Register as a jobseeker at the start of your lay-off

Register as a jobseeker using the E-services of the TE services at Job Market Finland on the first day of your lay-off at the latest.

Carefully read the instructions provided by the TE services and follow them to keep your job search active. After registering as a jobseeker, remember to make sure that you have reported that you are looking for full-time employment. Earnings-related daily allowance cannot be paid if you are not looking for full-time work.

Remember to keep your job search active for the entire duration of your lay-off. If the lay-off takes the form of periods of varying lengths, remember to activate your job search at the start of each lay-off period if you have not kept your job search active between lay-off periods.

If you have studied alongside your work or you have business activities, you must report these to the TE services.

Apply for earnings-related daily allowance from the unemployment fund

Submit your initial application to the unemployment fund via the unemployment fund’s electronic services. If this is not possible, please conatct the  Unemployment fund Pro. 

Earnings-related daily allowance is always applied for retrospectively, which means that you can apply for the allowance only up to date of sending you application. Earnings-related daily allowance is not paid for a period of more than three months prior and applications, including follow-up applications, must reach the unemployment fund within three months of the first date from which you wish earnings-related daily allowance to be paid.

Please fill in the application carefully section by section. Submit your application on time, even if the TE services have not yet provided a labour policy statement or even if you do not have all the necessary attachments available at the time when the application must be sent to the unemployment fund. You can supplement your application retrospectively. 

Schedule for submitting applications

You should schedule your applications based on your lay-off. 

Laid off every other week

If your lay-off is carried out in the form of you being laid off every other week (bi-weekly lay-off), please submit your application to the unemployment fund at the end of the month on which the lay-off started. For example, if your lay-off starts on 2 January you should submit your application at the end of January. Report your working weeks and lay-off weeks for the period 2 January – 31 January. Submit your follow-up applications at the end of each month.   

Lay-off in periods of varying lengths

If you are laid off for an uninterrupted period of no more than two weeks, please submit your application to the unemployment fund at the end of each period of lay-off. For example, if your first period of lay-off is from 2 to 15 January, you should submit your application on 15 January. If your next period of lay-off is from 25 March to 7 April, you should submit your application on 7 April. If the periods of lay-off continue after 7 April, you should submit an application at the end of each period of lay-off.  

Laid off until further notice

Submit your first application after two weeks of lay-off. Then apply for earnings-related daily allowance in periods of four calendar weeks. It is advisable to submit follow-up applications via the electronic services of the unemployment fund. 

Laid off to shortened working weeks or workdays

If you are laid off to shortened working weeks, please submit your applications in accordance with your wage payment period. If your wages are paid at the end of each month, you should submit your initial application on the last day of the month in which your lay-off started. For example, if your lay-off starts on 2 January you should submit your initial application on 31 January. Submit your next application for the entire month of February and so forth.

Attachments to be submitted with an application

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 often 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. Pay statements can be from full months of payment. For example, if you are laid off on 15 December, your pay statements can be from 1 December to 30 November.

Attachments that should be submitted with the initial application:

• Lay-off notice
• Employment contract, if you have a fixed-term employment relationship
• Personal tax decision, if you have income from agriculture, forestry or other business activities. The section on different forms of lay-off provides further information on how business income affects the payment of earnings-related daily allowance in situations such as shortened working weeks.
• Revised tax card

We receive 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. 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.

You can view the progress of the processing of your application and the payment date by going to the electronic services of the unemployment fund.