How to confirm the insurance period acquired before 2004?

To calculate a pension, an insured person must apply to the Pension Fund and provide documents confirming his or her insurance record. But what if you have lost documents confirming that you worked before January 1, 2004? Read the answer to this question in this article.

What is the insurance period?

Insurance period is the period during which an employee is subject to mandatory pension insurance. Only those months when a single social contribution of at least the minimum amount was paid for the person are included in the insurance period.

To calculate the insurance period acquired before January 1, 2004, the laws of Ukraine that were in force before 2004 are applied. In other words, if a person worked before 2004, the Law of Ukraine "On Pension Provision" No. 1788-XII of November 5, 1991 should be used to determine the insurance period, and the Law of Ukraine "On Compulsory State Pension Insurance" No. 1058-IV of July 09, 2003 should be used to determine the insurance period from January 1, 2004.

How to confirm the insurance period acquired before 2004?

According to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine "On Approval of the Procedure for Confirming the Existing Work Experience for Granting Pensions in the Absence of an Employment Record Book or Relevant Records in It" No. 637 dated 12.08.1993, the main document confirming the insurance period is the employment record book. If there is no employment record book, it is lost or the necessary records are missing, supporting documents may be:

• references;
• extracts from orders;
• payroll statements;
• certificate;
• labor contracts;
• agreements to perform certain types of work;
• other documents confirming the performance of the work.

If the necessary documents are missing or cannot be restored, including due to military operations, natural disasters, accidents, etc., witnesses (at least two) may be involved to confirm the insurance period. These are persons who worked together with the person trying to restore the insurance period at the same enterprise, including a collective farm.

In order for the witnesses' testimony to be accepted by the Pension Fund and for the insured person to include the relevant period of time in his or her insurance record, the witnesses must provide documents confirming that they worked at the same enterprise at the same time as the insured person. In addition to witness testimony, a certificate from the archive stating that there is no information on the person applying for the pension must be provided.

If a person has an entry in his or her employment record book about work before January 1, 2004, but it is corrected or inaccurate, and the person worked in Luhansk, Donetsk or Crimea at that time, the Commission for Confirmation of Work Experience will be involved to confirm the length of service. In addition, the applicant will have to provide the Commission with the data of two witnesses who worked with him/her at the same time at the same enterprise and have the relevant supporting documents.

To confirm the witnesses' testimony and include the relevant period in the insurance period, the Pension Fund will interview the witnesses and draw up a Witness Interview Report. The Act, together with copies of the witnesses' documents on their work at the relevant enterprise, will then be submitted to the Commission for Confirmation of Length of Service. The Commission will decide whether to include this period of time in the length of service or not and will notify the insured person within five days after the decision is made.