I am moving to the Netherlands. What should I do with my fund membership? ?

Send us the form for moving abroad on our website and we can advise you on the best way to deal with your fund membership.  The form can be found here(opens in new window).

Keeping your fund membership in Finland depends on what you do in the Netherlands.  If you start working in the Netherlands for a local employer, you are covered by the general Dutch unemployment insurance. In this case, maintaining a fund membership in Finland is not really useful.  

For example, if you are going to work on a grant or study, it would be a good idea to keep your fund membership valid in Finland, as full-time study/grant work may extend the review period of the employment condition (maximum 7 years).  

I am moving to Germany for my spouse’s job. I do not work in Germany myself. Will my membership remain valid?

If you are absent from the labour market for more than 6 months without an acceptable reason (e.g. full-time studies, caring for a child under 3 years old), you may not be entitled to earnings-related unemployment allowance until you meet the employment condition again after the absence. Simply moving with your spouse is not considered to be an acceptable reason to be absent from the labour market.  

In other words, if you are in Germany for more than 6 months and are not available for the labour market, you will not benefit from a fund membership in principle. However, I recommend keeping the fund membership valid if you don’t already know if the 6-month period will be exceeded.  

We recommend keeping the fund membership valid if you don’t already know if the 6-month period will be exceeded.    

I am going to work in Sweden and my employer is local. What do I do with my fund membership? 

Sweden, like Denmark, has the same type of unemployment fund system as Finland.   Join your local unemployment fund in Sweden to make sure your job is insured. Use the form to inform us of your resignation when you have joined an unemployment fund in Sweden. The resignation form can be found on our website(opens in new window).

If you return to Finland later, please rejoin the Unemployment Fund for Education and Science within one month of the termination of your Swedish insurance. However, I recommend joining the fund immediately after the termination of the Swedish insurance. When you return to Finland from an EU/EEA country (+ Switzerland and the United Kingdom), you can exceptionally join the unemployment fund also if you are unemployed. More information about returning to Finland can be found on our website “Working abroad ans unemployment security”.(opens in new window)

I need a certificate for the Spanish employment authority of my employment in Finland. Can you send it to me?  

If necessary, the Spanish authorities may request a certificate of your insurance periods and    your salary information through the Rina-/Eessi(Electronic Exchange of Social Security Information) system from the Unemployment Fund for Education and Science. The system is in use in the EU/EEA countries and through it the data is transferred electronically from one country to another. 

I am moving abroad to work as a posted employee for a Finnish employer. Should I keep my fund membership valid while working abroad? 

If you are working abroad for a Finnish employer as a posted worker, you will still be covered by Finnish unemployment security and can continue as a member of the Unemployment Fund for Education and Science.  

If you become unemployed after returning to Finland and apply for earnings-related unemployment allowance, the wages for the work you have done as a posted worker can, if necessary, be taken into account in your employment condition and in the determination of your earnings-related allowance, because the wages have been paid from Finland and unemployment insurance contributions etc. have been deducted from it to Finland

I am going to work in Indonesia for about a year. Should I resign from the unemployment fund? 

Since you go to work in a so-called third country (as a non-posted worker), you should keep your membership valid with the Unemployment Fund for Education and Science.  
 
A person returning from a third country cannot join an unemployment fund as an unemployed person. Although work performed in a third country cannot be included in the employment condition, you are not considered to have been absent from the labour market without an acceptable reason if your work corresponds in terms of working time and pay to a job that fulfils the employment condition. The salary must correspond to the wages paid in the country of employment. 
 
If you have worked in Finland before going to work in a third country in such a way that the condition of employment has been fully accrued or in part before of your departure and after you return you make the missing part, you are entitled to daily allowance in Finland despite your work in a third country, if the periods of work take place within the 28-month reference period and the membership of the unemployment fund has been valid all the time. If you have been paid earnings-related unemployment allowance before working in a third country and your maximum period is not reached, you may be entitled to the remaining earnings-related allowance days if other conditions are met. 
 
However, if you were to stay in Indonesia for a longer period of time so that the work done in Finland could no longer fit into the 28-month reference period, it might not be worth continuing your membership at the unemployment fund after that. In this situation, you would no longer be entitled to earnings-related unemployment allowance upon your return, because the employment condition would not be met during the 28-month reference period. In this case, you would have to fulfil the employment condition again before you could become entitled to earnings-related unemployment allowance. However, if you had terminated your membership of an unemployment fund while working in Indonesia, the 26-week membership condition would also have to be met again before you could become entitled to earnings-related allowance.