Poland: New early retirement scheme adopted

The upper house of the Polish parliament approved legislation on 20 November 2008, already passed by the lower house, that will cut the number of people entitled to retire early because of arduous working conditions from more than 1 million to around 250,000.

The current special early retirement scheme allows workers in a wide range of occupational groups to leave employment and receive a state pension before official retirement age, in recognition of the arduous or difficult nature of their working conditions.