What you need to do to receive the title of labor veteran

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The status of “labor veteran” has for many years been considered one of the methods of supporting Russians who have distinguished themselves in their work.

Holders of this status have the opportunity to obtain various benefits that not only make everyday life easier, but also help improve their financial situation.

Title "Veteran of Labor"

Veteran of Labor is a title recognizing Russians who have worked conscientiously for many years. It was introduced when federal law No. 5 of January 12, 1995 came into force.

In the USSR, such a title did not exist. There was a special order that served as a kind of moral encouragement and did not give the opportunity to apply for benefits.

It was approved in 1974. It was issued to those who worked as children during the Great Patriotic War.

The order was also received by people who conscientiously performed their work duties for many years; collective farm workers; employees whose merits in their work have been recognized by the state. A citizen who was nominated for an award acquired not only the order, but also the corresponding document.

Other nuances when registering an honorary veteran

For people of retirement age, obtaining the title of labor veteran on their own is quite difficult. This is due to the fact that many simply do not know the rules and conditions for registering as a labor veteran.

Also, it is necessary to collect the necessary sufficiently voluminous package of documents, which is not always an easy task.

In addition, citizens do not know the legitimacy of their awards, since there are a great many departments, but the awards of not all of them are recognized by government bodies.

A communist drummer is equated to a veteran; this is precisely the opinion that exists among people of retirement age.

However, this is a misconception, although certain awards received in the Soviet Union give the right to apply for a veteran of labor award.

The Supreme Court of Russia published an explanation on this issue: “This award was envisaged in 1976 as a moral incentive for citizens to work, and is not awarded as an award for labor merit, which does not allow citizens who have the “Shock Worker of Communist Labor” to apply for the title of veteran labor.

Now regional departments are introducing their lists of awards, taking into account the local branches of the departments.

In Tatarstan, there is Order No. 481 of the Ministry of Labor, which describes the list of awards that are required from candidates to receive honorary status, as well as preferential benefits for veterans of this region.

The list of regional benefits varies.

In Moscow, preferential privileges will come into force immediately after receiving the title, and in St. Petersburg they come into force only when a citizen reaches retirement age (men can use benefits from the age of sixty, and women from fifty and not earlier).

Conditions of receipt

The conditions under which a citizen has the right to become an honorary worker are specified in federal laws. Accordingly, the opportunity to acquire status is available to those who began working before the age of 18 during the Great Patriotic War and worked for at least 40 years (for males), 35 years (for females).

Another title of federal significance is awarded to those who:

• was awarded orders of the Soviet Union or the Russian Federation;
• was awarded an honorary title;
• was awarded an honorary presidential certificate;
• received presidential gratitude;
• was awarded a departmental insignia for work/service merits and long-term work/service (minimum 15 years) in any field.

How much experience is needed to obtain

Since mid-summer 2021, legislative requirements have become stricter: departmental insignia provide the opportunity to become an honorary worker only when the Russian nominated for the award has worked/served at least 15 years in the relevant field. This rule does not have retroactive effect, that is, it does not apply to people nominated for the award before July 30, 2021.

An applicant for the status of an honorary worker must have mandatory work experience. The minimum length of service for those who began working as a minor was indicated above. For other groups of Russians, the minimum length of service is 25 years (for males), 20 years (for females).

Is there a list of awards for obtaining the title?

Approximately a thousand awards provide the opportunity to acquire the title of honorary worker. All of them can be divided into the following categories:

• orders;
• medals;
• honorary titles;
• departmental awards of Russia;
• departmental awards of the Soviet Union;
• rare rewards.

Is it possible to get a “veteran of labor” without awards?

It is possible to become a labor veteran without any awards. However, for this you need to start working in childhood, and during the Great Patriotic War. It is also necessary to accumulate a sufficiently long work experience (40 and 35 years for men and women, respectively).

The legislative framework

Quite a lot of citizens of the Russian Federation, upon retiring, receive the status and preferential benefits of a labor veteran. This is due to the fact that many people start officially working quite early and continue their work experience for quite a long time.

In addition to pension payments and preferential incentives of federal significance, some of them award an honorary badge, medal, gubernatorial certificate, or other awards to those citizens who are eligible to receive them.

It is precisely such people, with significant work experience, who receive the status of a veteran of labor activity.

Today, all questions about the procedure and conditions for obtaining the title, as well as all benefits provided, are regulated by the following legislative pact:

Federal Bill No. 5 “On Veterans” (Articles 7 and 22) clearly defines the required length of service to obtain status, as well as the provided local social support measures specific to this particular category of labor veterans.

Documentation for obtaining such status is considered exclusively from Russian citizens. To obtain status as a foreigner, he will need to obtain Russian citizenship.

Accounting for experience outside the territory of the Russian Federation will be taken into account only under the current agreement of the countries of the Union of Independent States.
If there is none, then becoming a veteran of labor activity is not allowed in Russia.

Paperwork

Every region of the state has its own Regulations on labor veterans. It can be read both in social security institutions at the place of registration and on Internet resources.

This provision specifies how to register the status and what papers need to be prepared. However, there is a standard set of papers that will have to be prepared to acquire the title of honorary worker.

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To acquire status you will need the following documents:

• Russian general passport;
• paper certifying work experience;
• passport size photographs.

In addition, you will need to prepare award badges on the basis of which the status is issued.

If the application is submitted not by the recipient of the title himself, but by his authorized representative, you will need to make a power of attorney at a notary office. Also, the applicant’s representative will need to prepare his passport before visiting a government institution.

Where to apply and decision deadlines

The application and set of documents must be submitted to the social security institution at the place of registration. After the application is drawn up, a meeting of the commission is scheduled to consider the applications of Russians for registration of status.

When the commission considers the petition submitted by the applicant and makes its decision, it will send a notification to the citizen. Submitted papers will be returned to the applicant. The period within which the decision is made depends on the subject of the Russian Federation . For example, in the capital, the decision is made no later than 10 days after employees of the social security institution receive the application. In the Bryansk region, a decision may take 15 days.

Sample application

If the commission makes a positive decision, it issues an administrative resolution. Now the citizen will need to come to the social security institution again to receive a certificate. This document is a form of the installed image. If a Russian loses his ID, he will need to submit an application to the institution where the document was issued. The issuance of a duplicate certificate is absolutely free.

Refusal to issue a title is possible in the following situations:

• the applicant does not meet the requirements listed in Russian laws (in terms of the level of existing awards, insurance experience);
• lack of registration in the locality in which the application was submitted;
• expiration of the validity period of the papers attached to the application;
• indication of false information in the application, use of forged documents.

In case of refusal, the commission provides a written argument that its decision is lawful, refers to Russian legislation, and indicates the reason for the refusal. The applicant will be notified of the decision made. Typically, the postal service is used to send the notice. Telephone calls are not used, as they are not considered an official way of notifying citizens about the decision made by the commission.

The state provides support to labor veterans. Thus, honorable workers are entitled to:

• be served free of charge in medical institutions;
• receive vacation at a time of year that is convenient for them;
• ride for free in municipal vehicles (if such a benefit is provided for by the laws of the constituent entity of Russia);
• receive a fifty percent discount on housing and communal services;
• undergo free dental prosthetics in municipal clinics.

The administrative and managerial apparatuses of the regions of the Russian Federation have the right to establish additional measures of social support. Thus, in the Moscow and Leningrad regions, honorable workers receive a certain amount of money every 30 days.

It is necessary to obtain the title of labor veteran, if possible. The status allows you to receive many benefits and social protection. Ordinary pensioners have a much narrower range of benefits received.

Who can be awarded the title and how many years must they serve?

To officially obtain the title of veteran of labor based on length of service, you must meet all the necessary criteria and collect all the required documents to obtain the title.

The criteria for awarding the title of labor veteran are:

• An employee who has retired and has received awards from the state;
• Pensioner with honorary titles of the Russian Federation/USSR;
• A worker who has been marked with a departmental award for his work (gratitude from the ministry, medals, badges, a letter of gratitude from the Ministry, governor or president, having a government award for work);
• The total amount of experience must be at least fifteen years. In addition, this length of service should not be interrupted; simply put, a person must work at one enterprise for at least fifteen years without being fired (only promotions are allowed).
• The total experience must be at least twenty-five years for males, and at least twenty years for females. This work experience may include fifteen years of experience at one enterprise;
• Insurance experience of at least five years.

On December 19, 2005, amendments were adopted to the new law indicating the establishment of eligibility conditions for obtaining the title in each individual region at the local government level.

The total amount of experience must be at least fifteen years.

Calculators and third-party services

To calculate the length of service for a labor veteran using an online calculator, you will need to enter data on the employment at which contributions were made to the Pension Fund and click the “calculate” button. This method is the simplest and most convenient if a person does not have preferential service, since the calculator calculates the simple sum of all months actually worked. If there are grounds for preferential calculation of length of service and years of service, it is better to calculate manually.

Manual calculation

To calculate length of service manually, you will need an extract from the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation showing the availability of transfers to the insurance part of the pension. The resulting time must be added up. If there are periods for preferential calculation of length of service, the calculation is carried out in accordance with the rules specified above. It is also necessary to take into account the time during which such contributions were not made, but the law provides for its inclusion in the general insurance period:

• periods of temporary incapacity,
• military service (without benefits),
• care for children,
• being registered at the employment center,
• stay in custody,
• care for disabled people,
• escorting diplomatic spouses outside the state, etc.

All these periods will need to be documented in the future.

Where to contact

Let us note that its assignment is carried out by social protection authorities at the level of constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Almost all regions have developed regional regulations on the assignment of status, which are posted on the official websites of local authorities and social protection. Basically, regulations differ in the administrative procedure for considering the issue: sometimes there are different requirements for a photo for a veteran’s ID, deadlines, and a list of awards.

But there is a lot in common between them. All issues are resolved at the place of residence (registration) of the candidate. To do this, the applicant or his authorized representative prepares documents for the labor veteran to social security and submits them along with the application.

Usually the application form is approved by the authorities. It indicates the candidate’s personal data and gives consent to their processing. At the same time, they list those papers on the basis of which the person requests to be awarded the title.

Features of calculating length of service

The calculation of length of service according to length of service is regulated by RF PP No. 941. Preferential length of service for different categories of employees is considered differently, in particular:

• within three months - for participants in active hostilities (the list of military conflicts is given in the above-mentioned regulatory document) and liquidators of man-made disasters;
• a month or two - for employees in jet aviation, at nuclear industry facilities, in high mountain areas, etc.;
• a month and a half - for employees in the submarine fleet and nuclear surface vessels, in special forces, aviation, reconnaissance, missile forces, security of places of detention (convoy), etc.;
• a month for 1 and 1/3 months - for employees in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and in the surface fleet.

Elena Smirnova

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If a citizen has several grounds for calculating preferential length of service, only one is applied - the one that gives the greatest benefit.

For categories of the population that are not related to military service, but to which the calculation of length of service is applied, it is regulated by RF PP No. 942, for customs officers - RF PP No. 103.

Possible problems and nuances

Difficulties often arise at the stage of preparing a package of documents. This is relevant if the supporting document is lost and the organization that issued it is abolished - then you will need to request extracts from the archives. The request can be sent by registered mail if you need to receive a document from another region.

A title may be refused for several reasons, for example:

• awards are not accompanied by certificates;
• the application was submitted to the social protection authority in violation of territorial jurisdiction,
• experience does not satisfy legal requirements.

How to calculate the required experience?

To calculate length of service, you can use online calculators or do it manually. For maximum accuracy of calculations, you need to prepare documents confirming:

• training in special institutions with a scholarship,
• periods of stay with military personnel (for military wives),
• time spent in correctional institutions followed by rehabilitation,
• periods spent in correctional labor, if any were paid,
• being on leave to care for children or a sick family member.

These points are also taken into account when calculating the total insurance period.