Rehabilitation

Producer: Finnish Centre for Pensions
Website: Rehabilitation
Subject area: Social security, Rehabilitation under the earnings-related pension system
Part of the Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): No

Description

The statistics includes data on vocation rehabilitation under the earnings-related pension acts.

Data content

The statistics includes data on rehabilitation applications and decisions, the right to appeal, rehabilitees, means and expenses of rehabilitation within the earnings-related pension system and rehabilitation programs that have ended.

Categorizations

The data has been categorised by age, gender, rehabilitation background, medical diagnosis and sector.

Methods of data collection and source

The data for the rehabilitation statistics stems directly from the registers of the earnings-related pension providers and the Finnish Centre for Pensions. Information collected from the earnings-related pension providers include rehabilitation background, type of rehabilitation service, rehabilitation service expenses and the reason the rehabilitation program has ended.

Update frequency

The data is updated once a year.

Time of completion or release

For a more detailed schedule, consult the Release calendar, consult the Release Calendar.

Time series

The first rehabilitation data are from the year 1992.

Key words

Rehabilitation within the earnings-related pension system, type of rehabilitation service, rehabilitation expenses, rehabilitation application, rehabilitation decision

Contact information

• Contact our statistics service with this online form

Rehabilitation within the earnings-related pension system

Rehabilitation within the earnings-related pension system is individual and vocational an intended for persons of working age. The aim of the rehabilitation is to help the employee or self-employed person to continue working despite an illness, handicap or injury. In other words, the aim is to prevent disability and postpone retirement.

Vocational rehabilitation takes precedence over the disability pension. Vocational rehabilitation is a statutory benefit of the earnings-related pension scheme. The rehabilitation applicant has the right to appeal all decisions concerning rehabilitation within the earnings-related pension system. The pension providers (earnings-related pension insurance companies, company pension funds and industry-wide pension funds) are in charge of the rehabilitation within the earnings-related pension system.

Requirements for getting rehabilitation within the earnings-related pension system

An employee or self-employed person under the age of 63 has the right to rehabilitation if they:

• have an appropriately diagnosed illness, handicap or injury that forms a threat of disability and a risk of retirement on a disability pension within the next few years,
• meet the required earnings limit,
• meet the earnings/childcare requirement for the previous 36 months,
• are deemed to benefit from the rehabilitation, and
• are not entitled to rehabilitation based on the motor or workers’ compensation insurance.

Means of vocational rehabilitation

Rehabilitation guidance
The rehabilitation experts of your earnings-related pension provider offer general advice and detailed guidance and instructions on vocational rehabilitation.

Review
Rehabilitation always requires an appropriate rehabilitation plan. Reviews are used to draw up a rehabilitation plan. When needed, the person who has been granted rehabilitation can turn to the service provider for help with drawing up the rehabilitation plan. Earnings-related pension providers do not finance reports that estimate the need for rehabilitation.

Workplace rehabilitation
Workplace rehabilitation is the primary means of rehabilitation under the earnings-related pension system. Workplace rehabilitation can take the form of a work try-out either for former or new work tasks. The work try-out lasts for a few months. If necessary, the work try-out can continue as work counselling. Work counselling is a longer period of training for new work tasks than the work try-out period.

Education
Education can be additional training in the form of a short-term course or longer-term retraining for new work tasks. Supporting basic education and basic training is not part of rehabilitation under the earnings-related pension system.

Business subsidy
The business subsidy is an interest-free or low-interest loan or allowance to set up or continue a business. As a rule, the business subsidy is granted as an allowance for the procurement of tools relating to the exercise of a profession. The precondition for getting the business subsidy is that the rehabilitee earns their income from the business.

Rehabilitation benefits

Rehabilitation allowance
The rehabilitation allowance is paid to a person who, before starting the rehabilitation, got a wage, a sickness allowance or an unemployment allowance. The allowance amounts to the amount of the disability pension under the acts on the earnings-related pension, increased by 33 per cent. The rehabilitation allowance is paid only during an active rehabilitation period.

Partial rehabilitation allowance
A partial rehabilitation allowance is paid to a rehabilitee who, while getting vocational rehabilitation, continues working partially. A partial rehabilitation allowance amounts to half of the full allowance.

Rehabilitation assistance
A discretionary rehabilitation assistance can be paid for the period while the rehabilitation plan is drawn, while waiting for rehabilitation or between rehabilitation periods. The assistance is paid for a maximum of three months.

For the self-employed (insured under the Self-employed Persons’ Pensions Act or the Farmers’ Pensions Act) and for municipal workers (insured under the Local Government Pensions Act), the rehabilitation assistance can be granted to support employment for a period after rehabilitation if the rehabilitee has no other income.

The rehabilitation assistance is granted for a fixed period and of the same amount as the disability pension (without the 33 per cent increment). The rehabilitation assistance can also be paid as a partial rehabilitation assistance.

Cash rehabilitation benefit
The cash rehabilitation benefit is a fixed-term disability pension that can be granted when the rehabilitee’s ability to work is expected to improve as a result of treatment or rehabilitation. The precondition is that the disability is estimated to last for at least one year and that the period on a sickness allowance is not considered long enough to restore the ability to work.

A precondition for granting the cash rehabilitation benefit is that the applicant has drawn up a treatment or rehabilitation plan together with health care or occupation health care.

Rehabilitation increment
The rehabilitation increment is an increment of the cash rehabilitation benefit or the disability pension granted for the active rehabilitation period. The increment is 33 per cent of the paid pension, and it is paid for full months of rehabilitation.

Other expenses
The rehabilitee is paid immediate expenses (such as travel and study expenses) relating to the rehabilitation within the earnings-related pension scheme.

Other concepts

Age
Person’s age at the end of the statistical year.

1. Contact

1.1 Contact organisation

The Finnish Centre for Pensions

1.2 Contact organisation unit

Planning Department

1.3 Contact name

Marjo Kaasila
Jukka Lampi

1.4 Contact person function

Statistical expert

1.5 Contact mail address

The Finnish Centre for Pensions
FI-00065 ELÄKETURVAKESKUS
Finland

1.6 Contact email address

firstname.lastname@etk.fi
Contact form

1.7 Contact phone number

+358 29 411 20

1.8 Contact fax number

Fax: +358 9 148 1172

2. Metadata update

2.1. Metadata last certified

31 May 2024

2.2. Metadata last posted

31 May 2024

2.3. Metadata last update

31 May 2024

3. Statistical presentation

3.1. Data description

The statistics contain information on vocational rehabilitation under the Finnish earnings-related pension legislation. The statistics cover the whole rehabilitation process from the application for rehabilitation to its completion and the follow-up after rehabilitation.

The statistics include information on rehabilitation applications, rehabilitation decisions, rehabilitees, rehabilitation activities and costs, completed rehabilitation programmes and rehabilitation costs.

3.2. Classification system

The information is broken down by the background of the rehabilitee, that is, whether they were working or retired when they started rehabilitation. Since 2016, the rehabilitation population has also been broken down into those who applied for rehabilitation themselves and those who were granted rehabilitation rights as part of a disability pension decision. Other classifications used in the statistics are age, sex and diagnosis.

3.3. Sector coverage

The statistics cover the rehabilitation of the entire earnings-related pension system. The statistics provide an overview of vocational rehabilitation paid for by private pension providers, company pension funds and industry-wide pension funds, as well as vocational rehabilitation paid for by the public sector. Rehabilitation organised by Kela is not included in the statistics.

3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions

The concepts and definitions have been presented on the statistics page.

3.5. Statistical unit

Application for rehabilitation.
Rehabilitation decision.
Person/rehabilitee.

3.6. Statistical population

Rehabilitation applications submitted to earnings-related pension institutions, rehabilitation decisions issued by the institutions and persons who have received vocational rehabilitation paid for by the earnings-related pension system.

3.7. Reference area

Finland

3.8. Time coverage

Basic data are available from 1992.

4. Unit of measure

Number of rehabilitation applications.
Number of rehabilitation decisions.
Number of persons.
Rehabilitation costs, €.
Income support, €/month.

5. Reference period

Calendar year and 1 January to 31 June

6. Institutional mandate

6.1. Legal acts and other agreements

The Finnish Centre for Pensions is obliged to compile statistics. The Act on the Finnish Centre for Pensions states that the Finnish Centre for Pensions is responsible for statistical activities within its field of competence.

The statistics on rehabilitation within the earnings-related pension system are based on the monitoring obligation related to the 1991 reform of rehabilitation legislation (Amendment 612/1991 to the Employees’ Pensions Act). The right to earnings-related pension rehabilitation is regulated by the earnings-related pension acts listed in Article 3 of the Employees Pensions Act (395/2006).

6.2. Data sharing

Data from the statistics are submitted annually to the Finnish Institute of Health and Welfare for the statistics of the EU System of Integrated Social Protection Statistics (ESSPROS) and to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland for the EU Commission’s labour market policy database.

7. Confidentiality

7.1. Confidentiality – policy

The Finnish Centre for Pensions is committed to data protection as a fundamental principle of statistics, which ensures the confidentiality of data.

7.2. Confidentiality – data treatment

Data is protected by the necessary physical and technical solutions at the various stages of processing. Personnel have access only to the data necessary for their work. Third parties do not have access to the premises where the data is processed. Employees are required to sign a confidentiality agreement when they are hired.

8. Release Policy

The statistics of the Finnish Centre for Pensions are released on weekdays at 9.00 a.m. on the website of the Finnish Centre for Pensions. Any exceptions to the release time are announced separately.

The data in the statistical database are released as open data. The database’s open interface can be freely used under the CC BY 4.0 license, with the Finnich Centre for Pensions being cited as the source of the statistical data.

8.1. Release Calendar

The release dates of the statistics are published in the release calendar. The release calendar for the following year is published towards the end of the year.

8.2. Release calendar access

Release Calendar

8.3. User access

The statistics are available to everyone when they are published on the website of the Finnish Centre for Pensions at a previously announced date.

The statistics are distributed annually to the earnings-related pension institutions in the form of institution-specific tables and visualisations.

Embargo policy: Media that are bound by the journalist’s guidelines may request material from the Finnish Centre for Pensions’ Communications Department.

9. Frequency of dissemination

The statistics are published twice a year.

Half-yearly data for the current year (1 January–30 June) are published in the autumn. Annual data are published in May–June of the year following the statistical reference year.

10. Accessibility and clarity

10.1. News release

The publications of the statistics can be found in the shared open repository Julkari: Rehabilitation (Julkari)

10.2. Publications

Key Figures: Vocational rehabilitees

10.3. Online database

Earnings-related pension rehabilitation (PxWeb)

10.4. Microdata access

At the Finnish Centre for Pensions, we can extract research material from our registers for scientific research. We disclose the data in compliance with the principles of the Act on the Openness of Government Activities and the Data Protection Act. As a rule, we do not disclose register data for commercial purposes. The scientific research must be identified.

Apply for research access to register data of the Finnish Centre for Pensions (pdf)

10.5. Other

A collection of graphs (pdf) of the data in the statistics is published on the statistics website.

11. Quality Management

11.1. Quality assurance

The Finnish Centre for Pensions is committed to the quality principles of Official Statistics of Finland. Our statistical production follows the quality criteria of Official Statistics of Finland, which are compatible with the European Statistics Code of Practice.

The Finnish Centre for Pensions applies quality criteria also to the statistics it publishes that are not included in the Official Statistics of Finland.

11.2. Quality assessment

The quality of statistics is assessed at several stages in the statistical process.

12. Relevance

12.1. User needs

The statistics are intended for rehabilitation experts, researchers, the media and others who need information on the subject. The statistics are produced in cooperation with rehabilitation experts from the earnings-related pension institutions. The development of the statistics considers the needs of the users, mainly the earnings-related pension institutions.

12.2. User satisfaction

The information needs and development proposals of rehabilitation experts in earnings-related pension institutions are identified at an annual event organised by the Finnish Centre for Pensions.

13. Accuracy and reliability

13.1. Overall accuracy

The data are based on administrative registers and data collected separately by earnings-related pension institutions. The source data are at individual level.

13.2. Sampling error

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13.3. Non-sampling error

The data from the pension register are extracted in January and July, so some of the backdated pension decisions may be missing from the statistical data.

The earnings-related pension institutions provide the data extracted from their own systems at the end of January and August, so that data recorded retrospectively after the time of extraction are missing from the data set.

14. Timeliness and punctuality

14.1. Timeliness

Half-yearly data on rehabilitation within the earnings-related pension system for the current year (1 January–30 June) will be published in the autumn. Annual data are published in May–June of the year following the statistical reference year.

15. Coherence and comparability

15.1. Comparability – geographical

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15.2. Comparability – over time

The statistics have been produced on the same basis since 1992 and the data are broadly comparable from that date.

From statistical year 2022 onwards, the sampling criterion for the statistics on rehabilitation decisions has been changed. Data on rehabilitation decisions produced before 2022 are therefore not fully comparable with those produced afterwards. The change did not affect the rejection rate.

15.3. Coherence – cross domain

Differences in the definition of concepts can make comparisons with other statistical data on the same subject difficult.

15.3.1. Coherence – sub annual and annual statistics

The data for the half-yearly and annual statistics are compiled according to the same rules. The Farmers’ Social Insurance Institution (MELA) and the Seafarers’ Pension Fund (MEK) are not involved in the collection of data for the half-yearly statistics.

16. Cost and burden

The Finnish Centre for Pensions stands for the costs of the statistics. The register data of the Finnish Centre for Pensions are supplemented by data collected directly from the earnings-related pension institutions. Only data not available in the Finnish Centre for Pensions’ register are collected from the pension institutions. The institutions send the data to the Finnish Centre for Pensions twice a year according to the guidelines established by the Finnish Centre for Pensions.

17. Data Revision

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18. Statistical processing

18.1. Source data

The statistics are based on the registers of the Finnish Centre for Pensions and on individual-level data collected separately from the earnings-related pension institutions.

The data on rehabilitation decisions needed to compile the statistics are extracted from the pension registers. The data required include preliminary rehabilitation decisions, rejected and approved applications, the way the rehabilitation was initiated, the date of the rehabilitation decision, the rehabilitee’s pension history, disability diagnoses and rehabilitation living costs.

Data on the post-rehabilitation period are extracted from the Incomes Register. This contains data on employment after rehabilitation. The register contains information on the careers on which the earnings-related pension is based: periods of employment and self-employment as well as unpaid periods such as unemployment, education and parenthood.

The information collected directly from the earnings-related pension institutions includes the way rehabilitation was started, the background of the rehabilitee, the rehabilitation measures, the costs of the rehabilitation measures, the compulsory accident insurance contributions for the rehabilitee and the situation after rehabilitation, that is, where the rehabilitation has led. The information is provided in accordance with the guidelines established by the Finnish Centre for Pensions.

The Finnish Centre for Pensions combines the data collected from the earnings-related pension institutions and the register data needed to compile the statistics to form the basis of the rehabilitation statistics.

18.2. Frequency of data collection

Twice a year.

18.3. Data collection

The Finnish Centre for Pensions is responsible for data collection. The earnings-related pension institutions send individual-level data on rehabilitation measures and completed rehabilitation to the Finnish Centre for Pensions via a secure e-mail connection. The information is provided according to the guidelines established by the Finnish Centre for Pensions.

18.4. Data validation

Adjustments are made at different stages of statistical production in accordance with the production processes of the Finnish Centre for Pensions. In addition, the results are compared with changes in legislation and with data from previous statistical years.

Earnings-related pension institutions are involved in data checks during the data compilation phase.

18.5. Data compilation

Combination of person-level data extracted from the registers of the Finnish Centre for Pensions and person-level data collected separately by the earnings-related pension institutions. Further processing produces aggregated data and statistical tables.