Commission urges social partners to protect pension rights of job changers
Date: 15-9-2003 - Brussels
The European Commission is calling on social partners to play their role in tackling problems faced by workers who lose out on occupational pension rights when moving job, particularly to another Member State. In its consultation paper published today, the Commission asks unions and employers to adapt occupational pension schemes under their responsibility in such a way that workers who change jobs or interrupt their careers do not suffer undue losses of occupational pension rights. The Commission invites the social partners to negotiate an EU-wide collective agreement allowing for more mobility-friendly occupational pension arrangements.
Employment and Social Affairs Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou said .We have discussed and analysed the problem of transferring pension rights with all stakeholders. It is clear that action is needed at EU level to ensure that workers do not lose out on their rights when they change jobs, and I am particularly looking to the social partners to take a decisive step in the right direction.
More flexible labour markets with increased job mobility are key to achieving the targets on employment creation set at the Lisbon European Council in 2000, and implementing the European Social Policy Agenda. The Commission has identified current rules on occupational pensions as one of the major obstacles preventing workers from changing jobs. For example:
- in certain Member States, employees typically have to remain with the same employer for 5 years before being entitled to an occupational pension. If an employee decides to move within that time, he will not acquire any pension rights in respect of that period.
- not all Member States undertake re-evaluation (for example uprating in line with inflation) of dormant acquired rights, left by an employee when moving to another job, to ensure that they are inflation-proof.
- it is not always possible to transfer pension rights between schemes of different types, or to a scheme in another Member State. Such constraints have a negative effect on job mobility, both within countries and throughout the European Union.
Unions and employers together bear the main responsibility for setting up occupational pension schemes. After a first stage of consultations last year, social partners agreed that action was necessary at Community level to ensure that workers do not lose pension rights when moving jobs. This second stage consultation invites social partners to make proposals as to the possible content and scope of such Community-wide measures, in particular the creation of a general framework setting minimum requirements.
In the Commission's view, a solution could be found in the gradual reduction of the periods required to qualify for a pension (known as vesting periods), or the recognition of relevant employment periods in another Member State. The option should be left open to workers as to whether they want to keep their acquired pension rights in the original scheme or transfer them to another, including in another Member State. Dormant acquired rights left by a worker in a previous employer's pension scheme should be made more inflation-proof.
In principle, a response is expected from social partners within six weeks of the launching of the consultation. If there is a decision to negotiate a collective agreement, this should be done within nine months. If social partners do not act, the Commission may propose legislation itself. Current EU legislation already protects statutory pension rights of migrant workers, ensures equal treatment of job changers within a country and across borders and regulates the EU-wide provision of pension funds.
The full text is available on: http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/soc-prot/social/index_en.htm