The concept and types of work experience

The concept of “total length of service” (GTS) cannot be found in the current legislation of the Russian Federation. This is a kind of rudiment of the old, Soviet pension system, when all working citizens received the right to payments. The TTS represents the entire set of work activities in time terms.

After the 2002 reform, the purpose of which was to bring the country’s pension system to the insurance model, the term “work experience” is practically not used. Pensions began to be calculated using new bases and formulas. The basis for its calculation was the insurance period, which should be understood as the periods during which special contributions were paid for a citizen to his personal account in the Pension Fund.

This responsibility rests with the employer. Since 2015, after another reform, material assets transferred to the Pension Fund have been transferred according to a special formula into special points, the number of which depends, first of all, not on the duration of the work itself, but on the volume of funds transferred directly to the Pension Fund.

Despite the above, it can still be taken into account for calculating pensions, especially for persons who began working before 2002.

What is included in work experience

It may include certain periods during which the citizen performed duties related to his work activity. In addition, this should also include other periods of time when the employee, being employed, was not engaged in the performance of official duties, but they were counted toward his length of service.

The OTS counted all “working” periods in the chronological period. If a citizen’s work experience was interrupted, then no reset occurred, since from the moment of new employment the OTS continued to flow further.

Periods included in the length of service

The following forms of activity should be included on a general basis in the period considered here:

Carrying out labor activities

Any official work, regardless of its nature, is included in the OTS. It should be noted that the location of the relevant activity matters. This should be the territory of the Russian Federation.

However, in some cases, the Pension Fund of Russia may also take into account the time spent working abroad , for example, in representative offices of Russian government agencies abroad or if there is a corresponding international (bilateral) agreement between our country and a foreign state.
Attention! For work to be counted, the employee must be officially employed. Periods of work without supporting documents are not counted.

Time of incapacity

This includes periods when the employee did not perform a labor function due to illness or caring for a sick family member, which should have been confirmed by sick leave from a doctor.

Being in MLS

In the case where a citizen was placed in a pre-trial detention center, but subsequently the criminal prosecution was terminated, then the entire period of stay there is included in the TTS. The same applies to being in prison after a conviction, if the prisoner was later rehabilitated.

Public Works

In this case, we are not talking about volunteering, but about paid work.

Unemployment

Provided that the citizen was registered with the Central Tax Service and had the appropriate official status.

Military service

The OTS includes service in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, as well as other structures equivalent to them.

Maternity leave

Maternity leave is included in both the length of service and the insurance period.

Baby care

The OTS includes the time of care until the child reaches the age of three years, the insurance – 1.5 years.

Studying at a university or college

This time was taken into account in the corresponding calculation previously, but at the moment the training cannot be counted.

Determination of types of experience

The question of what is length of service is answered by Chapter 3 of Federal Law No. 400-FZ of December 28, 2013: this concept is equated to the periods during which insurance premiums were paid for a citizen. Based on the contributions transferred to the Pension Fund, the citizen’s pension rights are formed. That is, when calculating, not only information from the work book is taken into account, but also personalized accounting data. The easiest way to find out whether the Pension Fund has taken into account all periods of employment is to go to the citizen’s personal account on the department’s website.

To understand what is included in the total work experience, one must take into account the fact that in addition to the periods of direct employment during which the employer paid insurance premiums, the total work experience includes the periods of:

• military service;
• receiving temporary disability benefits;
• caring for a child until he reaches the age of 1.5 years, but not more than 6 years in total;
• receipt of unemployment benefits and time to move for further employment;
• caring for a disabled person of the first group or a person who has reached the age of 80;
• residence of military spouses in areas where there were no employment opportunities;
• residence of spouses of employees of diplomatic missions and international organizations;
• carrying out operational investigative activities (in accordance with the law of August 12, 1995 No. 144-FZ);
• detention of unjustly convicted persons;
• exercise of powers by the judge, etc.

The list of such periods is quite long, but ordinary employees most often can apply only the first five periods to themselves.

What is special work experience?

This term should be understood as the total period of labor activity in particularly difficult conditions. This especially includes working in hazardous industries and in unfavorable climatic conditions. In addition, special experience is also calculated for teaching staff, as well as doctors, paramedics and nurses, regardless of specialization.

Attention! The periods of time during which special work experience was carried out must have papers confirming these facts.

There is also such a concept as “continuous work experience”. It should be understood as the period when the citizen worked continuously. For a long time, the amount of temporary disability benefits, as well as some other payments, depended on this parameter. Currently, the fact of continuous work activity is not legally significant.

What is the difference and what is the connection between total work experience and insurance experience?

As soon as a person reaches the required age, he will be assigned a labor pension if he has at least 5 years of insurance work.
There is no difference between the total length of service and the insurance period - now these concepts are combined, they are one and the same. One term was replaced by another with the introduction of some nuances. Since 2015, labor pensions have been called insurance pensions. The insurance period consists of the paid funds contributed to the Pension Fund. Characteristics of periods of insurance coverage include:

• the opportunity to receive benefits in case of temporary inability to work;
• care for disabled people of group 1, minors, elderly people (over 80 years old);
• leave related to caring for a child up to one and a half years old.

The term OTS itself evaluates all the rights of individuals who worked before January 1, 2002.
From the beginning of this year, pension insurance payments to people retiring will affect its size. Therefore, the term will be used for some time to come for a specific category of workers who worked before the beginning of 2002. The OTS is confirmed only by labor, and after 2002 - by documented accounting indicators according to personification.

The total length of service is calculated with the installation of accumulative capital and valorization indicators. The length of the period based on the total length of service greatly influences the determination of the monetary calculation of the pension payments due.

How to calculate total work experience

The duration of an employee’s compulsory labor insurance is confirmed by such an important document as a work book. If the information specified in it is not entirely complete, then other supporting documents are used, such as:

• contracts;
• orders;
• certificates;
• salary slips.

To calculate, the following generally accepted rule is used: a period of 360 days is considered for one year, and a period of 30 days is considered for 1 month, regardless of calendar calculation.

The calculation procedure is quite simple. Based on documents containing relevant information, it is necessary to find out and write down the start/end dates of working periods. Then the duration of each of them must be determined with an accuracy of one day. After this, the resulting periods are summed up to the nearest year, month and day. This calculation has been used previously.

Online calculator

To simplify calculations and avoid possible errors, you can use an online calculator. This program is designed in such a way that every 30 days are automatically converted into a month, and 12 months into a year.

For the convenience of calculations, you can use the online work experience calculator on our website.

Application:

1. In the appropriate columns you need to enter the dates of hiring and dismissal in the format day, month, year. The data is taken from the work record book and other supporting documents. You can enter data manually, or you can use the calendar form (the window next to the input line).
2. If there are other periods that count toward the length of service, they should also be included in the program.
3. To the right of the data columns there is a CALCULATE button. Click on it.
4. Values ​​in years, months and days will appear at the bottom of the page.
5. If you find that the data was entered incorrectly or one of the periods was not specified, you need to click on the RESET button, which is located next to CALCULATE, and enter new information.

For example:

Citizen Aksenova A.P. needs to calculate her length of service to assign a pension. She provided a work record book, an extract from the archive, and a certificate from the Social Security Administration. Employment history:

The archival extract confirms Aksyonova’s work at Zorya LLC from February 1, 2010 to August 29, 2011.

From September 6, 2011 to October 12, 2015, Aksyonova cared for her elderly mother, born in 1930, for which she was issued a certificate from the social security department.

1. Let’s enter in the online calculator the periods of work and the period of caring for a mother over 80 years of age in the appropriate columns:

• 19.09.1998–13.06.2010
• 1.02.2010–29.08.2010
• 6.09.2011–12.10.2015

2. Click on the CALCULATE button

3. Turned out: years: 16 | months: 5 | days: 1

Leave to care for a sick relative - how to arrange it correctly? What documents do you need to apply for an old-age pension? Find out about it by following this link.

You can learn how to resign by agreement of the parties correctly by reading our article on this topic.

How is length of service taken into account when calculating pensions?

The basis for assigning old-age benefits is reaching the required age. In 2022, it is 55.5 and 60.5 years for women and men, respectively . In addition, you must have a sufficient number of pension points. The insurance period, the period during which contributions were paid for the employee, also plays a significant role.

The OTS itself does not affect the assignment of a pension. However, given that the vast majority of people who are about to retire, as well as those planning to end their working career in the coming years, began working before 2002, this is of great importance for them. This is due to the fact that until 2002, pension rights were formed exclusively on the basis of the TTS, which will be taken into account when calculating material payments.

In addition, the special working period affects the right to preferential (early) receipt of pension payments for certain categories of persons.

Reference! After 2002, all citizens were registered in the compulsory pension insurance system, and therefore all periods that were discussed in the article above are counted only in the insurance period.

The length of total work experience is not considered by modern Russian legislation as the main factor for calculating old-age benefits (with the exception of periods of work before the pension reform of 2002). The insurance model of pension provision presupposes other grounds for receiving financial support in old age, depending, in addition to the length of work, on the volume of transfers to the Pension Fund.

The procedure for calculating length of service

In most cases, a work book and inserts in it are used to calculate all types of length of service. This document, as mentioned above, records information about all official places of employment. In its absence, for example, in case of loss, you can use contracts, salary slips, copies of orders, and so on. An indirect confirmation of length of service will be an extract from the Pension Fund, since information about all contributions for the employee is stored there, but this calculation is not accurate.

Depending on the purpose pursued when determining length of service, certain methods are used. Let's look at how to calculate length of service for pensions and sick leave.

For retirement

To assign old-age benefits, the total length of service is taken into account, that is, all periods for which accruals were made to the Pension Fund are summed up. The sequence of actions is as follows:

1. Based on the entries in the work book, write down all terms of employment accurate to the day.
2. Add up all periods, indicating the number of years, months and days.

It is important to know! In order to become a recipient of an insurance pension, you need a minimum of five years and thirteen points. They are determined by a person's annual earnings. On average, with a salary of 30,000 rubles per year, four points are accrued.

For sick leave

The principle of calculating length of service for receiving sick leave payments is similar to the system presented above. First, you need to determine the length of service with each employer, and then sum up the indicators. The payment amount is determined according to the following rules:

• less than six months of experience - minimum wage;
• up to five years – 60% of salary;
• up to eight years – 80% of income;
• over eight years - 100% of the average salary.

The benefit is paid by the Social Insurance Fund, using the employer as an intermediary. The more years a citizen has worked, the greater the amount he can receive in the event of temporary disability.

FAQ

Many people are confused about the concepts and terms of calculation. We have prepared for you answers to the most popular questions from Internet users.

Working for an individual entrepreneur

Question : is working for an individual entrepreneur taken into account when calculating length of service?

Answer : yes, it is taken into account, provided that the employer makes contributions to the fund. If this did not happen and you worked under a contract, you should go to court.

Maternity leave

Question : why didn’t the three-year parental leave count?

Answer : the first 1.5 years are counted as experience, but not more than 4.5 in total.

Russian Pension Fund personal account data

Question : why may the data from your personal account differ from those calculated independently?

Answer : The PF system is based on work book data, and manually there is a risk of making mistakes in the calculations.

Self-calculation

Question : When manually subtracting and counting on a calculator, there is a shortage of days.

Answer : Most likely, when subtracting the total terms of hiring dates from dismissal dates, you did not take into account the last days of work. You should add one day for each shift of service.

The need for continuous service to receive a long-service pension

Question : if work at school took place with a break of more than 3 months, is there a bonus?

Answer : to receive an additional part of the pension, you must have worked in an educational institution for more than 25 years; continuity is not taken into account.

Work without a contract

Question : if a person worked without an employment contract, does he have the right to include this period in his insurance period?

Answer : no, it does not. We recommend that you try to prove the fact of work through the court and, based on the results, prove your right to include the period in the insurance period.

Self-payment of fees

Question : can a person independently make contributions to the Pension Fund and thereby increase the period of insurance coverage.

Answer : yes, it can, but subject to conditions. The minimum payment per month must be from 5 thousand rubles, and per year at least 38 thousand rubles.