An apparently minor legislative change in the draft pension law – replacing “or” with “and” – could permanently exclude almost a million freelancers (PFA, II, IF, DDA, etc.) from Level II non-state pension provision. , civil servants and managers employed under fiduciary contracts, APAPR (Association of Administrators of Non-Government Pension Funds) warned on Wednesday.

The Association of Private Pensions in Romania (APAPR) warns that in Article 35 para. (2) from the draft of the new pension law, the current provision (according to which employees and all those who pay CAS contributions up to Level II) is replaced by a provision according to which only employees remain in the system, and not those who are equated with employees (liberal professions , mandate contracts, etc.).

• “The legislative change appears to be minor — replacing ‘or’ with ‘and’ — but it has dramatic consequences for nearly a million Romanians and for Tier II as a system. The change is only in para. (2), which relates to contribution remitted to Tier II, not para. (1), which refers to the contribution transferred to the state pension budget,” the association warns.

APAPR appeals to the Ministry of Labour, the Government and the Parliament of Romania to maintain the current provision in the draft law on pensions (Article 39, paragraph (2) of Law 263/2010), without affecting the right of Romanians to contribute to Tier II private pensions, with excellent results for the first 15 years of work.

The association also notes that such a change will add to the million workers who are already excluded from future contributions until 2028 (construction, agriculture, food industry, IT), that is, it will significantly affect the stability of the II level of the mandatory private pension.

How many Romanians will no longer contribute to Pillar II, after excluding IT scientists

750,000 construction, agriculture and food industry workers will not pay Tier II contributions until 2028, and under the Çolak government’s tax law (296/2023), another 200,000 IT workers will be automatically exempt from Tier II contributions.

If they do want to transfer money to a private pension, IT professionals should make a request to their employer.

“After exempting IT professionals from Tier II contributions, we will reach approximately 1 million Romanians who will no longer contribute to Tier 2 for a certain period of time, which will certainly not benefit them.

It’s a very short-term advantage, but in retirement they’ll suffer because they’ll have less money in their retirement account.” said Radu Krachun, president of APAPR (Association of Pension Fund Administrators) on Tuesday.

• Read more: How many Romanians will no longer contribute to Tier II after the exclusion of IT scientists. Radu Krachun: They will suffer in retirement – DOCUMENT

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