Allowance on account of an infectious disease
The allowance on account of an infectious disease (infectious disease allowance) provides cover for loss of income if the physician responsible for infectious disease control in wellbeing service county has ordered you into quarantine or isolation, or to be absent from work in order to prevent the spread of an infectious disease.
If you provide for a child aged under 16 years, you can receive infectious disease allowance if your child has been ordered to stay at home due to an infectious disease and for this reason you cannot work. Two providers can take turns to stay at home with the child, but infectious disease allowance for one child can only be paid to one of them at a time. Provider means the legal guardian of the child.
Quarantine is when the movements of a person who has been exposed to an infectious disease, or who may have been exposed to an infectious disease, are restricted for example by ordering the person to stay at home.
Isolation is when a person who has contracted a disease, or who with good reason is believed to have contracted a disease, is cared for or monitored separately from other persons, to prevent the spread of the disease.
To qualify for an infectious disease allowance, you must. as a rule, be covered under the Finnish National Health Insurance scheme. If you are an EU/EEA, Swiss or UK national working in Finland, you may be eligible for the allowance even if you do not have health insurance coverage in Finland.
Application
You need a decision on absence from work, quarantine or isolation from the physician responsible for infectious disease control in your wellbeing service county. The decision, or a copy of it, must be enclosed with your application. A medical certificate A is also accepted, if it contains the corresponding information and has been signed by the physician responsible for infectious disease control.
Application period
File your application for sickness allowance on account of an infectious disease within two months of the date from which you wish to receive it.
Foreign decision on quarantine, isolation or absence from work
Persons who are covered under the Finnish social security system and who have been ordered into isolation or quarantine in an EU or EEA country or in Switzerland may be entitled to infectious disease allowance. In such cases, a certificate from a physician or other authority authorised to issue an isolation or quarantine order in the relevant country must be enclosed with the application.
No entitlement to infectious disease allowance
There is no entitlement to the infectious disease allowance, for example, if
- you are working remotely and you do not incur any loss of income
- you are working remotely, so there is no risk of spreading the infection
- you are on a leave of absence or laid off and therefore do not incur any loss of income
- you are not working for some other reason (such as a sick leave), and therefore do not incur any loss of income.
Unemployed and students
If you are unemployed or a student, you cannot receive infectious disease allowance since you do not incur any loss of income. However, if a physician finds that you are also incapable of work due to an infectious disease, you can apply for sickness allowance.
If you work alongside your studies or sporadically while being unemployed and you are ordered to stay away from work due to an infectious disease, you may be entitled to infectious disease allowance.
Impairment due to an infectious disease
If your illness continues and you cannot return to work, you can apply for sickness allowance. The sickness allowance secures an income in case of illness or incapacity for work.