Applying for earnings-related allowance

Next steps with the employment official

After registration, the employment official will invite you to an initial interview and draw up a personal employment plan with you.

The employment official will issue a binding statement to the unemployment fund on whether the labour policy conditions defined in the law for the payment of the earnings-related allowance are met in your case. The unemployment fund can pay the earnings-related allowance only if the employment official’s statement allows it. If, for example, you are studying full-time or engaged in full-time self-employment, you are not entitled to earnings-related allowance.

In future, report the implementation of the tasks specified in your employment plan to the employment official (tyomarkkinatori.fi/en).

Calculate an estimate of the amount of the earnings-related allowance

You can calculate an estimate of the amount of your future earnings-related allowance with the allowance calculator.

A waiting period is set at the beginning of the allowance period

When entitlement to the earnings-related allowance begins, a seven-day waiting period is set, for which no benefit is paid. In addition, holiday compensation, a financial benefit associated with the termination of an employment relationship, or a suspension period resulting from voluntarily resignation can postpone the start of your entitlement to the earnings-related allowance.

The fund will issue a decision on your earnings-related allowance

Upon receiving the employment official’s statement and your application, the fund will make a decision on your earnings-related allowance. The decision sets out whether the earnings-related allowance can be paid, the amount of the allowance, and the grounds for the decision.

If you are dissatisfied with the decision, you can submit an appeal within 30 days. In your appeal, state which decision you are appealing against, to what extent, and why you believe the decision is wrong. Include your contact details as well. Submit your appeal to your own unemployment fund so that the fund can examine whether it can rectify the decision. If the fund does not rectify the decision in the manner you demand, it will forward the appeal to the Social Security Appeal Board.

If you are also dissatisfied with the Appeal Board’s decision, you can appeal against it further to the Insurance Court. You can find more detailed instructions for making an appeal in the appendix to the decision.