Years-of-service pension

You may receive the years-of-service pension if

• you are 63 but have not yet reached your minimum retirement age
• you have performed physically or mentally strenuous work for at least 38 years
• your work ability is permanently reduced due to an illness or injury
• you are still working full time in a strenuous job or it has been less than a year since the job ended

The years-of-service pension can be granted for the period between the age of 63 and your minimum retirement age. The pension automatically becomes old-age pension when you reach your minimum retirement age.

The years-of-service pension is intended for people who have worked for many years in a particularly demanding job. When evaluating the strain and wear of the employee’s work, the requirement is that the work has comprised at least one of the following factors to a significant degree:

1. work movements that require a lot of muscular strength or prolonged muscle strain
2. particularly intense strain on respiratory and circulatory organs
3. strenuous and difficult work positions
4. repetitive work movements that require strength or great speed, or work movements that simultaneously comprise hand-gripping, turning and strength
5. interactive work that causes especially demanding and exceptional mental strain
6. work in an assignment that calls for constant vigilance or extreme caution, with a heightened risk of fatal or near-fatal accidents or an evident risk of violence

The years-of-service pension consists of the pension you have accrued until you retire. This type of pension is somewhat smaller than disability pension, because it does not take into account the so-called projected pension period, meaning the time between when you retire and your minimum retirement age. You can see the pension you have accrued in your pension record. See your pension record in our online services.

You can apply for a preliminary decision on the years-of-service pension while you are still working. Before applying, be sure to read about the conditions for being granted the years-of-service pension. Please also note that a person who has been granted partial disability pension or full disability pension is not entitled to the years-of-service pension.

For the years-of-service pension application, you will need a medical statement B, including the occupational health care physician’s description of the strenuousness of your current and past work tasks and the physician’s opinion on your work ability. It is advisable to prepare for the occupational health care interview ahead of time by thinking about your entire career: what kind of work have you done, what elements of your work have caused mental or physical stress, and how much stress have they caused? It is important that you provide a detailed account of your work throughout your employment history also in your application. You should fill in the application only once you have a current medical statement B, because without the medical statement, we cannot process your application. If you are not covered by occupational health care, request a medical statement B from your local health care centre.

We also require your employer’s description of your work tasks. We will request it directly from your employer after we have received your application. Based on the documents you have provided, we will assess whether you are entitled to the years-of-service pension.

Apply for a preliminary decision on the years-of-service pension in our online services roughly three months before you plan to retire. You can file an application and send any necessary attachments via Varma’s online services. If you have worked or lived abroad, also fill in Appendix U, Residence and Employment Abroad in the online services.

The preliminary decision on the years-of-service pension is valid for six months. The years-of-service pension must, however, begin before you reach your minimum retirement age. The pension can begin, at the earliest, at the start of the month following the application.