Old-age bridging pensions

The right to an old-age bridging pension is acquired by an employee who meets jointly the following conditions:

• was born after 31 December 1948,
• has completed a period of employment in special conditions or of a special character of at least 15 years,
• has reached at least the age of 55 years (woman) and 60 years (man),
• has completed the insurance period (contributory and non-contributory) of at least 20 years (woman) and 25 years (man),
• being a woman – performed work in special conditions or of a special character before 1 January 1999,
• after 31 December 2008 performed work in special conditions or of a special character,
• has terminated his/her employment relationship.

The pension amount is calculated by ZUS in a similar way as the amount of the old-age pension awarded under the new rules. However, irrespective of the actual retirement age of a given person, the average further life expectancy for persons aged 60 years is always taken into account.

The right to the old-age bridging pension expires on the day preceding the day of acquiring the right to an old-age pension. If the person concerned is not entitled to an old-age pension, it expires on the day preceding the normal retirement age.

The old-age bridging pensions are financed mainly by the state budget. A part of the costs is covered by employers from the contribution transferred to the Old-Age Bridging Pensions Fund.

In 2019 the old-age bridging pensions were paid by ZUS to an average of ca 29.1 thousand pensioners. The average amount of the pension was PLN 2,901.38.

The expenditure on old-age bridging pensions in 2019 was PLN 1,013,791.6 thousand.