Unemployment benefits
On this page:
Three unemployment benefits
Transfer of TE Services to municipalities – what it means for customers
The job search services available to unemployed persons will change on 1 January 2025. TE Services in their current form will end, with the municipal employment services taking over their responsibilities. This will not affect the unemployment benefits you may get from Kela. If you lose your job or are laid off temporarily, register as a jobseeker at työmarkkinatori.fi.
If you become unemployed, you can receive unemployment benefit from Kela or an unemployment fund. There are three different types of unemployment benefit. You can only receive one type of unemployment benefit at a time. You cannot receive unemployment benefits from Kela and an unemployment fund at the same time.
Labour market subsidy
- Applied for from Kela.
- You can receive labour market subsidy if you do not meet the work requirement.
- You can also receive labour market subsidy if you have received basic unemployment allowance or earnings-related unemployment allowance for the maximum period of time.
Basic unemployment allowance
- Applied for from Kela.
- You can be paid basic unemployment allowance if you meet the work requirement.
- Can only be paid if you are not a member of an unemployment fund or if you have been a member for less than 12 months.
- The amount of the benefit is the same for everyone regardless of the wage or salary.
Earnings-related unemployment allowance
- Applied for from the unemployment fund.
- You receive earnings-related unemployment allowance if you are a member of an unemployment fund and you meet the work requirement during your membership.
- The benefit is determined on the basis of the wage or salary.
In order to receive unemployment benefits, you must be registered as looking for work and you must be prepared to accept a full-time job.
What unemployment benefits can you get?
If you are a member of an unemployment fund and you meet the work requirement, you can receive earnings-related unemployment allowance. Kela cannot pay you any unemployment benefits if you are a member of an unemployment fund and you are entitled to earnings-related unemployment allowance from the unemployment fund.
When can I claim earnings-related allowance (tyj.fi)
If you are not a member of an unemployment fund but you meet the work requirement, you can receive basic unemployment allowance.
Read about basic unemployment allowance
If you do not meet the work requirement, you may be eligible for labour market subsidy.
Read about labour market subsidy
What is the work requirement?
The work requirement means that you must have worked to a sufficient extent before becoming unemployed. Learn more in the following about what the work requirement for employees or for self-employed persons means.
There will be changes to the work requirement for employees in 2024
There will be changes to the work requirement for employees from 2 September 2024. The work requirement will be extended to 12 months and it will be based on wage income.
How is the work requirement for employees calculated?
When reviewing your application, Kela or the unemployment fund will check if your work history meets the work requirement for employees.
The work requirement for employees will change on 2 September 2024. See below how the work requirement is calculated at different times.
If you meet the full work requirement by 1 September 2024, you must accumulate 26 weeks of work history. In that case, your progress towards meeting the work requirement is linked to your working time per week.
To meet the work requirement, you must meet all the following criteria:
- You have had at least 18 hours of work per week.
- Your wage or salary has been consistent with the terms of the relevant collective agreement. If there is no relevant collective agreement, your wage or salary must have been at least EUR 1,399 per month in 2024 and EUR 1,331 per month in 2023. That means that in 2023, your daily wage or salary must have been at least EUR 65.07 and your hourly wage or salary at least EUR 8.13.
- You have accumulated at least 26 weeks (about 6 months) of work history during the reference period, i.e. the last 28 months.
The work requirement does not have to be fulfilled during a single, consecutive period of employment. All paid work done during a reference period of 28 months counts towards the requirement, as long as your wage or salary meets the conditions above.
Work in another EU or EEA country, in Switzerland, in Great Britain or in Northern Ireland can also count towards the work requirement.
If your 28-month reference period for the work requirement begins on 2 September 2024 or later, you must accumulate 12 months of work history. In that case, your progress towards meeting the work requirement is linked to your earnings.
The amount of work history you accumulate is as follows:
- one month for each calendar month in which you earned at least EUR 930
- half a month for each calendar month in which you earned EUR 465–929.
You accumulate work history for the calendar month in which you are paid.
To meet the work requirement, you must meet all the following criteria:
- Your wage or salary has been consistent with the terms of the relevant collective agreement. If there is no relevant collective agreement, your wage or salary must have been at least EUR 1,399 per month in 2024 and EUR 1,331 per month in 2023. That means that in 2023, your daily wage or salary must have been at least EUR 65.07 and your hourly wage or salary at least EUR 8.13.
- You have accumulated at least 12 months of work history during the reference period, i.e. the last 28 months.
The work requirement does not have to be fulfilled during a single, consecutive period of employment. All paid work done during a reference period of 28 months counts towards the requirement, as long as your wage or salary meets the conditions above.
Work in another EU or EEA country, in Switzerland, in Great Britain or in Northern Ireland can also count towards the work requirement.
Example: Work requirement after 2 September 2024
You worked full-time between 1 October 2024 and 30 September 2025. You become unemployed and apply for unemployment benefits starting from 1 October 2025.
You were paid a salary of EUR 2,500 per month on the 15th day of each month.
You meet the work requirement on 30 September 2025, because at that point, you have accumulated 12 months of work history that counts towards the work requirement.
If you fulfil only part of the 26-week work requirement by 1 September 2024, the work history for the old and the new work requirement are added up. In that case, you must accumulate a total of 12 months of work history.
The work history for the old and the new work requirement are added up as follows:
- First, the weeks that you have accumulated towards the work requirement by 1 September 2024 are converted into months:
- The number of weeks is divided by four. The result is rounded up to the nearest full or half month. This is the number of months you have accumulated towards the work requirement under the old rules.
- Added to this are the months you accumulate towards the work requirement under the new rules starting from 2 September 2024.
- To meet the new work requirement, you must accumulate 12 months of work history. You meet the work requirement if you accumulate at least 12 months of work history under the new and the old rules during the reference period, i.e. the last 28 months.
Example: Combining the old and the new work requirement
You worked full-time between 25 March 2024 and 28 February 2025. You become unemployed and apply for unemployment benefits starting from 1 March 2025.
Old work requirement:
By 1 September 2024, you have accumulated 23 weeks towards the old work requirement.
These weeks are converted into months by dividing the number of weeks by four. The result is rounded up to the nearest full or half month:
23 ÷ 4 = 5.75 ≈ 6.
Between 25 March and 1 September 2024, you accumulate a total of six months towards the old work requirement.
New work requirement:
In addition, the work you have done after 2 September 2024 counts towards the new work requirement, which is calculated on the basis of your wage or salary. As of 2 September 2024, your salary is EUR 2,200 per month, so each calendar month corresponds to one month of work history.
Between 2 September 2024 and 28 February 2025, you accumulate a total of six months towards the new work requirement.
The work history for the old and the new work requirement are added up:
6 months + 6 months = 12 months.
You meet the new 12-month work requirement on 1 March 2025 and have a right to a basic unemployment allowance starting from that date.
As of 2 September 2024, you accumulate work history for the calendar month in which you are paid. However, there are some exceptions:
- If you are paid late for reasons that have to do with your employer, your wages or salaries are recognised for the calendar month in which they were scheduled to be paid.
- If you are paid for a period longer than a month rather than monthly as is the norm, your progress towards meeting the work requirement is calculated so that your wages or salaries are divided among the number of calendar months during which you have earned them and recognised for the same number of months.
- If you are paid bonuses or other target-based wages for a period longer than one month, these wages are recognised for the period during which they have been earned.
If you have worked in a job for which your employer has been paid wage subsidy, the work counts towards the work requirement if it began on 1 September 2024 or earlier. In that case, the length of the work requirement is 26 weeks (about 6 months).
As a rule, wage-subsidised work that begins on or after 2 September will not count towards the work requirement. Any wage-subsidised work that does not count towards the work requirement extends the reference period for the requirement by its full duration.
Wage-subsidised work beginning on or after 2 September 2024 will only count towards the work requirement if the work is intended to facilitate the employment of a person with reduced work capacity or of a long-term unemployed person over the age of 60.
Wage-subsidised work will only begin to count towards the work requirement after 10 months of work. In that case, 75% of the wage-subsidised work will count towards the requirement.
The 25% of the wage-subsidised work that does not count towards the work requirement extends the reference period for the requirement.
How is the work requirement for self-employed persons calculated?
To meet the work requirement for self-employed persons, the following criteria must be met:
- You must have been self-employed for at least 15 months during the 48 months preceding unemployment
- The earned income is at least EUR 14,803 in 2024 and at least EUR 14,088 in 2023.
The earned income is the sum of the income under the self-employed persons' (YEL) and farmers' (MYEL) pension insurance schemes and the income earned under the Employees Pensions Act (TyEL) while self-employed.
Self-employment that has continued for at least 4 months is included in the work requirement.
Any paid employment that counts towards the work requirement during the 28 months preceding the unemployment also counts towards the work requirement applicable to self-employed persons.
Reference period
The reference period is the period of time for which your work is included in the work requirement.
Usually the reference period for employees is 28 months and for self-employed persons 48 months.
However, the period is extended by for instance
- conscription
- illness
- full-time studies
- caring for a child under age 3
- participation in employment promoting services.
The maximum extension is 7 years. The longest possible reference period is thus 9 years and 4 months.
Validity of the work requirement
If you alternate between work and unemployed, you need not meet the work requirement every time.
However, if you are absent from the labour market for more than 6 months without an acceptable reason, you cannot be paid earnings-related unemployment allowance or basic unemployment allowance until you again meet the work requirement.