Retirement file papers and common reasons for delay
The papers a State employee retirement file rests on, and why some files are delayed: age mismatches, unrecorded service, unpaid contributions.
Read →Retirement transactions
Paying to add pensionable service in Iraq
In briefThe phrase “buying pensionable service” is often used for a request to add a period of service and pay the pension contributions on it. The basis in Unified Pension Law No. 9 of 2014 is Articles 18 and 19: which periods are counted, how contributions and the state’s share are paid, the cap on adding insured private service at no more than half of actual state service, and instalments over five years.
The law does not use the word “purchase” as the heading of an article, but it regulates the addition of service and the payment of contributions in Articles 18 and 19 of Unified Pension Law No. 9 of 2014. The question is the mechanism of addition and payment; the full list of periods that count is on what counts as pensionable service?.
The difference between the state path and the workers’ path is on pensions in the public and private sectors.
Adding service and paying contributions under Article 19
Article 19, First: if a civil servant’s services are seconded to a non-Iraqi body, or outside the state establishment, and the person receives pay from the borrowing body, that body collects the pension contributions from the pay in accordance with this law. The seconded civil servant may pay both his or her share and the borrowing body’s share of the contributions in order for the service to be counted.
Article 19, Second: a civil servant who left employment, resigned, or was referred to retirement and received no pension rights for that state service may add the service performed in the state to later service in the private sector. The National Pension Authority (هيأة التقاعد الوطنية) supplies the Department of Pension and Social Security for Workers with the details of the service, and pays the contributions deducted from the salaries together with the state’s share.
Article 19, Third: a civil servant may ask for insured pensionable service performed in the private sector, for which no pension rights were received from the Department of Pension and Social Security for Workers, to be added to the pensionable service arising from state employment, up to no more than half of the actual state service. The Department of Pension and Social Security for Workers supplies the Authority with the details and pays the contributions deducted from the wage together with the employer’s share. The civil servant bears the difference between those contributions and the pension contributions plus the state’s share, calculated on the salary on the date of the request to count the service. The cap — no more than half — is a written limit, not a matter of judgement in the file.
Article 19, Fourth: a civil servant or pensioner who asks for service to be added may pay the pension contributions and the state’s share if they cannot otherwise be paid. This is where the common meaning of buying service comes closest: paying what could not be collected so that the period is added. Article 19, Fifth, allows, on the pensioner’s request, the contributions owed on the counted period to be paid in equal monthly instalments equal to one-quarter of the monthly pension after adding three per cent of the principal of the contributions, provided they are paid within five years from the date of the Authority’s decision to count the service.
Periods in Article 18 on which contributions are collected
Article 18, First, lists periods of pensionable service. Some of them are not understood without payment: the period a civil servant spent outside service that is counted under Political Dismissals Law No. 24 of 2005, as amended, after the employee’s share of contributions is collected under Article 17, First, on the basis of the minimum salary for the certificate on the date of return to service, with the Ministry of Finance allocating these amounts in the budget. Military service, periods of actual operations and related periods, and regular undergraduate and postgraduate study for a member of the armed forces or the internal security forces that ended with the award of the certificate before joining, up to no more than half of the military or security service, are subject to collection of the applicant’s share, and the state’s share is not collected on the counted period, under Article 18, First, (c).
Accumulated ordinary leave in excess of one hundred and eighty days is counted as pensionable service, and no contributions are collected on it, under Article 18, First, (d). Not every addition is a payment. Practice of the profession of advocacy has its own basis on counting advocacy practice for pension purposes. Contract service in the state for a temporary employee after 9 April 2003 is subject to collection of that person’s share of contributions at ten per cent.
If a civil servant received a gratuity for earlier service and was then reappointed, repayment of the gratuity and the contribution difference is in Article 23, not Article 19, as on work after retirement and the retirement gratuity. The ongoing deduction rates from salary are on pension contributions.
The office follows a request to add service, the calculation of the difference, and a decision on instalments.
| Issue | Limit or period | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Adding insured private service to state service | No more than half of actual state service | Article 19, Third |
| Instalments of contributions on the counted period | Within 5 years of the Authority’s decision | Article 19, Fifth |
| Amount of each instalment | One-quarter of the monthly pension plus 3% of the principal | Article 19, Fifth |
| Accumulated leave in excess of 180 days | Counted with no contributions collected | Article 18, First, (d) |
Legal basis and sources
Frequently asked questions
May a civil servant add every period spent in the private sector?
Article 19, Third, limits the addition to no more than half of actual state service, and only if no pension rights were received for that period from the workers’ social-security department.
What is the difference between paying to add service and counting accumulated leave?
Accumulated ordinary leave in excess of one hundred and eighty days is counted with no contributions. Adding service whose contributions could not be paid is done by paying the contributions and the state’s share under Article 19, Fourth and Fifth.
May the contributions be paid in instalments?
Yes, on the pensioner’s request, in instalments equal to one-quarter of the pension after adding three per cent, within five years of the decision to count the service, under Article 19, Fifth.
Related topics and articles
- 01What counts as pensionable service, and how is earlier service added?What counts as pensionable service under Iraq's Unified Retirement Law: contributions, military, contract and advocacy service, exclusions, transfers.
- 02State employee pensions vs. private-sector worker pensions: what is the difference?How a State employee pension (Law No. 9 of 2014) differs from a private-sector worker pension (Law No. 18 of 2023): body, conditions, service transfer.
- 03Work after retirement and reappointment of a pensionerArticle 24 after the 2019 amendment adds later service to earlier service. The last pension must not fall below the pension at reappointment, or a peer's.
- 04The retirement gratuity, the monthly lump sum and the end-of-service awardThe retirement gratuity, the monthly lump sum and the end-of-service award under Iraq's Unified Retirement Law: who gets each and how it is calculated.
- 05Early retirement in Iraq: when can a State employee request retirement?Conditions for requesting retirement before the statutory age in Iraq under Article 12 of the Unified Retirement Law: age or service, mothers, timing.
Pension contributions and the deduction from a civil servant’s salary
Article 17 deducts 25% of salary (10% employee, 15% treasury) into the Fund. Self-funded bodies late over 6 months face a 3% monthly fine.
Read →Transferring a pension after death or between banks
After death, successors request allocation under Article 25. Shares follow Article 28. A bank change follows the Authority’s instructions, not a statute.
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