"Across all EU Member States current or recently adopted pension reforms lead into increasing retirement ages against the background of demographic change, longer life expectancy and skills shortage. Nevertheless, not every workplace fits into this projected longer working perspective. The Pension Insurance Policy Committee (PENSION COM) of the ESIP therefore has worked since 2013 on a project called “Hard Jobs”. The aim of the project was to develop a definition and criteria for arduous and heavy work and to create an overview of national rules and specific measures for persons working in jobs dangerous to health and/or not feasible in advanced age, in particular with a view to early retirement.
In the framework of this investigation, a questionnaire was sent to several ESIP members from different countries (Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain) to receive information about legal definitions, where the rules are determined and who is responsible for the individual decisions.
A last relevant aspect for the project was the question of effective prevention measures as they are important to maintain workforce and to reduce expenditures of pension schemes by avoiding early retirement."

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