Frequently asked questions

You can read frequently asked questions abous lay-offs here.

I’m about to become unemployed. What do I need to do?

Your job search must be active during unemployment or lay-off. You can start your job search by registering as an unemployed jobseeker with the Employment and Economic Development Office (the TE Office) on the first day of your unemployment or lay-off at the latest. If you are a citizen of Finland or another EU or EEA country and you have online banking credentials, a mobile certificate or a microchip ID card you can register using the e-services of the TE Office at www.tyomarkkinatori.fi.

Earnings-related daily allowance can be paid for periods when your job search is active. Carefully read the instructions provided by the TE Office and follow them closely to ensure that your job search stays active, and make sure that you have reported that you are looking for full-time employment. These are prerequisites for the payment of earnings-related daily allowance.

How and when can I apply for earnings-related daily allowance?

The most convenient way to apply for earnings-related daily allowance is via the electronic services of the unemployment fund. You can log in to the services from the front page by clicking on “Electronic services”. Use the electronic services to fill in the application form and submit it with attachments after two weeks of unemployment. It is not possible to apply for earnings-related daily allowance in advance, but it is also not paid for a period of more than three months prior, which means that your applications must reach the unemployment fund within three months of the first date from which you wish earnings-related daily allowance to be paid. 

What will be the amount of my earnings-related daily allowance? Is it 80 percent of my wages?

You can calculate the estimated amount of your earnings-related daily allowance by going to the electronic services of the unemployment fund. The amount indicated by the calculator is only an estimation, because the amount of your daily allowance is calculated based on earned income from the time the working condition is fullfilled. The amount of earnings-related daily allowance may be up to 90 percent of your wages, but due to a limit applied to earnings-related daily allowance the percentage gets lower the higher the wages.      

Do I have to pay membership fees from my earnings-related daily allowance?

The membership fee is automatically collected from your earnings-related daily allowance. In 2024, the membership fee is EUR 7,5 per month. The membership fee is EUR 0.32 per each day for which a benefit is paid. The membership fee is not paid for calendar months during which you have not received earned income or taxable benefits paid by the unemployment fund.

How long is my mandatory waiting period?

The mandatory waiting period determined by the TE Office, also referred to as a suspension period, and the 7-day waiting period applied at the start of daily allowance payment are easily confused. You might hear someone talking about the mandatory waiting period when they actually mean the 7-day waiting period. The TE Office may set a mandatory waiting period for which daily allowance is not paid. For example, a 45-day mandatory waiting period may be applied if you have resigned without a valid reason.

The 7-day waiting period is a period corresponding to seven workdays. If you are fully unemployed the waiting period is seven business days, i.e. one week and two days. The unemployment fund applies the waiting period when you apply for earnings-related daily allowance for the first time, and every time you have met the working condition and your new maximum payment period starts more than a year after the start of your previous maximum payment period. The 7-day waiting period must be completed within eight consecutive calendar weeks.

How do support packages affect earnings-related daily allowance?

If your employer makes a payment to you related to the termination of your employment, the unemployment fund divides the payment into periods on the basis of your income from your latest employment relationship. It does not matter what name the payment was made under or when the payment was made.
The division is done by comparing the amount of the payments made (the support package) to daily pay, which is calculated using the same principle used to calculate the pay on which your earnings-related daily allowance is based. The payment of earnings-related daily allowance is delayed by the deferral period which is the number of days you get by dividing the amount of the support package by your daily pay. One calendar week includes five days. However, a deduction of 3.76 percent is not made to the daily pay, unlike when calculating the amount of earnings-related daily allowance.

During the deferral period, days are not counted towards the maximum daily allowance payment period because earnings-related daily allowance is not paid for the deferral period. The deferral period is always fixed, which means that if you become employed during this period the deferral period does not move forward. It is also worth noting that even if your right to earnings-related allowance moves forward due to a deferral period you will get to keep your days of earnings-related daily allowance because the maximum payment period does not “run” during the deferral period.

The unemployment fund cannot assess whether or not you should accept a support package. Matters such as the amount of the support package and future employment prospects affect this decision. The amount of a support package is always greater than earnings-related daily allowance paid for the same period. It is advisable to contact your pension insurance company for information on how the support package affects your pension. Information on how the support package affects your taxation is available from the Tax Administration. If you become employed during or after the deferral period and meet the working condition again, you will be paid earnings-related daily allowance after the deferral period on the basis of the work you performed during or after the deferral period.

You must keep your job search active with the TE Office during the deferral period because you must be available on the labour market to retain your right to earnings-related daily allowance after the deferral period. 

How does resignation after a lay-off lasting more than 200 days affect my earnings-related daily allowance?

You have the right to terminate your employment after a period of lay-off that has lasted at least 200 consecutive days. In such case, the termination of employment takes immediate effect, and you have the right to receive your notice period salary as compensation. You are not entitled to earnings-related daily allowance for the period for which the notice period compensation is paid. The compensation period does not count towards the working condition because the employment relationship is not valid, and employer’s contributions are not paid from the compensation. Therefore, the compensation is also not taken into consideration when calculating the amount of earnings-related daily allowance.

I have been offered part-time work. Should I accept?

The unemployment fund can pay you adjusted daily allowance during part-time employment. There are some limitations to adjusted daily allowance which you can read about in the section Prerequisites for receiving earnings-related daily allowance while working and being paid. As a rule, you should accept any employment offered to you, because you must be registered as a jobseeker with the TE Office and be available on the labour market. The obligation to accept employment also applies to work that is not offered via the TE Office. Refusal to work may result in a mandatory waiting period, during which you will not receive daily allowance. As a general rule, the total amount of earned income and adjusted daily allowance paid by the unemployment fund is always more than the daily allowance alone.

I received a decision on adjusted daily allowance. Why was I paid less daily allowance than I had anticipated?

Adjusted daily allowance has an upper limit, which means that the combined monthly amount of gross wages paid by your employer and adjusted daily allowance paid by the unemployment fund cannot exceed 100 percent of the earned income on which the daily allowance is based. Daily allowance is based on the earned income on the basis of which your full daily allowance has been calculated. This earned income is indicated in your daily allowance decisions.

How is adjusted daily allowance calculated and how does it affect the maximum payment period?

You can calculate the estimated amount of your adjusted daily allowance if you know the amount of your full earnings-related daily allowance and your gross salary. If you know these details you can calculate the estimated amount of your adjusted daily allowance by going to the electronic services of the unemployment fund. Adjusted daily allowance is paid for five days per week (Mon-Fri) at most, including working days. Monthly adjusted daily allowance is calculated by taking into consideration half of wages or business income in excess of EUR 300 (exempt amount). If the application period is four weeks the exempt amount is EUR 279. For example, if your gross wages are EUR 500 per month, EUR 4.65 per day is deducted from your full daily allowance (EUR 500 - EUR 300 = EUR 200 -> EUR 200 x 50% = EUR 100 -> EUR 100 / 21.5 = EUR 4.65). You must report your working hours in your application even if your income does not exceed the exempt amount. See section Applying for daily allowance when working part-time for information on how to apply for daily allowance if you have income during unemployment. Please note that the protection part is no longer available in application periods starting on April 1, 2024. 

When receiving adjusted daily allowance, the accumulation of days towards the maximum payment period is calculated by dividing the adjusted daily allowance (gross) paid for a period of a month or four weeks by the full earnings-related daily allowance, which gives us the number of days that count towards the maximum payment period. For example, if you receive EUR 1,000 (gross) as adjusted daily allowance during a period of one month and your full earnings-related daily allowance is EUR 70 per day, the number of days that count towards the maximum payment period is 14 for the month in question.  

I am on earnings-related daily allowance and I fell ill. What do I need to do?

If you fall ill during unemployment and the illness only lasts for a few days, the unemployment fund will pay you daily allowance as normal. If the sick leave exceeds the waiting period for sickness allowance paid by Kela (=the first day of illness + 9 working days, Saturdays included) you must apply for sickness allowance from Kela. The unemployment fund will pay daily allowance for the sickness allowance waiting period. However, there is one condition: Daily allowance can be paid for the sickness allowance waiting period only if you have been paid daily allowance on the working day (Mon-Fri) immediately preceding the illness. If this is not the case, daily allowance cannot be paid.