Salary Payments to Bank Cards and Witness Testimony Can Help Confirm Pensionable Service for Pension Entitlement

Employment record is one of the key factors determining a person’s entitlement to a pension. However, confirming employment history may be challenging if an employment record book has been lost, contains errors, or the employer’s records are no longer available. To address such situations, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has amended the Procedure for Confirming Existing Employment Record for Pension Purposes in the Absence of an Employment Record Book or Relevant Entries Therein. The amendments expand the list of evidence that may be used to confirm employment history, clarify the use of electronic registers, and introduce additional options for confirming employment record in specific circumstances.

In particular, bank documents showing account transactions that confirm the receipt of salary or other remuneration may be used to verify periods of employment, alongside court decisions establishing employment relationships, extracts from orders, personal accounts, payroll records, and other documents. If employment information is unavailable in electronic registers and the employment record book has been lost or does not contain the necessary entries, employment record may be confirmed using other documents, including archival records. The procedure for identifying applicants where discrepancies in personal data exist has also been clarified. If a document can be attributed to a particular person based on other evidence, the matter will be resolved in accordance with the Pension Fund’s procedures; where this is not possible, the issue may be referred to court.

Separate provisions address the confirmation of employment record through witness testimony and cases where documents have been lost as a result of the war. If the relevant documents are unavailable or have been lost, at least two witnesses may confirm that the applicant worked alongside other employees, while the Pension Fund will assist in locating former colleagues based on the available information within one month. The circumstances in which a special procedure may be applied have also been clarified, including cases involving legal successors of enterprises and documents or property damaged or destroyed within the territory of Ukraine, provided that the relevant circumstances are supported by documentary evidence.