Retirement of an employee
It is a good idea to openly discuss the retirement of an employee within the workplace, thus avoiding a situation in which a key employee surprises everyone by suddenly leaving the business to enjoy his or her retirement. Retiring employees must always apply for pension independently, but the retirement process also involves tasks for the employer.
The guide for employers provides useful information about the steps that employers should take when their employees are retiring. Take the guide into use >
Pension application phases
The employee finds out about the amount of the future pension and submits a pension application.
Both matters are easily handled through Elo’s Online Pension Service. Tell your employees about the service!
Employers report all payroll information to the Incomes Register.
Employers must report all payroll information directly to the Incomes Register, also at the time when an employee retires. If an employee is about to retire on old-age pension, report the ending date of the employment relationship to the Incomes Register along with the earnings information. If the final salary/wages are paid after the end of the employment relationship, report the ending date of the employment relationship in the same report with the final salary/wage information. If you report earnings multiple times during the first month of retirement, remember to include the ending date of the employment relationship in each report. Although the ending date of the employment relationship is considered voluntary information in the Incomes Register, it is necessary in order to grant an old-age pension.
Elo issues a pension decision.
The pension decision is only given to the employee. Upon receipt of the decision, the employee must submit a current tax card to Elo for the payment of the pension.
Please also note the following issues
- Your employee is eligible for old-age pension
once he or she has reached the lowest pensionable age and the employment
relationship has ended. Talk with your employee and come to an agreement
on the date for the termination of the employment relationship and the
initiation of pension. The employment relationship must be terminated in
accordance with the standard periods of notice.
- The pension always begins on the first day of the
month, once the conditions for its payment have been met. For this reason,
it would be wise to terminate the employment relationship to end at the
end of the preceding month.
- Your employee’s partial early old-age pension is not linked to working or the end of working or to earnings. It is available to any person aged 61 or older who is not receiving any other pension.
- If your employee opts to work while receiving pension, the employment relationship must be insured.
- The purpose of vocational rehabilitation is to ensure that your employee can continue working. When your employee applies for vocational rehabilitation, we will need the employer’s description concerning the employee’s ability to cope at work.
- Full disability pension generally begins after the period of sickness allowance paid by Kela, that is, approximately one year after the start of the sick leave. Your employee can also opt to apply for partial disability pension. An advance decision is issued upon receipt of the application and the employee can begin to receive the pension once his or her earnings have declined to 60% of the previous established earnings.
- Career pension is intended for those aged 63 and older who have been working for a minimum of 38 years in a strenuous job and have a reduced work ability.
Survivors’ pension is applied for by the family of your employee.
Application forms for pensions or benefits:
Submitting an employer’s description to Elo
Send the employer’s description through a secured connection to elakeasiakirjat@elo.fi. The form can also be submitted as an attachment to the employee’s application.