Rescuers wishing to receive a pension for their years of service will no longer have to argue with the Social Insurance Institution (SIA) about whether training is part of their seniority, as the Ministry of Social Affairs has confirmed that the SIA will deal positively with new similar applications.

This spring, ERR reported on the rescuers' concern that the Social Insurance Institution (SKA) did not count training as part of their staai, even though the Rescue Board assures them that the training is parallel to work. According to the Rescue Board's calculations, such an interpretation by the SKA would have affected the special pensions of more than 400 rescuers over the next 11 years, and some of them would have lost them altogether.

In April, in a similar case, the Tartu Administrative Court ruled in favour of a rescuer who had been underpaid by the SKA, which had been interpreted by the SKA as being smaller than it actually was.

At the time, the SKA announced that it would analyse how to review and adjust its administrative practice in the light of the judgment. The Ministry of Social Affairs also promised to review the rules.

It has now been decided that rescuers in the same situation no longer need to seek justice in court.

"On the basis of the court ruling, the respective cases have already been reviewed and resolved, and the SKA will continue to positively resolve new applications," Liidia Soontak, adviser at the Benefits and Pension Policy Department of the Ministry of Social Affairs, told ERR.

He added that the ministry will return to the issue of the rescue workers' staai in the autumn.

Police officers, rescuers and prison officers who have worked in their professions or posts for at least 25 years are entitled by law to a pension based on years of service.

The SKA's previous position was that studying at a rescue school could not be counted as a qualifying period, but according to the Tartu Administrative Court's April ruling, the time spent studying at a rescue school is counted by law as a qualifying period for pensionable service, especially as the training is not voluntary but compulsory.

Author/ Source: Karin Koppel, Sergei Stepanov/ERR