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.
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University-service retirement
In briefUniversity-service retirement is read first from Article 35, Fifth, of Unified Pension Law No. 9 of 2014, which excepts a university-service employee or a successor from the formula in Article 21, Second, in written cases, so the pension is assessed at eighty per cent of the nominal salary and allowances previously received, provided the allowances do not exceed two hundred per cent of the salary. The legal-age exception for holders of the title Professor or Assistant Professor is in Article 2 of Law No. 26 of 2019.
The rule is the written exception for a university-service employee in Article 35, Fifth, and with the exception of holders of the title Professor or Assistant Professor from the legal-age provisions in Article 2, First, (a) of First Amendment Law No. 26 of 2019. The general formula for other civil servants is on calculating a pension.
The wider framework is on retirement matters.
The eighty per cent exception in Article 35, Fifth
Article 35, Fifth, is an exception from the provisions of Article 21, Second. A university-service employee or a successor is entitled to a pension of eighty per cent of the nominal salary and allowances previously received, provided the allowances do not exceed two hundred per cent of the salary, on referral to retirement in one of the following cases:
First: if referred to retirement for reaching the legal age, with pensionable service of no less than twenty-five years, including at least ten years of university service.
Second: if referred to retirement for health reasons because of inability to perform duties, by a decision of the competent medical committee, regardless of length of service or age.
Third: if referred to retirement on that person’s request, with actual university service of no less than twenty years.
Fourth: if the person dies in service, whatever the length of service or age.
These cases are written conditions for the exception, not a choice after referral. A person referred on reaching the legal age whose pensionable service is not twenty-five years, including ten university years, is not read under the eighty per cent rate in this clause. A person who requests referral without twenty years of actual university service is read under Article 12, not under this exception. Health referral remains tied to a decision of the competent medical committee, as on medical retirement.
Article 35, Fifth, (b): the service of holders of a bachelor’s degree appointed to the establishment of the universities, the commissions and the ministry centre (the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research) is counted as university service for pension purposes from appointment after obtaining a master’s or a doctorate, provided the person then serves at least ten years before reaching the legal retirement age, and provided that service is no less than twenty-five years. This is a text on counting service, read together with the conditions of the rate in clause (a), and it is not widened to a person not appointed to that establishment.
The legal-age exception for holders of the title Professor or Assistant Professor
Article 2, First, of Law No. 26 of 2019 excepts from the legal-age provisions for referral to retirement those covered by University Service Law No. 23 of 2008 as amended who hold the academic title “Professor” or “Assistant Professor”. The Second clause of the same article sets the legal age for referral of that category at sixty-three (63) years. Article 9 of Law No. 26 of 2019 repealed texts setting another legal retirement age without excepting the University Service Law, so reference is to the age written in Article 2, Second, of the amending law rather than an earlier provision. This exception is a written academic title, and it does not, of itself, extend to other titles in university service that this clause does not name.
The other clauses of Article 2, First, deal with other categories, each with its own rules. A person not covered by the exception is referred on completing the legal age in the text in force on compulsory referral, as on compulsory retirement.
The subject of this page is the university-service employee. Other exceptions in other clauses of Article 35 are read in their place. The general formula in Article 21 remains the default for a person to whom the cases in the Fifth clause do not apply.
The office follows whether the cases for the rate, and the academic-title exception, apply in the service file and the titles.
| Case | Written condition | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Referral on reaching the legal age | Pensionable service of no less than 25 years, including at least 10 years of university service | Article 35, Fifth, (a), 1 |
| Health referral | A decision of the competent medical committee, regardless of length of service or age | Article 35, Fifth, (a), 2 |
| Referral on request | Actual university service of no less than 20 years | Article 35, Fifth, (a), 3 |
| Death in service | Whatever the length of service or age | Article 35, Fifth, (a), 4 |
| Cap on allowances included in the assessment | Must not exceed 200% of the salary | Article 35, Fifth, (a) |
Legal basis and sources
- Unified Pension Law No. 9 of 2014
- First Amendment Law No. 26 of 2019
- University Service Law No. 23 of 2008 as amended
Frequently asked questions
Is every employee of the Ministry of Higher Education entitled to the eighty per cent rate?
The exception is for a university-service employee or a successor, and only in the four written cases. Appointment to the establishment of the universities, the commissions and the ministry centre is read with clause (b) when the question is counting university service after a higher degree.
Does the age exception cover every title in university service?
Article 2, First, (a) names holders of the title Professor or Assistant Professor among those covered by the University Service Law. The exception is confined to the two titles named in the text.
If a professor requests referral with less than twenty years of actual university service?
The request case in Article 35, Fifth, (a), 3, requires twenty years of actual university service. Below that, the request is read from Article 12, not from the eighty per cent rate.
Related topics and articles
- 01Calculating a pension in IraqHow a pension is calculated under the Unified Pension Law: a 36-month average, the 2.5% rate, 15 years of service, the age of payment, and the cap.
- 02Compulsory referral to retirementWhen referral to retirement is compulsory: reaching the legal age regardless of service, or unfitness decided by the official medical committee.
- 03Early 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.
- 04Retirement on health grounds and the medical committee in IraqWhen an Iraqi State employee is retired on health grounds: the official medical committee, effects on service and pension, work injury, the 30-day appeal.
- 05What 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.
Pension contributions and the deduction from a civil servant’s salary
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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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