Working abroad

You can count employment periods in other EU countries towards your employment condition in Finland. If you thus become unemployed before you have worked long enough in Finland to receive earnings-related allowance, the conditions for the allowance may be met on the basis of work performed in another EU country.

Qualifying for earnings-related allowance on the basis of work performed in another EU country requires that you have accrued at least one month towards the employment condition in Finland immediately before your unemployment and joined an unemployment fund within one month of your move to Finland or from the end of your employment relationship. One month of the employment condition is accrued if you have received a salary of at least €930 during a calendar month.

If your employment relationship in your country of departure ended before the move and you have not been registered as a jobseeker since then, the one-month period is calculated from the end of your employment relationship. If your absence from the labour market has been due to, for example, caring for a child under 3 years of age, illness, or studies, the one-month period is calculated from the move.

Differences in the conditions vary if you are a Nordic returnee, operate as self-employed, or lived in a different country during your employment than where you worked.

A Nordic returnee means that you last worked in a Nordic country and have been employed or received allowance in Finland during the past five years.

Unlike others, a Nordic returnee can qualify for earnings-related allowance on the basis of an employment condition fulfilled in another Nordic country without accruing a month of the employment condition in Finland before unemployment. And unlike others, a Nordic returnee also has eight weeks to join an unemployment fund from the end of the their employment relationship or the move.

You can go look for work in another EU country for a maximum period of three months. Your own unemployment fund will pay the earnings-related allowance for your period of job seeking in the same way as during a stay in Finland. Heading for a job-seeking trip abroad requires that you are not in an ongoing employment relationship and that you have been registered as an unemployed jobseeker at the TE Office for at least four weeks.

If you want to go on a job-seeking trip, do this:

1. Contact the employment official, who will review the conditions for your job-seeking trip and provide information on their fulfilment to your unemployment fund.
2. Request a U2 certificate from your unemployment fund before your job-seeking trip.
3. Register with the local employment official in the destination country within seven days of your departure.
4. Report any changes in your circumstances during the job-seeking trip (e.g. finding employment) to your unemployment fund and the employment official of the country of your job search.
5. Apply for unemployment benefit for the duration of the job-seeking trip from your unemployment fund as before.

If you do not find work during your job-seeking trip, return to Finland within three months to retain your entitlement to earnings-related allowance. Otherwise, your entitlement to earnings-related allowance is restored only when you have accrued one month towards your employment condition or participated in labour market training or completed self-directed studies for four weeks.

Work performed abroad as a posted worker for a Finnish employer does not differ from work performed in Finland with regard to unemployment security. The employment condition for the earnings-related allowance therefore accrues during employment, and counting your employment towards your requirements does not require a period of work in Finland. In these situations, an A1 certificate must be applied for in advance from the Finnish Centre for Pensions (ETK).

Please note that ensuring work performed abroad is insured in Finland requires applying for an A1 certificate also when:

• you work remotely abroad on a temporary basis, or
• you regularly work in two or more countries.

Read more: ETK: What is an A1 certificate

Work performed outside EU countries other than as a posted worker cannot be counted towards your requirements in Finland. To qualify for Finnish earnings-related allowance, you must fulfil all the conditions for receiving the allowance in Finland.

EU countries include: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland (excluding the Channel Islands), Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden

Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland also comply with the EU social security rules. The transfer of employment periods and job-seeking trips are therefore also possible to these countries.

The transfer of employment periods also continues to be possible from the United Kingdom. Job-seeking trips to the United Kingdom, however, can no longer be made.