Social Security Act (Cap. 318), article 59

59. (1) In respect of persons born on or before the 31st December 1961, any pension issu ed under this Part shall be reassessed annually with effect from the first Saturday in Janu ary of the year of the reassessment as provided for in sub-articles (2) to (6). (2) In the case of a person whos e retirement occurred before the 22nd day of January, 1979 - (i) if on retirement he was an employed person, such reassessment shall be effected by substituting for the pensionable income the current wage or salary, as on the effective date of the reassessment, of the post he occupied immediately before his retirement or of the post on which the Service Pension was awarded, whichever is the higher; (ii) if on retirement he was a self-employed or self- occupied person, such reassessment shall be effected by substituting for the pensionable income the current wage or salary, as on the effective date of the reassessment, of the post on which the Service Pension was awarded. (3) In the case of a person whose retirement occurs on or after the 22nd day of January, 1979, such reassessment shall be effec ted by substituting for the pensionable income the aggregate of suc h pensionable income and - (i) if he is to be treated as an employed person, the amount by which the current wage or salary of the highest post occupied during the best consecutive period on which his pensionable income had been computed exceeds, on the effective date of the reassessment, the wage or salary of the last post on which his pensionable income had been computed on the date of retirement; sohowever that, where the aforesaid highest post was in Government service or so analogued in terms of this sub-article, with effect from the 5th January 1991 the aforesaid current wage or salary pertaining to such highest post shall be that currently paid to the occupier of the current post in terms of and in accordance with the new wage/salary structure for Government employees as implemented by Government with effect from 1st January 1991; and, for this purpose, any service increments that would become payable with effect from 1st January 1994 in accordance with the aforesaid new wage/salary structure to the occupier of such highest post shall only be taken into account if such increments have already been acquired prior to his retirement: Provided that where the said best consecutive period ends on the last day of the SOCIAL SECURITY [CAP. 318. 69 year immediately preceding his retirement or his becoming an invalid in terms of this Act, as the case may be, the reference to the "highest post" in this sub-paragraph shall include any post occupied by the pensioner up to the date of his retirement or invalidity as aforesaid; (ii) if he is to be treated as a self-employed or self- occupied person, the total wage increases required by law to be awarded generally in respect of the period i ntervening between the date of retirement and the effective date of the reassessment. (4) Where any of the posts referred to in the foregoing provisions of this article no longer exists, - (a) if such post was occupied in Malta, there shall be substituted therefor such analogous post in Malta in the service of the Government of Malta or, where such analogous post does not exist in the service of the Government of Malta, in the service of any parastatal organization in Malta, which carried a wage or salary most nearly corresponding to that of the first mentioned post at the time when it was last occupied by the pensioner: Provided that notwithstanding the provisions of this paragraph, with effect from 1st January, 2015, any salary that should be analogued with the wage/salary structure for Government employees, will be effected from the date of the company’s closure or the post at the place of work ceased to exist; or (b) if such post was occu pied outside Malta, - (i) where a Service Pension has been awarded to the pensioner on such post, there shall be substituted therefor such analogous post in the country where such employment ex isted as is available in the service of the Government of that country or, where such analogous post does not exist in the service of that Government, in the service of any parastatal organization in that country, which carried a wage or salary most nearly corresponding to that of the first mentioned post at the time when it was last occupied by the pensioner; and (ii) where no Service Pension has been awarded to the pensioner on such post, the provisions of paragraph (a) of this proviso shall apply notwithstanding the fact that such post was occupied outside Malta. (5) For the purposes of this article but save as provided for in article 54, the amount to be substituted for the pensionable in come shall be greater than the amount substituted for the pensionabl e income on the occasion of the p revious reassessment by a sum of 70 CAP. 318.] SOCIAL SECURITY not less than that of the total wage increases required by law to be awarded generally in respect of the period following the said l ast reassessment; and where a reasse ssment is made for the first ti me, the amount to be substituted for the pensionable income of a pe rson shall be greater than his pensionable income by not less than t he total wage increases as aforesaid in respect of the period foll owing the date of his retirement. (6) For the purposes of this article, with effect from the 22nd day of January 1979, in establishing the current wage or salary pertaining to a post which had b een occupied by the pensioner p rior to his retirement, any service in cremental stages, if any, with in the wage or salary scale pertaining to that post shall only be take n into account if such incremental stages had already been reached by the pensioner prior to his retirement. Cap. 422. (7) In respect of persons born on or after the 1st January 1962, pensions under this Part, with e ffect from the first Saturday o f January of each year, shall be in creased annually by such sum a s corresponds to seventy percent of the percentage increase in th e national average wage as published by the National Statistics Office established by virtue of article 9 of the Malta Statistics Authority Act , for the previous calendar year plus thirty percent of the inflation rate as published by the said National Statistics Office for the previous calendar year ; and the provisions of article 9 0A shall not apply to such pensions: Provided that, with effect from the 1 st of January 2024, the provisions of this sub-article shall also apply in respect of p ersons born on the 31st of December 1961 or before. (8) Notwithstanding the provisions of this article, with effect from 1st January 2018, a pension paid under Part V shall be reassessed also when the pensioner who reaches t he age of 65 is receiving a red uced pensioner’s rate due to a deficiency in the average contributio ns, by considering those contributions paid by the pensioner by virtue of an insurable occupation which occurs after the pensionable age. (9) Notwithstanding the provisions of this article, with effect from the 1st of January 2024, any pension issued under this Part sha ll be reassessed, with effect from the first Saturday in January of t he year as provided for in sub-articles (2) to (6), and the provisions of sub-article (7) shall apply for th e subsequent years. Pension based on credited contributions. Re-numbered by: XXIV . 1993.2.