Social Security Totalization Agreement Summaries Summary of social security benefits Retirement/old age. Under the Slovak system a worker can get a full pension benefit at age 62 with at least 15 years of coverage. Early retirement is possible if the worker is no more than 2 years from retirement age, has at least 15 years of contributions, ceases all work activity, and the early old-age pension amount is at least 1.2 times the legally defined subsistence wage. Disability. There is a full disability benefit if the worker has at least 70% reduction in the capacity to work. A partial disability benefit is available for workers with a 41-69% reduction in work capacity. The total periods of coverage needed are based on age at disability onset. Persons with disability before age 20 need less than one year of coverage. Persons aged 45 or older need at least 15 years of coverage. Family. Children are eligible for a full disability benefit if the worker's disability began during the period when child is the worker's dependent (no Slovak coverage required). There is no provision for a benefit for a worker's spouse or divorced spouse. Survivor. For surviving spouse benefits, one of the following conditions must apply at the time of the worker's death: * The worker must have been receiving an old-age pension, early old-age pension, or disability pension. * The worker must have met the requirements for an old-age pension or the coverage requirements for a disability pension. * The worker must have died due to work accident or occupational disease. Surviving spouse benefits cease after one year unless certain age, disability or child rearing exceptions apply. The pension ceases if the widow or widower remarries. There is a survivor benefit for children under age 26 who were dependent on the worker at the time of the worker's death. Survivor benefits are available for orphaned children if the deceased parent met the minimum contribution requirements for retirement or disability on date of death (or was receiving a pension), or the parent died due to a work accident. The benefit is payable until the orphaned child completes compulsory school attendance or up to age 26 under certain conditions. For more information For more information about the Slovak Republic's pension insurance and sickness insurance, write to: Sociálna Poist'ovňa (Slovak Social Insurance Agency) Ul.29 Augusta c.8 a10 813 63 Bratislava Slovenská Republika Telephone: +421 906 171 934 Email: info.english@socpoist.sk B-41