As previously reported, since the beginning of this year, the Agreement on Pension Provision for Workers of the Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union (hereinafter referred to as the Agreement) has come into force.
The main purpose of the Agreement is to form the pension rights of workers of the EAEU Member States on the same terms and in the same manner as citizens of the state of employment. This means that each EAEU member state now guarantees citizens of other EAEU member states the scope of rights to pensions equal to the scope of rights provided to its citizens under similar conditions, that is, each EAEU member state pays a pension under its own legislation for the length of service, acquired by a worker in its territory after January 1, 2021.
The competent authority for the implementation of the Agreement in Kazakhstan is the UAPF.
In this regard, since the beginning of the year, the UAPF has been conducting explanatory work in the media and among the population in order to inform workers about their rights in the context of labor migration. Particular attention is focused on the need to formalize labor relations with employers in the EAEU member states, including Kazakhstan, that is, on the mandatory and timely conclusion of labor or civil law contracts. In the future, this will provide the worker with the right to receive pension payments from the UAPF at the expense of the pension savings formed by him upon reaching the retirement age provided for by Kazakhstani legislation.
The Fund also pays great attention to working with companies-employers where labor migrants are involved. Thus, in the first quarter of this year, the Fund's specialists held an online training seminar at the request of Ernst & Young Kazakhstan, an international leader in the field of audit, taxation and consulting for leading companies in the republic. As a result of the online training seminar, 170 participants - employees of Ernst & Young Kazakhstan received clarifications on the latest changes in the Kazakhstani pension system and the features of calculating, withholding and transferring mandatory pension contributions and mandatory professional pension contributions from the income of citizens of the EAEU member countries workers in Kazakhstan.
For example, UAPF specialists explained that the monthly obligation to pay contributions for "freelancers" - citizens of the EAEU member countries working "remotely" is the employer who hired such a worker under an employment contract or a civil law contract, including remotely. The amount of the transferred mandatory pension contributions to the UAPF is 10% of the monthly income of the worker, but not more than 50 times the minimum wage.
The seminar participants learned that the pension savings of a deceased contributor - a citizen of the EAEU member countries, formed during the period of work in Kazakhstan, can be inherited upon presentation of the necessary documents.
Explanations were also given regarding the timing of the emergence of the right for employees - citizens of the EAEU countries to receive pension payments from the UAPF, formed at the expense of pension contributions. Thus, in accordance with the norms of the pension legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, this right for citizens of the EAEU countries arises upon the onset of the generally established retirement age (men - 63 years, women - 60 years in 2021, with an annual increase in the retirement age of women by six months, until they reach 63 years in 2027), as well as when establishing disability of groups 1 and 2, if disability is established indefinitely.
It should be noted that such events improve the financial literacy of not only specialists working with personnel, but also the entire population of the country, help in planning a decent life on a well-deserved vacation.
For the convenience of contributors and obtaining detailed information on pension issues under the Agreement, a special subsection has been created on the UAPF website: in the "Services" section - Information for consumers of pension services - On pension provision for workers of the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union.