Part-time work and affect of wages
Yes, you can! You may be eligible for earnings-related allowance if you do part-time work, are on a zero-hour contract or do occasional gig work, or if your full-time work lasts less than two weeks. Always send a copy of your employment contract to the Unemployment Fund.
Part-time work means work where the minimum working hours in the agreement are no more than 80 % of the maximum working hours in the sector. For example, in the hospitality and commerce sectors, the limit is 30 hours per week.
Note that you are not entitled to earnings-related allowance if you have voluntarily reduced your working hours.
Half of the gross wages paid during the application period reduces the amount of earnings-related allowance. For example, if you are applying for earnings-related allowance for May, your benefit will be affected by your wages paid in May.
Pay affects earnings-related allowance regardless of the period it was earned in. Holiday pay and holiday compensation, for example, also reduce allowances.
You can read more about how pay affects earnings-related allowance here. You can estimate how your earned income affects your earnings-related allowance here.
You are entitled to adjusted earnings-related allowance if the number of hours paid during the application period does not exceed 80 % of the maximum working hours in the sector.
If there is no collective agreement in the sector, working hours are compared to the 40 hours a week given in the Employment Contracts Act.
There is also a maximum amount of adjusted earnings-related allowance, as wages for part-time work and the adjusted allowance may not in total be more than the amount of pay on which your earnings-related allowance is based.
Read more about adjusted earnings-related allowance and effects of pay
If you are paid holiday compensation at the end of a full-time employment relationship lasting more than two weeks, the holiday compensation is periodised.
Periodisation means that the holiday compensation paid is divided by your average daily wage. This makes it possible to calculate how many days of daily allowance the holiday compensation corresponds to. You are not entitled to earnings-related allowance for these days.
If you work part-time, holiday compensation is considered as wage income deductible from your allowance in the month when it is paid.
Holiday pay earned from full-time work lasting more than two weeks does not affect earnings-related allowance.
If holiday pay is earned from part-time work, it is adjusted on a payment basis, i.e. it is considered income in the month when it is paid.
If you have been laid off from part-time work, your wages are taken into account on a payment basis, i.e. during the application period in which they are paid. That is why, if you are laid off from part-time work, your allowance is also affected by the wages earned before the lay-off period, if the payday falls within the adjustment period.
Part-time work means work where the minimum working hours in your employment contract are no more than 80 % of the maximum working hours.
If you have been laid off from full-time work by reducing your daily working hours, wages earned in the lay-off period reduce your allowance. For this reason, adjusted earnings-related allowance is paid for the lay-off period.