The Parliament has accepted the governmental proposition 209/2016 to amend the Unemployment Security Act without changes. Because of this, the Act will be changed from the 1st of January, 2017, in following way, including our estimate on the effects on our members.
Please do take notice, that on 17th of November we have published an earlier bulletin about the changes based on government’s proposition 113/2016 including changes into the maximum length of the daily allowance and the amount of allowance.
A new allowance, mobility allowance
We will start to grant a new allowance, mobility allowance, to our members. Further information about mobility allowance can be found on our bulletin of 10th of December and here.
Employment condition and the amount of allowance
- Pay-subsidised work will not be fully counted against the employment condition. As a rule, only 75 % of the duration of the employment will be counted against the condition, but if the municipality has been obligated to employ a person, the duration can be fully counted against it. As a rule, it is not very common that a member in our Fund is employed into a pay-subsidised work, so our estimation is that the effect is not a great one on the whole, but it can certainly have a significant effect on the rights of an individual member. The amendment will apply to situations of pay-subsidised work starting the 1st of January 2017 or later.
- Pay cuts for production-related or financial reasons will not decrease the earnings-related daily allowance, if a “survival agreement” has been agreed upon, and pay cut is based on such an agreement. The daily allowance is to be based on the salary preceding such pay cuts.
Entrepreneurial activity and adjusted allowance
Entrepreneurial activity, income from it and the effect on the right to receive daily allowance has been an active subject during this year. Now, the provisions on adjusted allowance will be changed for certain cases of employment through entrepreneurial activity. The goal is to lessen the risk or the anticipation of risk of losing the benefit when being entrepreneurially active, and this way to encourage unemployed people to entrepreneurship.
In future, income from full time entrepreneurial activity results into adjusting the allowance, if the activity is 2 weeks maximum. The allowance is not to be denied for individual days of activity. If entrepreneurial activity lasts for longer than two weeks, the allowance will be denied for the length of the activity, but the income will not affect the allowance after the activity has stopped.
Our estimation is, that this change will not significantly affect our members, as most of our members who are entrepreneurs are not full time active as such, and thus are already entitled to adjusted allowance.
The amendment affects periods of entrepreneurial activity starting earliest the 1st of January, 2017.
Amendments applying specifically to independent studies
- New job or recruitment trial for assessing the job-seekers suitability will be adopted. The maximum duration of the trial is 1 month. Job-seekers are entitled to earnings-related daily allowance for the duration of the trial, but not to an expense allowance or increased component. The trial is optional, voluntary. The provision will apply from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2018.
- Periodic interviews every 3 months with the Employment and Development Offices to be started. Job seekers will be interviewed after each three-month period of continuous unemployment. The employment plan or another plan drawn up in its place would be revised at each interview