The way pensions were indexed for retirees who began drawing benefits in June 2009 through 2019, before the amendment to the Social Insurance Fund Pensions and Disability Pensions Act of 2021, has been deemed unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court in a decision issued on a recent Wednesday.
The case was heard by a five-judge panel, with the session chaired by Judge Stanisław Piotrowicz and Judge Piotr Pszczółkowski serving as the rapporteur. The decision was unanimous among the judges.
Constitutional Court decision on June pension indexation
The matter was brought to the Constitutional Court by the District Court in Elbląg in 2022. The court’s inquiry focused on the so‑called June pensions for individuals born after December 31, 1948 who are eligible under the new pension system.
Under the old rules, submitting a pension application in June could yield a lower monthly payment than applying in any other month of the year. This happened because, when the pension amount was calculated in June, the portion of premiums that had already been indexed was not subject to the quarterly indexation rule, since it had already been indexed once on June 1 for the previous year. Consequently, some retirees who filed in June received benefits that were several hundred zlotys lower than those who filed in other months.
The 2021 reform to the Social Security System Act was intended to align June indexation with the May procedure when it offers a more favorable outcome to the insured. In practice, this meant that, for June calculations, the indexation of contributions would mirror the May indexation if that approach produced a better result for the pensioner. However, this adjustment applied only to future retirees from 2021 onward.
The June 2020 cohort of pensioners fell outside the new framework and was affected by an episodic law that did not retroactively apply the June conversion to those who had become entitled to benefits in June between 2009 and 2019. A notable case involved a woman who retired in June 2010; her situation prompted Elbląg’s court to seek guidance from the Constitutional Court.
In this context, the court’s ruling clarifies the constitutional status of the prior indexing method and sets the path for future consistency in how June pensions are calculated when a more favorable indexation alternative exists. The outcome underscores the importance of aligning pension indexation rules with constitutional principles and the legal framework governing the national pension system.
The ruling thus provides a formal determination on procedural equity and the protection of pensioners who were affected by the pre‑2021 indexing rules, highlighting the ongoing evolution of pension policy and its direct impact on retirees across generations.