Pension reform and evolution of the salary from which Colpensiones would be quoted

Certain points of the text of the reform of the pension system, which will be presented by the government of Gustavo Petro in Congress. As announced since the presidential campaign, Colombia would move to pillar systembut with modifications compared to the initial proposal, the maximum contribution of the public plan, administered by Colpensionswould be up to three minimum wages.

He pillar system It is characterized by its mixed nature, where citizens contribute according to their income, so at the present time of the proposal those who earn more than three salaries will contribute to the public fund and the rest can be allocated to private funds . .

The proposal establishes the creation of four pillars, the first is solidarity, which will make it possible to make monthly payments of 223,000 pesos to the beneficiaries of the Colombia Mayor program, initially the proposal was 500,000.

The second is the semi-contributory, which would be intended for adults over 65 who, although having contributed to the system, did not meet the conditions for receiving the pension.

This pillar is a new proposal that aims to alleviate the situation of taxpayers entering and leaving the labor market, which means that at the time of retirement they do not have the necessary weeks. It will be intended for those who have between 150 and 1000 weeks of contributions, it will be for life but not hereditary.

The third pillar, the contributory one, focuses on current contributors, it will be compulsory to make payments to Colpensions for all workers, but those earning more than this amount, will be able to pay surpluses from the fourth pillar, voluntary savings, into private pension funds.

The proposal would also propose the creation of a retirement savings fund, its objective being to reduce the impact of the financial markets due to the transactions of private funds towards the public.

This would change the way the system currently works, since the transfer of savings would take place at the time of retirement, while the money collected to date would continue to be managed by the private funds.

The reform would also aim to apply a gender approach, aimed at correcting the gap among women who exercise maternity, as announced last week by the Minister Gloria Ramírez; Colombian mothers will be entitled to benefits, there will be a one-time reduction in the minimum weeks required to access the pension, 50 weeks for each child, but a maximum limit of 150 weeks would also be established.

The reform project would not change the retirement ages, set at 62 for men and 57 for women, nor the conditions for access to survivor’s or invalidity pensions.

However, one of the most notable changes from the previous system is that those covered by the new scheme will no longer be governed by age, but by the number of weeks contributed, except for those who, when the law comes into force already have 1,000 weeks or more of contributions.

“We need a little more time and therefore, already in the full coordination committee and unanimously, we agreed that the pension bill would be tabled on March 22, with the aim that we can improve it and work better on its articles, but also the general presentation”, assured the Minister of Labour, Gloria Ines Ramirez.

The announcement was made at the end of the session of the Standing Committee for the Agreement on Wage and Labor Policies, where the draft 89-article document was socialized and handed over.