Work and Self-Employment while receiving earnings-related allowance

It is worthwhile to do part-time work while on earnings-related allowance, as it allows you to increase your income, slow down the exhaustion of the maximum period of the earnings-related allowance, and accrue new working months towards resetting the maximum period of the allowance.

You can receive earnings-related allowance for periods of part-time work, gig work, and short-term and part-time self-employment.

Half of the income from part-time work reduces the earnings-related allowance. For example, wage income of €500 reduces the allowance by €250. You can estimate the impact of your salary on the allowance using the allowance calculator.

Part-time and gig work

You can receive earnings-related allowance for periods of part-time work and gig work. Job search must remain valid during your employment. Salary from part-time and gig work generally affects the allowance in the month you receive the salary from the work.

Part-time work is work that amounts to a maximum of 80% of the maximum working hours in the sector. If the maximum working hours in the sector are 40 hours a week, a person working 32 hours a week is in part-time work.

Gig work is full-time work lasting a maximum of two weeks.

If the employment amounts to more than the 80% and lasts for over two weeks, it is considered full-time work. In this case, you receive the full earnings-related allowance up to the start of the employment and after it ends, if applicable.

Please note that earnings-related allowance cannot be paid if you have agreed with the employer on shortening working hours yourself.

Part-time or short-term self-employment

Part-time, i.e. small-scale, self-employment affects the earnings-related allowance in the same way as part-time work. The employment official reviews the scope of the self-employment and decides whether it is on a sufficiently small scale for you to receive earnings-related allowance during it. Generally, self-employment that you have run for six months alongside your full-time work unrelated to the self-employment does not prevent the payment of the allowance.

• New business activity: If you start a business while unemployed, the extent of the business activity is not assessed during the first four months. During this period, the employment authority does not evaluate the scope of the business, and the business activity affects your earnings-related allowance only through the income it generates. After four months, the employment authority will assess whether the business activity has been so extensive that it prevents further payment of the allowance. This option can be used only once during each maximum benefit period. If you start a business again later during the same benefit period, the extent of the business activity will be assessed immediately.
• Business activity lasting less than 2 weeks: If the business activity lasts no more than two weeks, its extent is not assessed. There is no limit to the number of such periods within a maximum benefit period. Please note: Several similar short periods of business activity may be considered as a whole. In such cases, the business activity may prevent the payment of earnings-related unemployment allowance. Business activity lasting more than two weeks must always be reported to the employment authority. Business activity lasting no more than two weeks only needs to be reported to your unemployment fund, which will take your business income into account when calculating your allowance.

You can use the calculator to estimate the impact of self-employment income on your earnings-related allowance. If you have been engaged in self-employment for a long time, convert your annual income from your latest tax decision into monthly income by dividing the sum by 12. If you are just starting up self-employment, you can use your average monthly income in the estimate.

What is the maximum earnings-related allowance?

When earnings-related allowance that takes into account the impact of earned income is paid, the combined sum of the allowance and earned income cannot exceed the salary used as the basis of your daily allowance.

If your earnings-related allowance has been reduced based on the maximum amount, your income is equal to the income that was used as the basis of calculating your earnings-related allowance.

However, earnings-related allowance is always at least equal to what the basic component of the earnings-related security would be after the impact of earned income.

Recalculation of the earnings-related allowance and protective regulations

If you are a member of an employees’ unemployment fund and work for 12 months with earnings of at least EUR 930 per month, the maximum payment period of the earnings-related allowance will start over from the beginning. A salary amounting to €465–930 counts towards your employment condition by half a month. The maximum period of the earnings-related allowance can be reset by, for example, 10 full and 4 half months of employment.

When the maximum period starts over, the allowance is recalculated and the seven-day waiting period starts over. The earnings-related allowance is recalculated even if you have unpaid days from your previous allowance period.

If you are in part-time work, recalculating the earnings-related allowance may lower the amount of the allowance. However, your earnings-related allowance can be reduced by a maximum of 20% at a time if the maximum period of your allowance has not been exhausted.