Development into partial cash sickness benefit, rehabilitation benefit, and employment pension rehabilitation

Legislative changes to clarify the implementation of the benefits and to improve equality among recipients and applicants.

The conditions for granting a partial cash sickness benefit will change and the maximum benefit period will be extended from 120 weekdays to 150 weekdays. These changes aim to promote staying in employment and return to full-time work. 

There will be changes to the requirements for granting the Social Insurance Institution’s rehabilitation benefit regarding an inability to work and the rehabilitation allowance for the waiting and intermediate period as well as the work trial period’s rehabilitation allowance. Concurrently, smaller changes will be made regarding retroactive application periods and responsibilities for occupational rehabilitation. 

There will be changes to the conditions for employment pension rehabilitation regarding the applicant’s re-establishment into working life. Additionally, there is a proposal for adding regulations on suspending the rehabilitation allowance and the rehabilitation adjustment to the employment pension act. 

Regulations will be added to both the employment pension act and the applicable benefits legislation applied by Kela, the Social Insurance Institution, on the regressive recovery of rehabilitation benefits between the employment pension institutions and Kela.
The new legislation will enter into force on 1 January 2023.

Additional information

senior specialist Kaisu Harju-Kolkka, firstname.lastname@gov.fi (particularly matters regarding the rehabilitation act at the Social Insurance Institution) 
senior advisor Eva Ojala, firstname.lastname@gov.fi (particularly matters regarding the health insurance act)
senior advisor Eva Aalto, firstname.lastname@gov.fi (particularly matters regarding employment pensions)