Unemployment, lay-off and other occupational transitions

Throughout your career, you may find yourself in different kinds of transitional situations which may affect your pension cover. These include for instance unemployment, lay-off, diminished work ability or change of employer as a result of a transfer of undertaking.

If you become unemployed

If your work contract comes to an end, you are usually entitled to unemployment benefit. The TE Office or local government employment pilot will help you in this case.

If you are at risk of unemployment or become unemployed, Keva will advise you on the possible effect of this on your employment pension. You can inspect your pension information in the My Pension service (only in Finnish and Swedish) and send your question to the experts at Keva in the Messages (Viestit/Mina meddelanden) section.

Pension may be accrued during a period of unemployment.

Read more under the section Lay-off.

If your work ability is diminished

If your work ability is diminished, the necessary help may for instance be found from vocational rehabilitation.

 

Lay-off

During a lay-off, your employment relationship with an employer in the public sector is not terminated. The earnings-related daily allowance paid during your lay-off accrues pension.

Read more on the accruement of pension during unpaid periods: Accruement of pension during unpaid periods

A short-term lay-off does not affect the old pension benefits within the public sector, such as vocation-specific or personal retirement age or supplementary pension accrued before the year 1995. Your employment relationship is valid throughout your lay-off. A short-term lay-off does not affect earnings for the year in question in such a way that the continuity of the employment relationship, which is the basis for the previously mentioned benefits, would be endangered.

If your lay-off drags on for up to a year, it may be necessary to retain a continuous, day-to-day employment relationship in order to retain the old pension benefits. This applies to you if you have a long employment history within the public sector already prior to 1995. The continuity and accrued benefits will not be retained through annual earnings if the earnings remain very low for a year or more due to lay-off. In such a situation it’s a good idea to personally contact our customer service and ascertain your own situation.

More information on vocation-based and personal retirement ages can be found on the page Old-age pension.

If you are already retired, lay-off does not affect the payment of pension.

 

Supplementary pension and transfer of undertaking

Supplementary pension may consist of an individual or group pension insurance taken out voluntarily by the employer. In order for supplementary pension to be paid, the employment must usually remain in effect up to retirement.

Transfer of undertaking is the term for a situation where a company or a part of it is transferred to another employer. Transfers of undertaking are commonplace in the local government sector in particular when services are put out to tender by municipalities or joint municipal authorities.

When the service contract is awarded to a new provider, the employer changes but as a rule, the employees can remain employed ‘with existing benefits’. This means that the new employer also assumes responsibility for benefits such as supplementary pension as part of the transfer of undertaking.

When you transfer into the employ of a new employer ’with existing benefits,’ your employment is deemed to have continued without interruption and you retain the right to supplemental pension coverage but only if your new employer is also subject to the Public Sector Pensions Act.