Commercial and Employment Law · 2 min read · 2026-08
Pension in Romania and Hungary: how can time worked underground abroad be recognised?
Time worked underground in another EU state counts towards a Romanian pension if it matches specially-recognised conditions. A ruling forced a recalculation.
Context
In practice, many people who spent part of their career working in Hungary or another EU member state find that, when they retire in Romania, periods worked under special conditions are not always properly credited by the pension authorities.
A frequent issue concerns underground work in mining operations in other EU member states and its effect on the right to a pension in Romania.
The dispute over the Hungarian mining service
In a recent dispute concerning the challenge of pension decisions, the claimant sought recognition of the periods during which he had worked underground in mining operations in Hungary.
Although the pension fund acknowledged the contribution period completed in Hungary, it refused to grant it the legal effects attached to work carried out under special conditions, treating those periods instead as ordinary service.
What the court found
The court found that the claimant had worked as an underground miner in mining units in Hungary, working underground for the entire duration of his shifts.
The court held that Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 on the coordination of social security systems requires the competent institutions to take into account periods completed in another member state where the activity performed is equivalent to one which, under national law, carries a special legal regime.
Consequently, it held that the period worked underground in Hungary had to be added to the period worked under special conditions in Romania for the purpose of establishing pension entitlements.
The ruling
The court upheld the claimant's action, annulled the pension decisions issued by the pension fund, and ordered the fund to issue a new decision crediting the periods worked underground in the Hungarian mining operations.
Why this ruling matters
The ruling shows that, in matters of coordinated EU pensions, simply acknowledging a foreign contribution period is not enough. Authorities must also examine the actual nature of the work performed, where this can affect retirement age, the full contribution period, or other pension benefits.
For people who worked in Hungary, particularly in roles carried out under special conditions, checking how the pension fund credited these periods can have a significant effect on pension entitlements.