- Finland will introduce a years-of-service pension in 2017 for those with a long career in strenuous or mentally taxing work, allowing retirement up to 2 years earlier than the old-age pension age. To qualify, one must have 38 years of work experience and be at least 63 years old. - Comparable early pension systems exist in other European countries typically for specific occupations like mining, but years-of-service pensions considered part of the general pension system are rare. Austria, France, Italy and Poland were examined in this study. - The criteria for years-of-service pensions vary by country but generally consider stressful factors like shift work, heavy lifting, exposure to chemicals or extreme temperatures

1. Years of Service Pension
- a Comparative Study
Niko Väänänen
2.6.2015 (ESIP, Bruxelles)

2. Years-of-service Pension in Finland 1/2
• To be introduced in with the 2017 pension reform
• max. 2,000 (approx.) pensions/year:
– Working life spanning 38 years
– Strenuous and wearing work (physical or mental)
– Deterioration of working capacity (caused by sickness,
impediment or disability)
– Not related to any specific job or field
• The age limit will be 63 years until the earliest
eligibility age for old-age pension is 65 years. After
that, the age limit will rise along with the increasing
earliest eligibility age for the old-age pension
– Two years earlier than old-age pension
Finnish Centre for Pensions 2

3. Comparable pensions
• Occupational and field-specific early pension systems
common in Europe
– Usually arranged within a special system (e.g. miners, seafarers)
– Downward trend (technological development, structural
industrial changes)
• Pension arrangements based on insurance periods
common in Europe
– A certain number of working hours –> right to retirement on a
full pension
• Pension arrangements based on work and insurance
periods (years-of-service pensions) as part of the
general pension system are rare in Europe
 In this study Austria, France, Italy and Poland
Finnish Centre for Pensions 3

4. Conditions for Years-of-service Pension
Retirement age
for years-of-
service pension
General
retirement
age
Required
years of
employment
…of which
in
strenuous
and taxing
work
(years)
Reduction to
years-of-service
pension
Austria 60 65 45 10* Yes
Finland
(in
2017)
63 65 38 the majority Yes, no pension
component for the
projected
pensionable
service
France 60 62 - 10* No
Italy 61 66 35 7** Yes, conversion
factor based on
age
Poland 55/60 60/65 20/25 15 Yes, conversion
factor (DC)
Finnish Centre for Pensions 4
* In the last 20 years of working life
** In the last 10 years of working life

5. Number of Granted Years-of-service Pensions
2012 2013
Italy 1639 278
Poland - 2977
France 3260 3487
Austria - 364 (6 months)*
(in payment: 3 759)
Finnish Centre for Pensions 5
* The number is likely to grow as the pension based on a long insurance period was amended at the beginning of the year
Sources: national insurance authorities (INPS, ZUS,
CNAV) and the Ministry (Sozialministerium)

6. Criteria: (1) Taxing Working Environments
Finnish Centre for Pensions 6
Positive
pressure
Extreme
temperatures
Auditory
stress
Chemical
substances
Confined
working
environment
Austria No Yes No Yes No
France Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Italy Yes Yes, heat No Yes Yes
Poland Yes Yes Yes No No

7. Criteria: (2) Physically strenuous work
Finnish Centre for Pensions 7
Calories
requirement*
Handling
heavy
weights
Taxing
working
position
Machine-
induced
vibration
Austria Yes No No No
French No Yes Yes Yes
Italy No No No No
Poland Yes No Yes No
* The requirement is that an amount of energy equalling a certain amount
of kilocalories (kcal) is required during a working day. In Austria, the
required daily amounts are 2,000 kcal for men and 1,400 for women; in
Poland 1,500 kcal for men and 1,000 kcal for women.

8. Criteria: (3) Heavy work rhythm, mentally
strenuous work
Finnish Centre for Pensions 8
Shift work Night work Monotonous
work
Tough nursing,
hospice nursing
Austria Yes Yes No Yes
France Yes Yes Yes No
Italy Yes Yes (shift work) Yes No
Poland No No No No

9. …and what about Finland?
Finnish Centre for Pensions
…and what about Finland?
Photo by Antti
Mielonen

10. What will be considered as strenuous work?
• Both physically strenuous or mentally strenuous
• Physically strenuous and taxing work:
1. Work movements that require large muscle strength or that
strain the muscles for a lengthy period of time
2. Heavy strain on the respiratory or the blood-vascular system
3. Stressing or difficult working positions
4. Repeated work movements that require strength or great
speed, or work movements that involve using strength while
clasping and rotating the hands at the same time
• Mentally strenuous work:
5. Interactive work that is particularly demanding and
exceptionally mentally strenuous
6. Work tasks that require constant watching out or being
particularly vigilant and in which the risk for occupational or
other accidents or the threat of violence is high
Finnish Centre for Pensions 10

11. Other factors to be taken into account 1/2
• The following factors, which add to the strenuous and
taxing nature of the work, to be considered when
evaluating the nature of the work:
– Exceptional physical features of the work
– The use of protection equipment which adds to the burden
– Shift work that includes repeated night work or that is otherwise
strenuous
– Repeated long working shifts
– For the self-employed, being tied to farmed animals around the
clock
• Statements from occupational health care or the
employer or equivalent statements would be used to
establish the content and strenuous and taxing nature
of the work
Finnish Centre for Pensions 11

12. Other factors to be taken into account 2/2
• Working life examined based on registers, but since
2005, only earnings have been registered
• No registration obligation for employers
• Periods of maternity, paternity and parental allowance
calculated for a maximum of three years
• Smaller benefit than the disability pension (no
component for projected pensionable service)
Finnish Centre for Pensions 12

13. Kiitos! Thank you!