Applying for earnings-related allowance

1.Register as an unemployed jobseeker with the employment authority no later than on your first day of unemployment: www.tyomarkkinatori.fi

2. Send in your first earnings-related allowance application for at least two weeks of unemployment. You can send in your application on the last day of the application period.

3. Attach these to your application:

• Employment certificate or notice of termination
• Copy of employment contract                            

4. If you remain unemployed, send in a renewal application either monthly or every four calendar weeks.

Check the necessary steps and save a convenient checklist.

You may be entitled to earnings-related allowance if you are unemployed, laid off, working part-time, or doing occasional odd jobs. In addition, you must be registered as an unemployed job seeker with the employment authority.

To get earnings-related allowance, you must have been a member of an unemployment fund for at least 12 months and meet the employment condition during your membership period.

The unemployment fund checks if you are entitled to earnings-related allowance when processing your application. You can read more about the conditions for getting earnings-related allowance here.

The work requirement means period of employment that you must build up before you can get earnings-related allowance. You only build up the requirement during your period of membership of the unemployment fund. 

The work requirement is met when you have built up 12 months of employment during the 28-month review period.

Your months of employment are calculated based on your gross wages as follows:

You can find more information here.

Fill out your first application for two weeks and send it on or after the last day of the application period. You can never apply for allowances in advance.

You can read more about applying for earnings-related allowance here.

You can send in your renewal application on the last day of your application period.

• If your application period is a calendar month, send in your application on or after the last day of the month at the earliest.
• If your application period is  4 weeks, send in your application no earlier than on the Sunday of the 4th week or later.

Remember to apply for earnings-related allowance no later than 3 months from the first day of the period you are applying for.

Yes, fill in and send in your earnings-related allowance application to the unemployment fund also for the suspension period.

The unemployment fund also needs information about any gaps in your employment history, so by sending in your application you ensure that your information is up to date and that your application will be processed smoothly when your suspension period has ended.

Apply for earnings-related allowance on a monthly basis and indicate the days and hours you have worked on the application form.

You can find instructions for reporting working hours here.

Keep your job search active and send a copy of your employment contract to the Unemployment Fund.

You can find more information on how your wages affect your allowance here.

If you have been on paid annual holiday, indicate this in your application by selecting "paid annual holiday" in the holiday days section. In the working hours section, you can enter your daily hours as given in your employment contract. If your working hours vary, you can calculate your daily holiday hours by dividing your holiday pay by the number of holiday days and then by your hourly wage.

If you are unsure about filling in your hours, an estimate of the hours is sufficient. We will check the hours during processing.

If it is other paid leave, such as annual leave, you can select "other reason" from the options and report the hours according to the wages paid.

Send the fund a copy of your payslip showing you have been paid for the hours you reported.

For paid sickness periods, enter the hours of your shift or the number of hours for which you were paid sick leave.

Send the fund a copy of your payslip showing the sick pay you have been paid.

If you are completely unemployed and are not getting any wage income, you can send in your application as soon as your daily allowance calculator is full.

If you have any wage income, send in an application for the whole application period, because wage income affects the number of days you can get daily allowances.

By law, earnings-related allowance must be applied for at the agreed intervals, either monthly or every four weeks. The application must always be completed up to the end of the period, even if the period ends on a weekend or public holiday, for example. Deviating from the application period could mean a delay in when you get your allowances.

If your unemployment ends during the application period, you can apply for allowances for a shorter period. Give the reason for the shorter application period on your application form.

Try the following steps:

• Check that the application has selected “During the application period I have been mainly been: Employed”. This will allow you to enter the daily working hours for the application period
• Check the box “Disable draft saving” in the upper right corner of the application and refresh the page. This will clear the information you have filled in for the application, meaning you will have to fill out the application again
• Clear the cache and refresh the page
• Try filling out the application on a different device

If you still cannot submit the application, you can download the application form on the website. Submit the application in the eService under Send attachments.

You may be entitled to additional days if you have at least 5 years of employment history within the last 20 years and have reached a certain age before the maximum period for earnings-related allowance is reached.

The age limit is determined by your year of birth:

• born between 1957 and 1960: at least 61 years old before the maximum period is reached
• born between 1961 and 1962: at least 62 years old before the maximum period is reached
• born in 1963: at least 63 years old before the maximum period is reached
• born in 1964: at least 64 years old before the maximum period is reached

Those born in 1965 or later are not entitled to additional days. The unemployment fund automatically checks your entitlement to additional days.

You can find more information about the maximum period of earnings-related allowance here.

If you are getting daily allowances, you can apply for earnings-related allowance until your pension begins. Remember to let the employment authority know when your pension begins.

If you are retiring, let us know in the PAM union's eService. You can find more information here.