Termination of employment

Hand in your notice in accordance with the term of notice specified in your employment contract. Pension payments always start on the first day of a calendar month, which means that your employment relationship must be terminated by the end of the previous month at the latest. Handing in a written notice of termination is recommended, but a free-form notification also suffices.

 You do not need to resign if you continue to work until the age at which your insurance obligation ends. Your employment relationship will be automatically terminated at the end of the calendar month during which you reach the insurance obligation end date, unless you separately agree with your employer that the employment relationship will be continued.

Notify your employer of your plans to retire well in advance of your resignation.

You can discuss your retirement with your supervisor in connection with a development discussion, for example. Even though plans may change, an open discussion will help both parties to prepare for the future. The employer will be able to start planning your successor and the orientation of the new employee.

You can retire as soon as you reach your retirement age, or from the beginning of any month thereafter. You can choose the date yourself, but you must agree on the end date of your employment relationship with your employer. The employer is not allowed to put any pressure on you to retire, or to continue working if you wish to retire. You must agree on the end date of the employment relationship with your employer.

If you want to continue working while retired, read more on the Working during retirement page.

When you stop working, there are probably some things you need to do at work before you start your old-age pension.

Also remember the following:

• Return any tools as instructed
• Find out whether your employer has prepared any other instructions for leaving employees

Retiring will not automatically end your unemployment fund membership, and you must resign in writing. Contact your unemployment fund to find out how to terminate your membership. You can often resign via the unemployment fund’s e-service. Enter the day before your retirement starts as the resignation date.   

For more information about how to resign from an unemployment fund, see the websites of unemployment fundsOpens in a new window. or contact their customer service.

Your employer may have taken out voluntary pension insurance policies for specific employees or employee groups. Employees are paid additional pension on the basis of such insurance. The voluntary supplementary pension supplements the employees’ statutory pension cover. Check with your employer whether any pension insurance has been taken out for employees.

Voluntary supplementary pensions do not affect or reduce the amount of your earnings-related pension. However, they will reduce Kela’s pensions and housing allowance. When an employee starts to receive an old-age pension and supplementary pension payments begin, the supplementary pension will be taxed in the same way as earned income.

Read more about voluntary pension insurance taken out by the employer and its taxation:

• Voluntary supplementary pensions – Työeläke.fiOpens in a new window.
• Voluntary pension insurance taken out by the employer (in Finnish) – Vero.fiOpens in a new window.