Social Policy: the Spring Session Results

The Parliamentary Committee on Social Policy, Healthcare, Labor, Family and Childhood during the spring session worked on legislative initiatives that touched upon issues of pension provision, labor relations, and the provision of benefits and additional social guarantees to citizens of Pridnestrovie. Read more about the results of the Committee's work in the 7th session in the material of the press service of the Supreme Council.

Systematization of benefits for travel on public transport

The Parliamentary Committee on Social Policy and Healthcare has begun to develop a new law that will systematize all benefits for travel on public transport for children and students under 23 years of age. All benefits for travel on public transport for children, schoolchildren and students in the republic were recorded at the first stage in the law on the republican budget for 2024. Previously, these benefits were spelled out in the Government Resolution.

It was planned initially to enshrine the benefits in the relevant specialized laws. However, it was decided in the process of working on the legislative initiative to develop a new law in which they will be spelled out.

The new law on granting the right to discounted travel on public transport to certain categories of citizens will be considered by the Supreme Council in the autumn session. It is expected that it will be adopted before the end of 2024.

State support for young families in purchasing housing

Certified employees of the Investigative Committee of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic and employees of the Prosecutor's Office of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, who have class ranks or military ranks, will now be able to receive state subsidies for the purchase of their own housing.

One employee of the Investigative Committee will be able to exercise their right to receive such a measure of state support this year. The remaining employees of the Investigative Committee and the Prosecutor's Office will be able to submit applications starting from January 1, 2025.

Pension issues

The law "On state pension provision of citizens in the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic" prescribed the criteria for the termination and resumption of pension payments.

The law establishes that the termination of pension payments will be carried out in the event of the death of the pensioner, the assignment of a pension to him under the legislation of another state, the assignment of a pension in the manner established by other legislative acts of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic for certain categories of persons, or in the event of the discovery of the fact of the pensioner providing false information that is necessary to determine whether he has the right to a pension, as well as in the event of the occurrence of other circumstances that entail the loss of the pensioner's right to the assigned pension.

Pension payments will be resumed if a court decision is overturned that declared a pensioner dead or missing, if disability is restored, or if a pensioner has applied to resume pension payments after refusing to receive them.

Pensions will now be sent to a bank account

Pridnestrovian pensioners will now receive pensions to a bank account. According to the new rules set out in the PMR Law "On State Pension Provision for Citizens in the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic", pensions will be paid through a bank chosen by the pensioner at his own discretion, by crediting the pension payments to the pensioner's account in this bank.

An exception was made for pensioners over 70 years old, disabled persons of groups I and II, as well as pensioners living in villages where there are no bank branches or post offices. They will continue to receive pensions at home. New rules for pension delivery will come into effect in the fall of 2024

Additional labor guarantees

Employees who have less than two years left before reaching their full old-age pension, including a pension on preferential terms, and in connection with special working conditions, have received preferential right to remain at work in the event of layoffs. The Supreme Council supplemented the Labor Code at the suggestion of deputies of the Committee on Legislation, Protection of Rights and Freedoms of Citizens.

Occupational Health and Safety

A mechanism for mandatory investigation and recording of occupational diseases is enshrined in law. The Law "On Labor Health and Safety" stipulates that acute and chronic occupational diseases of workers that arose as a result of a single or long-term exposure to high concentrations of chemicals contained in the air of the working area, as well as levels and doses of other adverse factors, are subject to investigation and recording. Occupational diseases will be investigated and recorded by specialized doctors of medical and preventive institutions together with specialists from the sanitary and epidemiological service with the participation of representatives of the employer.

And the Labor Code established the legal basis for investigating and recording occupational diseases, as well as the employer's responsibilities in the event of occupational diseases among its employees.

Protection of social rights of workers

The Supreme Council enshrined in law a mechanism that allows employees of an organization to receive all social benefits due to them in the event that operational-search or investigative measures are carried out against their employer. The changes developed by the Prosecutor of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic were made to several laws at once – "On state benefits to citizens with children", "On the provision of benefits for temporary disability, pregnancy and childbirth to citizens subject to state social insurance", "On burial and funeral business" and "On the Unified State Social Insurance Fund". The new rules apply to legal relations that arose from August 1, 2023.

The initiative of the Prosecutor of the Republic assumed amendments to the Labor Code of the PMR initially. However, these proposals did not find support among the deputy corps. The deputies of the Committee on Social Policy developed later a new legislative initiative. It is proposed to include in the Civil Procedure Code a norm according to which the fact of termination of employment relations can be established in court in a special proceeding. The law-in-draft was adopted in the first reading at a plenary session in July. The relevant Committee will continue working on the legislative initiative in the second reading after the parliamentary recess.

Improving legislation in the field of healthcare

The Law of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic "On the Fundamentals of Health Protection of Citizens" introduced new terms – "telemedicine technologies" and "palliative medical care". The concept of "health" was enshrined in law and the criteria for the availability and quality of medical care were clarified at the initiative of the Government of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic.

Access to medical confidentiality for close relatives

A spouse, guardians (trustees), as well as close relatives of a citizen after his death will be able to familiarize themselves with and receive medical records and extracts from them upon written request, but only if during his lifetime the citizen or his legal representative did not prohibit the disclosure of such information. The new rules were recorded in the Law "On the Fundamentals of Health Protection of Citizens". The procedure and terms for the provision of medical records, as well as familiarization with such medical records at the same time are established by the executive body of state power, which is responsible for health issues.