Occupational social security schemes (Chapter 2 of Directive 2006/54)

• Author: Biljana Kotevska
• Pages: 45-47

45

6 Occupational social security schemes (Chapter 2 of Directiv e 2006/54)

6.1 General (legal) context

6.1.1 Surveys and reports on the practical difficulties linked to occupational and/or

statutory social security issues

No surveys on occupational and statutory social security issues have been published within

the last five years.

6.1.2 Other issues related to gender equality and social security

While the Law on the Family prescribes that, for the purposes of, inter alia, social security

matters, married and unmarried (diff erent sex) partn ers are considere d equal as l ong as

the unmarried partners have been living in a community akin to marriage for at least two

years, other laws , including th e ones on occupational social security schemes, show th at

this is not the case. Namely, unmar ried partners, for the purposes of occupational social

security schemes, do not enjoy any rights akin to married partners.

6.1.3 Political and societal debate and pending legislative proposals

There is no ongoing political and social debate regarding legislative proposals on this issue

for the reporting period. However, please note that a proposal f or a new Law on Labou r

Relations is being prepared; no text has yet been made public.

6.2 Direct and indirect discrimination

The pension system is composed o f thre e pillars established by three laws: the Law on

Pension and Disability Insurance; the Law on Man datory Fully-Funded Pension Insurance;

and the Law on Voluntary Fully-Funded Pension In surance. The composition of this three-

pillar system was introduced in 2000,111 following a World Bank proposal, and it is different

from the pillars in the EU countries.112

There are no a rticles on discrimination or equality in the Law on Pen sions and Disability

Insurance.113 The Law on Mandatory Fully-Funded Pension Insurance (last amended in

нллфд states in Article рф: ‘The f orm of contract for memb ership under paragraph (1) of

this Article is th e same for all members of the pension fund that manages the company’.

This might be interpreted as guaranteeing equal treatment, although no case law has been

identified thus far. Only the Law on Volunt ary Fully-Fu nded Pension Insurance explicitly

mentions the prohibition of discrimination (in Article 3).

In addition, Article 6 of the Law on Labour Relations specifically declares that men and

women have equal opportunities and treatment related to professional insurance schemes.

111 Finance Think, Pension system in North Macedonia, available at: www.financethink.mk/models/pension-

system-of-macedonia/.

112 Law on Pension and Disability Insurance (2012), Full title: Law on Pension and Disability Insurance (

    ), Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia, Nos. 98/2012,

166/2012, 15/2013, 170/2013, 43/2014, 44/2014, 97/2014, 113/2014, 160/2014, 188/2014, 20/2015,

61/2015, 97/2015, 129/2015, 147/2015, 154/2015, 173/2015, 217/2015, 27/2016, 120/2016, 132/2016,

35/2018, 220/2018, 245/2018; Law on Voluntary Fully Funded Pension Insurance (  

   ), Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia, Nos.

7/2008, 124/2010, 17/2011, 13/2013, Constitutional Court Decisions, U.no. 117/2008, U.no. 162/2008;

Law on Mandatory Fully Funded Pension Insurance (    

), 2002, Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia, Nos. 29/2002, 85/2003, 40/2004,

113/2005, 29/2007, 88/2008, 48/2009, 50/2010, 171/2011, 36/2011, 98/2012, 13/2013, 164/2013,

44/2014, 192/2015, 30/2016, 21/2018, 245/2018; Constitutional Court Decision: U.no. 163/2002, U.no.

165/2008.

113 Law on Pension and Disability Insurance, 2012.