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Amount of job alternation compensation and required employment history


The full amount of job alternation compensation is 70 per cent of the unemployment allowance to which you would be entitled during unemployment. Child increases are not taken into account.

The unemployment allowance used as the basis for the alternation compensation is calculated on the basis of your earned income during the 52 weeks or 12 full months preceding the job alternation leave, excluding holiday bonus and any holiday compensation. An amount equivalent to your statutory employment pension and unemployment insurance and sickness allowance contributions is also deducted from the cumulative pay. In 2022, the deducted percentage is 4,29 %.

See Estimate the amount of your job alternation compensation at www.tyj.fi.

You must meet the 20-year employment history condition before you start your job alternation leave.

It is advisable to establish your employment history at the start, as the Employment and Economic Development Office can issue a statement on the job alternation leave and you can start the leave before the unemployment fund investigates the preconditions for the payment of a job alternation compensation. If it is found that your employment history is insufficient, the benefit will not be paid. It is especially important to determine your employment history in advance if you are uncertain whether you meet the minimum 20-year work requirement.

You must request the assessment of your employment history from the Teachers’ Unemployment Fund yourself. You can do this via electronic communication via Openetti, by letter or by email. You should state your date of birth, the planned time of starting the job alternation leave and your current home address. The unemployment fund will request your pension register data directly from the Finnish Centre for Pensions (ETK) in order to calculate the employment history required by the Act on Job Alternation Leave.

All the work covered by an employee’s or self-employed person’s pension insurance that you have carried out after turning 18 years of age counts towards your employment history. Up to 31 December 2006, the employment history is calculated on the basis of the employment duration information in the pension registers, including work carried out before turning 18. From 1 January 2007, the employment history accumulates on the basis of annual earnings, not on the basis of the duration.

Work carried out abroad can now be counted as part of the employment history for the purposes of job alternation leave. However, this only applies to work performed in another EU/EEA country or some other agreement country. In addition, work carried out as a posted employee for a Finnish employer is counted in the employment history regardless of the country of employment. Work carried out in another EU/EEA country must be verified with a certificate provided by an authority in the country of employment. If you have been a posted worker, the employment details are in the register of the Finnish Centre for Pensions.

When determining the sufficiency of the employment history, periods of time considered comparable to work include periods during which you have been on family leave (maternity, paternity or child-care leave) insofar as you have not earned a pension during the family leave. Military or non-military service is also counted into the employment history. Periods of time comparable to work, such as family leave and military or non-military service, may account for a maximum of one quarter of the employment history, i.e. five years.

If you take a new job alternation leave, you must have worked for five years (60 full calendar months) after the end of the previous leave. The unemployment fund checks that you meet the employment history condition from the register of the Finnish Centre for Pensions.