Applying for earnings-related daily allowance

Register as an unemployed jobseeker

Register as an unemployed jobseeker using E-Services of the TE Services on the first day of your unemployment or lay-off at the latest. Earnings-related daily allowance can only be paid, and a waiting period applied for periods during which your job search is active. It is advisable to activate your job search as soon as your employment terminates, even if you receive a support package from your employer. You may lose your right to earnings-related daily allowance if you have been absent from the labour market for more than six months without an acceptable reason. Your right to earnings-related daily allowance will not be restored until after you have fully met the 26-week working condition again.    

Submit your initial application and attachments to the unemployment fund

Apply for earnings-related daily allowance from the unemployment fund. You can submit your initial application for earnings-related daily allowance and attachments to the unemployment fund after two weeks of unemployment or lay-off. The most convenient way to submit your application and attachments is via Unemployment Fund Pro’s electronic services.  You can also fill in a paper application and send it by post with attachments if it is not possible for you to use the electronic services. Please note that earnings-related daily allowance cannot be applied for in advance. However, you must apply for the allowance within 3 months of the date from which you want the allowance to be paid.

The unemployment fund receives income information from the Incomes Register

Earnings-related daily allowance is calculated based on income information. The unemployment fund has received information on earned income from the Incomes Register since 1 January 2020 and, in theory, there is no need for attaching pay statements to applications. However, income information received from the Incomes Register is sometimes insufficient for calculating earnings-related daily allowance and the unemployment fund may need to request supplementary information. For this reason, pay statements can be attached to applications. Earnings-related daily allowance of a fully unemployed member is calculated based on income information from the working weeks immediately preceding the unemployment. For example, if your unemployment begins on 15 January 2024, your pay statement may be for the period 1 July 2023 – 14 January 2024, provided that each week counts towards the working condition. If you are applying for earnings-related daily allowance for a period of lay-off, your pay statement should be for full months preceding the lay-off. For example, if your lay-off begins on 15 January 2024, your pay statements may be for the period 1 July – 31 December 2023, provided that each week counts towards the working condition. If the 26-week working condition has not been met in the weeks immediately preceding the unemployment or lay-off, pay statements must cover information on earned income for a period that includes 26 working weeks.  

Attachments to be submitted with an application

• Notice of termination, if your employer has terminated your employment contract

• Agreement on the termination of employment, if one has been signed

• Employment contract, if you are starting part-time employment

• Notice of lay-off, if you have been laid off. The unemployment fund accepts a notice sent by e-mail and not signed “with a pen”.

• Personal tax decision and specifications, if you have business activities, such as agricultural or forestry activities or other business activities.

• Decision on social benefits, such as partial disability pension (see application form for information on which decisions are required)

• Revised tax card

The unemployment fund receives tax information directly from the Tax Administration. The withholding tax rate of a tax card intended for the taxation of wages is at least 25 percent, according to a decision by the Tax Administration, even if the rate is lower in the tax card.  You can order a revised tax card for the taxation of benefits directly from the e-Services of the Tax Administration by selecting Unemployment Fund Pro as the recipient of the tax information. The withholding tax of a revised tax card issued for the taxation of benefits is withheld in accordance with the revised tax card without an increase.

Please make sure that your application includes all necessary attachments before submitting it to the unemployment fund. Missing or incomplete attachments always delay the processing of earnings-related daily allowance.

How to submit your initial application 

Applications are processed in the order of arrival. You can view the progress of your application via our electronic services. You can view the unemployment fund’s general processing situation here.

If an application does not contain the information necessary for issuing a decision, the unemployment fund will request the missing information from you, your payroll clerk or another authority. If the application period is not long enough for issuing a decision you will be requested to submit a follow-up application.

Decisions are sent in writing

Once your application has been processed, the unemployment fund issues a written decision. The decision can be viewed via the unemployment fund’s electronic services or it will be sent to your home address by post (or to NetPosti if you have selected this mode of delivery). If you are dissatisfied with the decision, you may appeal against it. Appeal instructions will be attached to the decision.

In addition to the decision, you will also get a payment notification which you can choose to receive by SMS, post or via our electronic services. Please make sure that the unemployment fund has your up-to-date contact information. Also note that benefits paid by the unemployment fund (earnings-related daily allowance, job alternation compensation and mobility allowance) are not always available on your bank account on the morning of the payment date. This is because of the single euro payment area (SEPA). However, benefits will be deposited to your account on the payment date.

Submit a follow-up application

If you are fully unemployed, submit your next application, i.e. a follow-up application, for either four calendar weeks (Monday to Sunday) or a full calendar month as soon as the period has ended. Submit the application even if the unemployment fund has not yet issued a decision on your initial application to avoid expiry of your application. Earnings-related daily allowance is always applied for retrospectively, but it is never paid for a period of more than 3 months prior. Your application must reach the unemployment fund within 3 months of the first date for which you are applying for earnings-related daily allowance.  The easiest way to submit your follow-up application is via Unemployment Fund Pro’s electronic services.

If you are fully unemployed and submit your follow-up application electronically payment is faster than if you were to send your application by post. If you submit a follow-up application for four calendar weeks electronically by 7 pm on Sunday your benefits will be paid on Tuesday, if nothing prevents payment. If you are fully unemployed and send you follow-up application by post your benefits will be paid on Friday at the earliest.

I have been laid off and I want to submit a follow-up application 

I have workdays during my application period, and I want to submit a follow-up application

End of unemployment

When your unemployment ends, you can submit an application for a period shorter than 4 weeks.