As pension reform proposals are in the final stage of legislative review, draft provisions of the eligibility for death benefits and survivor benefits of civil servants received their second reading yesterday at a review marked by lengthy speeches by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers.
A plenary legislative session reviewed dozens of clauses — 36 as of yesterday, with a total of 79 clauses to be reviewed — of a draft act on civil servant pensions, despite the KMT caucus continuing to stall proceedings. Reviews were still continuing at press time last night.
Lawmakers passed the second reading of draft provisions to tighten the qualifications for the survivor benefit, which would allow the spouse of a deceased civil servant to receive half the monthly pension paid to the civil servant if the spouse is aged 55 or older, and has been married to the civil servant for at least 10 years.
Spouses of deceased civil servants can qualify for a survivor benefit if they are aged 55 or older and had been married to the deceased for at least two years. The raising of benefit eligibility is to prevent people from marrying aging retirees for financial reasons.
Underage children of a deceased civil servant would be able to receive the survivor benefit until they turn 20, while children with mental or physical illnesses who are incapacitated and cannot work can receive the survivor benefit for life, the draft provisions say.
However, surviving family members who have received other pension benefits would only receive one type of pension benefit, according to the draft provisions.
The KMT criticized the proposed ban on receiving double pensions as discrimination against couples who are both public employees.

Full Content: Taipei Times

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