Vocational rehabilitation steps

1. Has your work ability declined?

If your work ability starts to decline, bring the matter up for discussion immediately. Discuss the situation with your supervisor and occupational health care physician or another health care professional. The best results are achieved if you, your supervisor and your occupational health care physician discuss your situation together in an occupational health care consultation. There are many different solutions that can help you cope at work or return to work after your sick leave. The earlier you talk about your situation, the easier it will be for you to find the solution that best suits your health.

2. Find out about the available options – there are many

For example, your work can be adapted in various ways to support your coping at work. They consist of lightening your work load or tailoring your tasks to suit your health. You can also apply for a rehabilitation course organised by Kela to get help in maintaining or regaining your physical or mental ability to work and function. If you are returning to work from sick leave, you can apply to Kela for a partial sickness allowance or Kela’s work trial under the Occupational Health Care Act. Read more about the opportunities offered by Kela.

3. Ilmarinen’s vocational rehabilitation

If your work ability has declined to the extent that the other means of returning to work are not enough, take a look at Ilmarinen’s vocational rehabilitation. Vocational rehabilitation can help you find a job that suits your health. Read more about vocational rehabilitation.

4. Apply for vocational rehabilitation

If your occupational health care physician or another treating physician considers that vocational rehabilitation is a suitable option for you, the physician will issue a Medical Statement B for you. You must have one when applying to us for vocational rehabilitation. Fill in a rehabilitation application in our MyPension service and attach your Medical Statement B to the application. You can also attach to your application a rehabilitation plan stating which vocational rehabilitation means you wish to use to regain your ability to work. Read more about applying for rehabilitation.

5. We will process your rehabilitation application

When processing your rehabilitation application, we will take your specific situation into account. You will receive a rehabilitation decision from us once our specialists have assessed the appropriateness and usefulness of vocational rehabilitation in your situation. Read more about how decisions on applications are made.

6. You will receive a rehabilitation decision from us

Once we have processed your application, we will send you a positive preliminary decision or a negative decision.

If you receive a positive preliminary decision, start making your rehabilitation plan. Submit it to us within 10 months, i.e. during the period of validity of the preliminary decision. Read more about the preliminary rehabilitation decision.

If you receive a negative decision, we have assessed that you are not threatened by disability or that Ilmarinen’s vocational rehabilitation is not appropriate in your current situation. In that case, you can apply for vocational rehabilitation provided by Kela. Read more about what options are available after receiving a negative decision.

Also take a look at Kela’s vocational rehabilitation options >

7. Rehabilitation plan

A rehabilitation plan is your plan on how you can continue in your current job or pursue a new career in tasks that suit your state of health. If needed, we will help you make a rehabilitation plan. Read more about the rehabilitation plan.

8. You will receive a rehabilitation allowance during your rehabilitation

You will receive a rehabilitation allowance during your vocational rehabilitation. You will start receiving it when we have approved your rehabilitation plan and your vocational rehabilitation starts, i.e. when you begin a work trial or studies, for example. You can find out how much the rehabilitation allowance is in our MyPension service. The amount of rehabilitation allowance is also stated in the preliminary rehabilitation decision you receive. Read more about the rehabilitation allowance.

9. Returning to working life

The objective of vocational rehabilitation is always to enable you to continue working in a job that suits your health. You can continue working for your previous employer or take on new tasks with a new employer after a work trial, for example. If you learn a new profession during vocational rehabilitation and fail to find employment right after graduating, the TE Services, for example, will assist you in applying for a job and finding employment. Read more about the options offered by TE Services.