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 or lay-off.
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.
- Go to the My Pension service
Pension may be accrued during a period of unemployment.
- Read more on the page: Accruement of pension during unpaid periods
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.
Due to the work force services reform on 1 January 2025, personnel from Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment, KEHA Centres, and TE Offices have been transferred to municipalities or joint municipal authorities through a transfer of business.
If you belong to this group, your right to potential supplementary pension is retained, because the transfers are legally regarded as municipalisation. If you are entitled to supplementary pension, you can see on your pension record if you have accrued supplementary pension and how much.
Keva receives the list of transferred employees from their employer.