State Duma deputies have proposed compensating working pensioners for the pension indexations they missed.
A proposal has been put forward to compensate working pensioners for their missed pension indexations. This initiative comes from Sergey Gavrilov, head of the State Duma Committee on Property, Land, and Property Relations. He believes this measure would help narrow the disparity in payments between employed and non-working retirees.
One can never have too much money. Less than a year has passed since pension indexations, frozen since 2016, were reinstated for working pensioners, yet there is already a desire for further action. Specifically, it is proposed that the government compensate for all the missed payment increases during the period when pensions were frozen.
It is worth noting that, starting this year, working pensioners` payments are being increased to include all indexations accumulated since 2016. This means their pensions are calculated as if they were non-working. However, the actual indexed amounts are only paid out after they leave their employment.
In essence, a working pensioner misses out on substantial monthly amounts. For instance, in 2024, the average insurance pension for a working pensioner was 19,527 rubles, while a non-working pensioner received 36,351 rubles. This represents a difference of nearly 17,000 rubles.
Currently, to receive the desired compensation for past years, many resort to a clever maneuver: they resign from their jobs. The social fund recalculates their pension within 2-3 months and begins paying it in full. After this, the pensioner often returns to their previous workplace without issues.
However, this strategy doesn`t always go smoothly, leading to conflicts. Employers who had promised to rehire an employee often retract their offers or reduce their salary, arguing that the pensioner has already benefited significantly from an increased pension.
If the state were to index pensions for all working pensioners for the years they continued to work, such «clever maneuvers» would become unnecessary.
As a possible solution to this issue, the parliamentarian proposes a phased compensation mechanism for the missed indexations.
The question remains how the government will react to this idea. In June 2025, the disparity in pension payments between working and non-working pensioners was approximately 3,000 rubles in favor of the latter. Many analysts consider this fair, arguing that working pensioners receive a salary in addition to their pension, while non-working individuals do not have this opportunity.
This is not because non-working pensioners are unwilling to work, but often because they lack the physical capacity to continue employment. Some experts even suggest indexing working pensioners` pensions by an amount less than the annual inflation rate, in order to maintain and even widen this gap.
According to Alexander Safonov, a professor at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, most working pensioners have already dealt with this issue by employing a tactic of resigning and then being rehired.
«Furthermore,» he adds, «there aren`t many people who retired in 2016 and have continued working without interruption until now. Most likely, they are already on well-deserved rest and receiving their full payments. Therefore, I don`t believe this initiative is currently relevant.»
Moreover, the funds flowing into the pension system are not limitless. The federal budget would have to get involved, and given its deficit this year, this would lead to a financial imbalance.
It is unlikely that this parliamentary idea will find support from the government.
«But if most retirees have already indexed their payments using this well-known scheme, perhaps the authorities could provide compensation for those who continue to work without resigning and being rehired? Will the budget have the funds for this?»
«Do not forget,» he clarifies, «that working pensioners have their payments recalculated annually in August, with up to 3 individual coefficients added for their length of service. This is an additional opportunity to increase their pension, which their non-working counterparts do not have…»
«But these are mere pennies!»
«I understand that,» he concedes, «however, on a national scale, these amounts total billions of rubles.»
