it does not exceed the amount of the PM. It follows from this that pensioners engaged in labor activities are not entitled to receive additional payments from the state budget.

The only additional payment that working pensioners retain the right to receive is the annual one-time allowance, introduced in 2017. According to the data for 2020, its size is 5000 rubles. It is paid to every person who has reached retirement age.

Increasing pensions for working pensioners in 2020

Pension for non-working pensioners in 2020 added only if, if the action of Federal Law No. 385, the adoption of which imposed a moratorium on the indexation of this type of benefit, will be canceled. The law is valid until 2020, but it is possible that the freeze will be extended several times, as happened with funded pensions. Specialists do not expect that indexing will be restored, but the final decision will depend solely on the situation of the economy of the Russian Federation as a whole.

Today, the only possible indexation of pension payments is their recalculation after the dismissal of a pensioner from work. The pension is also growing due to the increase in the value of accumulated pension points. Their value is reviewed every year, and the amount is affected by the rate of inflation. There are no other legal opportunities to increase payments for employed pensioners.

Latest news from the Pension Fund

The PFR policy today is such that the main task is to ensure the growth of income received by the population as a whole, therefore the lifting of the moratorium and changing the rules for calculating pensions for working citizens is not paramount. An exception is pension payments due to disabled people who have reached the age of incapacity for work - the corresponding statement was made by Dmitry Medvedev in 2019.

Opposition parties have also repeatedly raised the issue of unfreezing indexation. pension provision this category of citizens:

• Bill No. 294971-7, proposed by members of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, which proposed to completely resume the indexation of payments for citizens engaged in labor activities.
• Members of the Just Russia party also submitted bill No. 340074-7 for consideration, the general idea of ​​which was to lift the moratorium on indexing pensions and pay compensation to citizens in the amount of the entire amount they lost due to the introduction of a ban on indexation.
• A similar proposal was also received from the leader of the LDPR faction.

However, all of them were not adopted by the State Duma and are still waiting in the wings, as their re-consideration has been postponed indefinitely.

Recalculation of pension after termination of employment

The pension increase after the retirement of the pensioner's employment is carried out automatically - the citizen does not have to send a corresponding application to the FIU with a request to recalculate the amount of the payment. After recalculation review all indexes, conducted by the state during the period of work of a citizen after retirement, as well as contributions to the pension fund, new values ​​​​of pension points received for transfers during the last job, and their current value. If necessary, the amount of the payment will be increased to a living wage.

If a pensioner after dismissal and indexation decides to go back to work - downgrading to the previous level is not provided. Such citizens will not lose anything, since the size of the insurance pension does not change, and the amount that they add will not be taken away.

When a person who has reached the age of disability decides to dismiss, he is supposed to notify the territorial office of the Pension Fund. This duty of a citizen is described in Federal Law No. 400. At the same time, the independent decision of the pensioner to dismiss and the notification of the FIU does not affect the timing of the payment.

After consideration of the submitted application, the indexed pension will be paid to the citizen next month for the reporting month.

• It is best to submit an application to the FIU on the last calendar day of the month, as this will allow the multiplying factor to be applied from the next day when calculating the payment
• In order to receive an indexation of 6.6%, scheduled for January 2020, it is important to take into account that the pensioner is officially dismissed on the first day of the new year.

Reimbursement after retirement

Compensation for lost funds during employment carried out by a citizen after reaching retirement age, not provided. However, it should also be taken into account that all possible recalculations are not made immediately, but for several months after the actual dismissal.

If the pensioner is self-employed, the decision to terminate his entrepreneurial activity can only be made by the Federal Tax Service after an audit and a relevant decision.

FIU has 30 calendar days to make a decision on the recalculation of pension payments to a citizen (in accordance with part 6 of article 26.1 of the Federal Law No. 400). Thus, the decision on recalculation, made in March, will allow increasing the amount of payment to the pensioner only in April of the same year. He will be refunded the part of the funds that was underpaid in the previous month.

However, according to the same Federal Law No. 400 a citizen receives the right to an increased pension no earlier than the 1st day of the month, which followed the month in which the fact of dismissal occurred.

At the same time, in accordance with Part 8 of Article 26.1 of Federal Law No. 400, a pensioner who has officially found a job again retains the right to receive the amount of pension that is calculated for him on the day preceding the day he starts work. As a result of the recalculation, after the citizen goes to work, additional payments will not be withdrawn, and the total amount will not decrease, since it is not cut in such cases.

Is it true that working pensioners will cancel the pension?

According to the provisions of the Convention of the International Labor Organization, a pension is a compensation for earnings lost by a citizen in the event of disability due to age or other reasons. The Convention also applies to the Russian Federation.

So that a citizen can receive this type social benefit, two basic conditions must be met:

• The person applying for a pension must be disabled.
• A citizen should not be working at the time of applying.

IN Russian Federation employed pensioners retain the right to receive pensions, despite a number of restrictive measures in the legislation introduced in 2016.

Rumors that working pensioners would stop paying pensions appeared back in 2015, when a corresponding bill was submitted for consideration. However, it was not adopted, and the Government of the Russian Federation made a statement about the preservation of the right for working elderly people to receive this type of benefits.

July 11, 2018 Deputy Minister of Labor and social protection A. Pudov made a statement that the planned changes in the country's pension system do not include plans to remove pension payments from employed pensioners.

It should also be remembered that the right to receive a pension benefit is guaranteed to every citizen of the Russian Federation by Article 39 of the Constitution. The conditions for receiving are:

• Reaching the age of disability.
• Obtaining the status of a disabled person.
• Loss of a breadwinner.

That is why rumors about the abolition of payments for working pensioners have no basis- they will not be completely taken away and will not be deprived. It is only possible to change the conditions for assigning a pension.

Talk about what changes await Russian pensioners along with the start of pension reform from the beginning next year, have not stopped so far. The Russians are still trying to figure out what the future holds for them. At the same time, the understanding is ripening in society that the authorities will continue to save on pensioners.

Don't eat, I'll take a bite

So, quite recently, the media reported that the authorities do not plan to reduce the pensions of working pensioners. However, no one will index the amount of monthly payments of pensioners who continue their labor activity in the coming year. This decision was made following a meeting tripartite commission engaged in the regulation of social and labor relations. Finally, even the head of the Ministry of Finance, Siluanov, said at the time that the federal center was not going to abolish pensions for working pensioners.

According to the Russian authorities, the decision to cancel the indexation of pensions for employed pensioners should not negatively affect their income, since the current salary implies an increase in income even above the inflation rate.

According to official statistics, there are now about 43 million pensioners in Russia, 14 million of whom continue to work even after reaching retirement age. But not every Russian will be ready to switch to full self-sufficiency in the event of a complete abolition of pensions for working pensioners. Last year, a law was adopted and implemented, according to which the indexation of payments to privileged categories that continue to work in retirement is terminated. At the same time, when explaining the reasons for such a reduction in the amount of payments to working pensioners, the responsible departments failed to give weighty arguments and traditionally referred to the unfavorable situation in the national economy.

The government does not want to spend

Moreover, not so long ago, a macro-forecast of the Ministry of Economic Development of the country was published, according to which, the coming years do not bode well for Russian pensioners. So, according to the department, until 2020 state provision older Russians will only decline.

First of all, the reduction in the provision will be caused precisely by the abolition of indexation of pensions for privileged categories of pensioners who continue their labor activity. The most difficult thing in this case is the situation with the re-employment of a pensioner. So, at the end of labor activity, the pensioner is credited with the full amount of insurance payments, which takes into account all the indexation missed by him during his work.

The recalculation mechanism in this case was once described in detail in the Pension Fund, noting that it is carried out a month after the dismissal, and payments under the new formula begin only after three months, but in an increased form - to compensate for the underpaid for those same 3 months of waiting. However, if a citizen decides to find a job again, the amount of his cash benefit from the state will again be reduced. In society today, there is no exact understanding of exactly how much pension payments will be reduced in this case - someone talks about a two-fold reduction in payments, others operate with other values. Be that as it may, but fully working pensioners do not risk losing payments yet.

Trust is almost gone

It would seem that the explanations given are more than intelligible, and from government offices there have been repeated promises not to take away pensions from employed citizens of retirement age. Here are just a recent statement by the head of the Ministry of Labor Topilin pushed society to a new round of talk about the possible abolition of pensions for working pensioners. The Minister, we recall, did not rule out that in the foreseeable future the state may completely refuse to pay pensions to citizens who continue to work after the retirement age.

Most likely, in this sense, the federal center plans to use the experience of Soviet times, when citizens were simply faced with a choice: either a pension or a job. A huge number of citizens then chose to continue working, since the size of the pension was not sufficient for a comfortable life on a well-deserved rest - this, by the way, made it possible to further relieve the budget. It can be said that in those days their own version of the “pension reform” was in effect - the actual retirement age was shifted due to the general desire of older citizens to continue working.

Experts, by the way, continue to assert that the general rhetoric of the authorities in recent months gives many reasons to suspect them of a desire to completely cancel the payment of pensions to older citizens who continue to work. Against the backdrop of the promise of the authorities not to take such steps, society continues to be in uncertainty. However, it is negative forecasts that inspire more and more confidence among Russians – the authorities, whatever one may say, at one time promised not to raise the retirement age either.

Working pensioners constitute a special category, located between economically active citizens and persons who have reached the age of incapacity for work. They have the right to a well-deserved rest, but for various reasons, they prefer to continue working. Their position is regulated by separate legislative acts concerning the nuances of their pension provision. Let us consider in more detail how payments are made to working pensioners, whether they are entitled to indexation and various allowances.

According to statistics, as of mid-2020, there were 43 million pensioners in Russia, of which almost 10 million continued to work despite their advanced age. A feature of the pension of a working pensioner is the absence of annual indexation. This provision was introduced in 2016, as one of the emergency austerity measures in the area of ​​the outbreak of the economic crisis.

In 2015, the government even considered the issue of completely abolishing pension payments to those pensioners who, upon reaching the age threshold, did not retire. However, this bill was eventually rejected for two reasons:

1. The number of working citizens would be sharply reduced, since many of the 10 million working pensioners would simply stop working. Given the shortage of labor force observed in the Russian Federation, an increase in the number of disabled citizens would have adverse economic consequences.
2. Such a decision would violate the fundamental provisions of the Constitution. According to its articles, every Russian who has reached a certain age has the right to receive a pension, regardless of whether he continues to work or retires.

How is the recalculation of pensions for working pensioners after dismissal

The procedure for recalculating pensions for working pensioners after their retirement is carried out automatically. This does not require any application to the authorities. pension fund. In this case, the citizen receives all the amounts that he did not receive during his work, taking into account the cost.

After that, the pensioner has the right to re-enter official work, but his pension will remain at the same indexed level. There are no deductions from the newly established amount for re-employment. Indexation is carried out from the beginning of the month following his dismissal.

Is there an increase in the pension for the employed

Social supplements to pensions are paid to persons whose income is below the subsistence minimum for a given region. Such additional payments from the state are due only to unemployed pensioners, and are made on a monthly basis until the amount of his income becomes higher than the official subsistence level. Accordingly, the pension supplement is not due to working pensioners.

Annual one-time allowance for pensioners

Starting from 2017, a government decision established a one-time payment to pensioners, which is made once a year. In 2019, the amount of this payment is 5 thousand rubles. This amount is due to every pensioner, regardless of his status: for these purposes in the current 2020, 221 billion rubles were allocated from the state budget. This is the only official pension allowance for working pensioners provided for by current legislation.

Law of 2016 on the abolition of indexation of pensions for working pensioners

In 2016, in light of the economic crisis and budget deficit, the government adopted Federal Law No. 385, which prescribes the abolition of indexation of pension payments for employed pensioners. It, in particular, indicated that there was no need, since they were able to independently provide their own. The money saved on this was transferred to the fund for indexing payments for non-working pensioners. The effect of Federal Law No. 385 extended to the time period up to 2020.

When will the indexation of pensions for working pensioners be resumed?