Years-of-service pension

The years-of-service pension may be an option for you if you have had a long and strenuous career and your work ability has weakened.

Am I eligible to receive the years-of-service pension?

You can apply for 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.

You can receive a years-of-service pension from when you turn 63 to the minimum retirement age. The years-of-service pension automatically becomes old-age pension when you reach your minimum retirement age. You do not need to apply for the old-age pension separately.

When we process the years-of-service pension, we also always assess your right to a disability pension. If you already receive a partial disability pension or full disability pension, you do not have the right to the years-of-service pension.

What does strenuous and wearing work mean?

We assess the strenuousness and wear of your work based on what type of workload factors the work involves.

Your work must contain a significant amount of the following factors:

work movements that require a lot of muscular strength or prolonged muscle strain
particularly intense strain on respiratory and circulatory organs
strenuous and difficult work positions
repetitive work movements that require strength or great speed, or work movements that simultaneously involve hand-gripping, turning and strength
interactive work that causes especially demanding and exceptional mental strain
working in tasks that require constant vigilance or extreme caution, with a heightened risk of injury, accident or violence.

The workload can be increased by, for example, demanding protective gear, night work and long shifts. We will assess your situation as a whole and take into account the joint impact of the various factors.

How to apply for the years-of-service pension

1. Get a medical statement B

The statement should describe the strenuousness of your current and past work tasks and give an opinion on your work ability.

2. Fill in an application

You can apply for a preliminary decision on the years-of-service pension while you are still working. Apply for a preliminary decision on the years-of-service pension roughly three months before you plan to retire.

You can also apply directly for a pension payment decision.

In your application describe your tasks and the workload factors related to your work in as much detail as you can for your entire career.

Fill in a years-of-service pension application in the Varma Online Service

3. Fill in Appendix U if you have lived or worked abroad

You can apply for a disability pension from an EU or EEA country and from Switzerland, the UK and a social security agreement country using the same application form that you use to apply for a pension from Finland.
If you have worked or lived abroad, also fill in ‘Appendix U (Residence and employment abroad)’ in the online service.

Appendix U must be filled in even if you are not yet applying for a foreign pension. Based on the information in Appendix U, the impact of your time abroad on your earnings-related pension and national pension will be determined. Read more about applying for a pension from abroad.

4. Employer’s description of the work tasks

We always need the employer’s description of your tasks as an attachment to your application. If your employment contract is valid, you can ask your employer to send the description through the employer’s online service.

We will ask your employer directly for the description if we have not received it as an attachment to the application. If you are self-employed, we need you to provide your own description of what your self-employment includes.

The last point: Years-of-service pension decision

The preliminary decision on the years-of-service pension is valid for six months.

The pension can begin, at the earliest, at the start of the month following the application.

Amount of the years-of-service pension

The amount of a years-of-service pension is based on the pension accrued before your retirement. You can see your accrued pension in your pension record.

The years-of-service pension is smaller than the disability pension because it does not include the projected pension component that accrues up until the lower limit for old-age pension.

While on a years-of-service pension you can earn a maximum of EUR 990.90 per month (in 2026) without it affecting the payment of your pension.

Help with using our services

Take care of your years-of-service pension matters online

In our online service, you can, for instance

apply for the years-of-service pension and send attachments
follow the processing of your application
check your earnings limit

What to do when...

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