The last working years before retirement are the most important.
This is probably when you will receive the highest salary in your life, which can be decisive for how much you will receive in retirement.
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An important benefit
Jesper Wiklund is ombudsman and group leader at Unionen, and says this News24:
– Many who are approaching retirement feel worried that it will be more difficult for them to find a job on the labor market. Then this is an important benefit for staff who are rewarded at workplaces with collective agreements for their long and faithful service, he says.
Could cost you a lifetime
If you are dismissed, you will not be paid any salary after the notice period, nor will more be paid into your occupational pension, which can be an expensive story that you have to hide for the rest of your life.
If you are a middle-income earner, it can make your pension thousands of launders lower. Others, with higher expected wages, may lose even more.
– There are many who feel that it is more difficult for them to get a job after 55 and that is why there is this extra security, says Jesper Wiklund.
The Pensions Authority warns
Therefore, your job security is nothing to sneeze at as you approach 55, and many collective bargaining agreements actually increase your security after you turn 55.
The Pension Authority’s expert Monica Zetterembankment says in an interview:
– If you are covered by a so-called defined benefit occupational pension and also have a high salary, it may be less in your wallet as a pensioner, she tells Nyheter24.
Depends entirely on having a position
Those retiring in the next few years are often covered by defined benefit occupational pensions and may therefore hit the pump hard if they lose their job around the age of 55.
– Their pension is determined to a greater extent by the final salary. Although the social security fund contributes to the general pension, occupational pension payments are entirely dependent on having a job, says Monica Zettervall.
Judging by the cheerful face, this office worker probably has his job cut short. Photo: Pexels Safer over 55?
But it’s easy to miss the rule, and thus destroy your own job security when you need it most.
If you have worked for over ten years at the same company and are over 55, you often have increased job security.
Stated in your collective agreement
This means that in several collective agreements you have doubled the notice period compared to what the law requires, if, for example, you work in an office, municipality, factory or hospital.
But if you change jobs shortly before you turn 55, or even after you pass the age limit, you will lose the security benefit.
Secure your employment after the age of 55
Therefore, you should be careful about changing jobs from a job that has that benefit, to a job where you don’t have it.
Photo: Pexels
For example, you may have the right to take your period of employment with you if you change jobs within the same group, or if the company is bought out and your position is transferred via business transfer to the new owner.
What does the Employment Protection Act, LAS, say?
According to the law, if you have worked for over 10 years at a workplace, you must have a notice period of at least 6 months if you lose your job.
The law is called LAS – The Employment Protection Act, and the number of months is in LAS §11.
Instead of 10 months, you have a notice period of 12 months if you meet the requirements for the 55/10 rule.
This means that the law does not provide even close to as good basic protection as the one that qualifies for the increased security.
It gets worse…
But it gets worse.
If you change jobs from a place where you worked for 10 years and thus get 12 months’ notice if the accident occurs, to a completely new job, you will probably have to start from scratch with your accrued notice.
This means that, depending on the workplace, you have to make do with anything between 14 days to 3 months notice in the first few years of your new position.
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… And it gets even worse
In addition, the risk of being dismissed increases significantly if you change jobs.
If you remain in the same job, the risk of being dismissed decreases every year. This is because the employer must dismiss staff according to a certain order – and start with those who started the job most recently.
“Last In, First Out”
The Employment Protection Act, LAS does not take into account how old you are. If you have worked at a job for a shorter time than your colleagues, the employer is obliged in most cases to dismiss you before your colleagues.
There are some exceptions in workplaces and in certain agreements between unions and employers, but the general rule is that the last person to enter the workplace is the first to leave in the event of redundancy.
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The tip: Don’t give up, will you?
Sometimes an offer comes along in your career that you can’t refuse. There is no inherent value in getting stuck in the office chair just because you have a longer notice period where you are than at your new job.
Maybe it’s your dream job, or maybe you’re tired of your current position?
But it may be wise to bring the issue of security into the equation when weighing the pros and cons of moving on or staying in the final years before retirement, for example.
Safety or development?
– That is the constant question – security or development? For many, the household economy must come first and then it can be more important to stay in one place with this benefit so that you have income more or less secured until retirement, says Jesper Wiklund at Unionen to Nyheter24.
Maybe you can raise the issue with your future employer, and get something similar written into your new contract to compensate you?
Call your employer or your union to be sure if there is a 55/10 agreement written for your particular position and workplace.
The 55/10 rule only applies to those with ten years of uninterrupted employment. This does not necessarily apply if you have worked for 10 years in different stages during your working life for the same employer, and in some cases employers can.
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