What's included in your membership
The Pension Scheme for the Pharmacy Sector (POA) is a statutory, collective pension scheme for those working in pharmacies.
Membership in the Pension Scheme for the Pharmacy Sector (POA) is an essential part of your terms and conditions of employment. Your membership with us includes:
This is a brief summary of your membership.
What do you get for the money you contribute?
As a member of the pension scheme for the pharmacy sector, you contribute 3.4 percent of your salary without AFP, and 3.9 percent with AFP. For every krone you contribute, your employer contributes approximately four kroner. These contributions are used to secure your pension.
While pensions from other schemes often stop after ten years of payment, pensions from the Pharmacy Sector scheme are paid for life. To understand the real value of your salary and pension, you must consider both together.
Minimum requirement
To become a member, you must work at least 20 percent of a full-time position. If you work 19.99 percent, you fall below the threshold and will not become a member. This also applies to pharmacy technicians. Pharmacists are also members of the pension scheme.
Membership for multiple positions
If you hold several positions covered by the pension scheme, you should become a member when your total average working hours exceed the minimum requirement (see above). Membership is not granted for combined positions exceeding 100 percent.
Transfer Agreement
If you became a member of the pension scheme for the pharmacy sector before 1 February 2003, you are covered by the agreement for the transfer of pension rights between public service pension schemes. If you joined after that date, the transfer agreement does not apply to you.
The highest pension basis is ten times the National Insurance basic amount (G)
Your salary constitutes your pension basis, but only up to ten times the National Insurance basic amount (G), which was approximately NOK 830,000 as at 2023.
Sick leave
If you are on sick leave, your membership continues as long as you receive sickness benefit or sick pay.
Membership is maintained if you become disabled
For retirement and AFP contractual pensions, you will be removed from the pension scheme if you work in a position below the 20 percent minimum. However, if you become disabled, your membership continues even if you work below that threshold. This means you continue to accrue retirement pension while receiving disability pension.
Membership during unpaid leave
In some cases, unpaid leave for up to two years may be considered pensionable. This applies to:
- Maternity leave
- Adoption leave
- Military service, civil defence service, and civilian service
- Further education for pharmacy work in Norway or abroad
- Leave due to serious illness in the family
- Leave due to strikes
Your employer assesses whether the leave is covered by the agreement and reports it to us.
For other types of unpaid leave not listed above, you may retain your membership rights for up to two years without contributing. However, these periods are not pensionable.
Exemptions from membership
You may be exempt from membership if you are covered by another pension scheme or if you are completing practical training in a pharmacy to qualify for the pharmacy examination.
From 1 January 2020, the five-year cumulative service requirement was removed. You should therefore be enrolled in POA even if you are not expected to reach five years of cumulative service before your retirement age. If you were employed before 1 January 2020 and were not enrolled in POA because you did not meet the previous five-year requirement, you should have been enrolled from that date.
Retaining pension rights if you leave
If you leave a position covered by the pension scheme for the pharmacy sector, you retain the right to a pension as a former member.
Multiple sets of rules
The following legal frameworks primarily govern the pension scheme for the pharmacy sector. All links lead to pages in Norwegian: