The third part of our
FAQ series contains answers to questions frequently encountered by our member services
team.
I am standing in for another teacher for two
days. Do I need to supply an employment contract / work order to the
Fund?
As a rule, we do not
require you to supply an employment contract or a work order for short relief
positions not exceeding two weeks. We may ask you for more information when we
come to process your application, as you will not be entitled to your
earnings-related allowance if, for example, you have worked full-time for more
than two weeks.
Please note that you
always need to supply a copy of any part-time employment contracts to the
Fund.
I have set
myself up as a ‘light entrepreneur’ and will be invoicing for my work through
an invoicing service. How should I proceed?
Send us a computation
of your earnings or a pay slip with your application form. As a rule, the
claim and payment period to which we allocate your earnings is determined by the
date on which you were paid. Under unemployment security law, working through
an invoicing cooperative or service counts as running your own business. You
also need to let your TE Office know that you are working through an invoicing
service so that the TE Office can confirm your self-employed status to the
Fund. The TE Office will determine whether your business counts as part-time or
full-time work. If you are deemed to be running a business full-time, you will
not be entitled to an earnings-related allowance. You can read more about the
effect of business earnings on your earnings-related allowance under ‘Effect of income from business activities’.
When will you process my application?
We process
applications on a first-come, first-served basis to ensure that all applicants
are treated equally. The average processing time is updated on our website
every day. You can also track the progress of your application via
Openet. The turn of the month tends to be our busiest time, as we often
get a lot of applications in around that time.
I have a current employment contract, and my
entitlement to statutory sick pay from Kela is about to run out. I am still
unfit for work. Can I apply for an earnings-related allowance from the
Fund?
You can send us an
application if you have received your maximum statutory sick-pay entitlement
from Kela (300 days) but are still unfit for work and you have applied for, or
been refused, disability benefits. You will only qualify for an
earnings-related allowance if your employer is unable to find you work that you
are able to perform in your current condition.
Your application
should be accompanied by
– confirmation from
your employer that they are unable to employ you in your current
condition,
– confirmation from
Kela that you have used up your statutory sick-pay entitlement,
– evidence that you
have applied for disability benefits and your pension provider’s decision on
your application (approved/rejected) once you have received it,
–
current medical certificate, and
–
evidence of your earnings during the last 26 weeks preceding your unemployment,
i.e. when you were last paid your full (100%) salary.
We also
need confirmation of your situation from your TE Office (0F5). Ask the TE
Office to send the confirmation letter to the Teachers’ Unemployment
Fund.
How many days of allowance do I have left?
What is the maximum payment period?
Earnings-related
allowances are paid for a period of 300, 400 or 500 days. The maximum allowance
is 300 days for applicants with up to three years of employment history. The
maximum allowance is 400 days for applicants with more than three years of
employment history. For applicants aged 58+ years who qualify for the allowance
based on their employment history, the maximum allowance is 500 days.
While you are
receiving a full allowance, each week reduces your remaining allowance by five
days. Depending on the number of working days in a week, you get paid for
between 20 and 23 days each month. The allowance is only paid for weekdays. If
you are receiving an adjusted allowance, the days are used up more slowly. Your
allowance counter resets every time you satisfy the employment history
requirement.
You can check the
number of days that you have accumulated towards your maximum allowance
yourself. For more information, see Openet –> Decisions –>Allowance counter.