Different forms of lay-off
Full-time lay-off
Full-time lay-off means that the lay-off is an uninterrupted period of at least one calendar week from Monday to Sunday. In such case, we will pay full earnings-related daily allowance for the period of lay-off. If you receive other income, such as business income, during your full-time lay-off your earnings-related daily allowance is paid as adjusted daily allowance. In such case, we will take your business income into consideration and pay you adjusted daily allowance for the period of lay-off. You can calculate the estimated amount of your adjusted daily allowance by using the calculator available in the electronic services of the unemployment fund.
Earnings-related daily allowance is not paid for public holidays if you would normally have them as paid holidays. For example, if you are laid off during the Easter weeks, first a waiting period of seven days is applied (25 March – 4 April), and earnings-related daily allowance is paid for one day (5 April). Good Friday and Easter Monday are not included in the 7-day waiting period and earnings-related daily allowance is not paid for these public holidays. The same applies to May Day, Ascension Day, Midsummer Eve, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Day and Epiphany. Earnings-related daily allowance is not paid for these public holidays. They also do not count towards the 7-day waiting period.
Sectors on which public holidays may be working days are an exception to this rule. If an employee working in such sector is laid off, we also pay earnings-related daily allowance for public holidays, provided that wages for the days in question have been deducted.
Shortened working week
Shortened working week means that you have been laid off from full-time work for at least one full day during the calendar week (Mon-Sun). In such case, we will pay full earnings-related daily allowance for the days on which you are laid off. Your weekly working hours must not exceed 80 percent of maximum working hours in the sector. In practice, this means that during the calendar week in question you should not have more than four normal working days in addition to one day of lay-off, in order for us to be able to pay you earnings-related daily allowance for the days of lay-off. If you are a shift worker and you have three days of lay-off and four days of work during the calendar week, earnings-related daily allowance can only be paid for one day even if your wages are deducted for three days. This is because the number of days of unemployment, work, compensation and waiting period may not exceed five days during a calendar week.
If you receive other income, such as business income from part-time business activities, during your shortened working week your earnings-related daily allowance is paid as adjusted daily allowance. In such case, we will take income paid by your employer and your business income into consideration and pay you adjusted daily allowance for the period of lay-off. Income paid by the employer who laid you off is taken into consideration based on the earning period. In other words, the income is allocated to the month when the work was performed. As a general rule, income from part-time business activities is determined based on your most recent confirmed personal tax decision. You can calculate the estimated amount of your adjusted daily allowance by using the calculator available in the electronic services of the unemployment fund.
If you have been laid off from part-time employment to a shortened working week, we will not pay full earnings-related daily allowance for days of lay-off. Instead, we will pay you adjusted daily allowance because payment of full earnings-related daily allowance requires that you have worked full-time before being laid off.
Shortened workdays and mixed-form lay-off
A lay-off can also take the form of shortened workdays. This means that daily working hours are reduced, for example from 7.5 to 6 hours per day, and wages are reduced accordingly. Adjusted daily allowance is paid for shortened workdays. Earned income is taken into consideration based on the payment date, i.e. allocated to the adjustment period (4 calendar weeks or a month) during which the income is paid. A working time review is applied to shortened workdays, and in order for adjusted daily allowance to be paid working hours may not exceed 80 percent of the maximum working hours in the sector. Working hours are reviewed per adjustment period.
Mixed-form lay-off means that you have full days of lay-off and shortened workdays in the course of the same calendar week. When determining the payment of adjusted daily allowance, income is allocated to the adjustment period during which the income is paid.
You can calculate the estimated amount of your adjusted daily allowance in the electronic services of the unemployment fund.
Further information on the prerequisites for receiving adjusted daily allowance and calculating the rate of the allowance is available in the section on Employment and income.
Waiting period
Before the payment of earnings-related allowance can begin, a 7-day waiting period is applied. The waiting period must correspond to seven workdays. The 7-day waiting period must be completed within eight consecutive calendar weeks. If the first day of your waiting period is in week 8 (on Friday), the waiting period must end on week 15 at the latest. If you have full-time lay-off or shortened working weeks, the waiting period can be counted from calendar weeks during which working hours do not exceed 80 percent of the maximum working hours in the sector. In addition, wages must be reduced accordingly. As a general rule, public holidays are not included in the waiting period. A maximum of five days per calendar week can be included in the waiting period. If you have been laid off to work shorter days, the waiting period can be counted from adjustment periods during which working hours do not exceed 80 percent during the adjustment period. The waiting period is counted from the difference between your working hours and the maximun working hours.