Unemployment benefits

If you become unemployed, you can get unemployment benefit from Kela or the unemployment fund, but only from one at a time. There are three types of unemployment benefit, and eligibility depends on whether you belong to an unemployment fund and whether you meet the employment condition.

Forms of unemployment benefit

You can get labour market support

• if you do not meet the conditions for employment
• if you have received the maximum period of income-related daily allowance or basic daily allowance.

The amount of labour market subsidy is means-tested: it is based on income and wealth. You apply for labour market subsidy from Kela.

You can get basic daily allowance

• if you meet the employment condition.

The basic allowance is a flat-rate benefit, i.e. the amount is the same for all beneficiaries. You can apply for basic unemployment allowance from Kela.

You can get income-related daily allowance

• if you belong to an unemployment fund
• your employment condition is met during your membership of the unemployment fund. To be a member of the fund, you must have a valid employment contract. Note! you can join the unemployment fund even if it is only for one day.
• The amount of the earnings-related daily allowance is determined on the basis of the wage income paid.

To receive unemployment benefit, you must be registered as an unemployed jobseeker with the TE services and your job application must be valid. You must be able to work and be prepared to accept the work offered or to participate in services that promote employment.

What is the employment condition?

The work condition means that you must have worked enough under certain conditions to qualify for the earnings-related daily allowance paid by the unemployment fund or the basic daily allowance paid by Kela. As a freelancer, it is important to remember that you only accumulate the working condition if you are employed – commissioned work does not accumulate the condition.

Validity of the employment condition

Once you meet the work condition, it remains in force if you work between periods of unemployment. This means that you can continue to receive unemployment benefit during several periods of unemployment, as long as you do not break the condition of employment.

If you are absent from the labour market for more than 6 months without a valid reason, the employment condition expires. In this case, you will not be entitled to income maintenance or basic unemployment allowance until you have fulfilled the condition of working again.

What to do if you become unemployed?

1. Register as an unemployed jobseeker on your first day of unemployment at the latest. Register on the Job Marketplace website or by phone. Without this, you cannot get unemployment benefit.
2. Check which unemployment benefit you are entitled to.
3. Apply for unemployment benefit according to your situation.
4. See if you need another benefit.
5. Stay active in your job search and make use of the job search services, training opportunities and career psychologists at the Job Centre.

Below is more very clear advice on how to proceed if you become unemployed:

Allowance and unemployment benefit

Under the Unemployment Insurance Act, a grant recipient is considered to be employed in his or her own job. If you receive a grant to work full-time, you are not entitled to unemployment benefits during the grant period. The grant is considered to start from the moment the grant is available for withdrawal, unless there are obstacles to you starting work.

Unemployment cover after the grant period

At the end of the grant period, you may be entitled to unemployment benefit if you meet the labour market availability requirements and have registered as an unemployed jobseeker with the TE Office. To be eligible for unemployment benefit, the grant period must have ended and you must be ready to take up full-time work.

Allowance during unemployment

If you are unemployed, the grant you received may prevent you from receiving unemployment benefit if the grant is considered full-time work.

If the grant is taxable and comparable to income, it can affect the amount of the daily allowance, as it reduces the amount of the daily allowance. A tax-free grant does not affect the amount of the daily subsistence allowance.

Measures to reconcile the grant and unemployment benefit

• Inform the employment services immediately so that they can assess the impact on your unemployment benefits.
• If you want to claim unemployment benefit, register as an unemployed jobseeker at the end of the grant period.
• Provide the necessary documentation on the duration and end of the grant, such as the grantor’s certificate or MYEL pension insurance details.
• Follow the deadlines for claiming unemployment benefit and make sure that all the necessary declarations are made on time.
• Discuss your situation with your unemployment fund, if you are a member. They can give you more detailed information about your situation.

Copyright compensation and unemployment benefit

Copyright royalties and other intellectual property rights-based compensation differ from wage income in a few key respects in relation to unemployment benefit.

Copyright royalties are no longer adjusted when calculating the daily earnings-related allowance. This means that copyright royalties paid during the period of unemployment will not reduce the amount of the earnings-related daily allowance payable.

However, for the purposes of determining unemployment benefit, royalties are income comparable to capital income and are taken into account in the means test for labour market support.

Other compensation based on intellectual property rights, such as royalties or royalties from patents or trademarks, are taken into account in the settlement of unemployment benefits.

For the purposes of the employment condition, non-work-related income, capital income or income that cannot be regarded as stable is not taken into account as income from wages and salaries. Copyright royalties and other intellectual property royalties are such other income for the purposes of this analysis and are therefore not included in wages and salaries.