Vocational retraining

Who is vocational retraining a suitable option for and when?

It may become impossible for you to continue in your current work or return to it due to your state of health. If that happens, vocational retraining can help you continue in working life. You can train for a profession where you can utilise your competence and work experience, or you can retrain in a new field. Within vocational rehabilitation, we can support your studies towards a partial qualification or an entirely new qualification.

What can I study?

We can support your studies as vocational rehabilitation when

• your studies lead to a qualification
• your studies are full-time
• your studies are free of charge.

A further requirement is that your training leads to a job that is suitable for your state of health and that you need the training in order to continue in working life.

Follow these steps to start your studies

Apply for a place to study through the student admission procedure. Many schools are very flexible with when you start your studies.

The duration of your studies usually depends on your educational background, competence and work experience. The duration of your studies will become clear at the start of your studies when drawing up a personal competence development plan together with the school’s representative. At the same time, you will agree on the contents of your studies.

Choose contact or multiform studies

You can complete your studies as contact or multiform studies. Multiform studies mean that you study independently online and participate in classes at the school. You may also complete practical training as part of your studies. Co-operation between schools and workplaces with practical training periods improves your chances of finding employment after you graduate.

Study plan

When you have received a preliminary decision on vocational rehabilitation, your plan may involve vocational retraining. In your plan, state

• the name of the partial or full qualification
• the estimated duration of your studies
• the training provider.

Once your plan is ready, send it to us in our MyPension service. Read more about the rehabilitation plan.

Once we have received your plan, we will assess whether we can support it in the form of vocational rehabilitation. After that, we will contact you.

When your studies start

When we have approved your rehabilitation plan, and your studies start, submit to us

1. the information that you have been admitted to a school
2. a study certificate, filled in by your school’s representative on our website
3. a tax card so that we can withhold the right amount of tax on your rehabilitation allowance.

Submit your study certificate always in August and your tax card at the turn of the year

Ask your school’s representative to fill in the study certificate (the form is available in Finnish or Swedish) and to send it to us always in August for as long as your studies last. We require the study certificate in order to

• pay you the rehabilitation allowance
• monitor the progress of your studies
• pay you the compensation for expenses incurred due to your studies.

Submit your tax card to us always at the turn of the year. We require it so that we can deduct the right amount of tax from your rehabilitation allowance.

Report changes

You will receive a rehabilitation allowance from us for the duration of your studies. If your studies are interrupted or delayed due to sick leave, for example, contact your rehabilitation specialist. Also contact him or her if you graduate earlier than planned. Benefit paid unduly or erroneously may be recovered later.

If you work while studying, make sure that your earnings from your work do not exceed your personal earnings limit. To find out what your earnings limit is, contact your rehabilitation specialist or our customer service.

Your income during summer

You will receive the rehabilitation allowance also during summer. In summer, you can, for example,

• study
• do practical training
• work
• take part in a work trial related to the field you are studying.

If your studies last several years, you can have one month of summer holiday, but holiday periods lasting longer than that must be used to advance your studies.

Take part in a work trial in summer?

If you wish to take part in a work trial during summer, contact your rehabilitation specialist and make the arrangements with him or her. Then discuss the work trial with the work trial place and make an agreement. The agreement is a form which your rehabilitation specialist sends to your work trial place. Fill in the form together and return it to us when your work trial begins. If your work trial is an unpaid one, we will provide you with an accident insurance policy for its duration.

When your studies end

When you have completed your qualification, submit a copy of your certificate to us. The most convenient way to do this is in our MyPension service.