A woman's work is never done. Before age 60, at least Shutterstock

Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal has ruled that current Polish law setting the minimum retirement age for women at 60 and for men at 65 is constitutional and not discriminatory.

The motion to declare the current regulations discriminatory, and therefore unconstitutional, was filed three years ago by the former ombudsman, the late Janusz Kochanowski, who died in the April 10 Smolensk plane crash.

“Women work for a shorter time than men, contributing less to their pension funds, which thus gives them lower pensions,” argued Leszek Nowacki from the Ombudsman’s Office.

“Taking into consideration the fact that they take parental leave and earn on average 20 to 30 percent less than men, their pensions sometimes add up to just 20 to 30 percent of their last salary.”

However, the Constitutional Tribunal ruled that the shorter working time wasn’t discriminatory, since women have the option to retire at 60, but are not required to do so.

If women so chose, they can work for longer and go on making contributions to their pension funds. Thus, it was their choice to decide whether they preferred lower pensions or a longer work life, reasoned the Tribunal.

However, it also acknowledged that the current legal status, though constitutional, was “not optimal,” and it would send a “signal to the Sejm about the advisability of embarking on legislative action in the direction of gradually leveling the retirement age for men and women.”

Three out of the four women on the Tribunal dissented to the judgment.

“I am really disappointed with the decision of the Constitutional Tribunal,” said Zbigniew Żurek, deputy president of the Business Centre Club. “However, the broader aspect of the case is that we have to change the system in general. People need to work longer and we have to give them economic incentives to do so.”

“We have to stop simply scaring people by saying they will have to work longer, instead presenting the situation to them in a different light,” he added.

“Please do the math. If you work for a longer time, you will have a bigger pension, if you work for a shorter time, your pension will be lower.”