Employment promotion measures
The TE Office may request a jobseeker to undertake employment promotion measures, during which an earnings-related allowance is paid. The unemployment fund will pay you the same earnings-related allowance during your participation in the employment promotion measure as you would be entitled to during a period of unemployment. You may also be entitled to the increased earnings-related component and an expense allowance
An employment promotion measure can also be agreed at the jobseeker’s own initiative. Your own initiative is particularly important if the measure is independent studies. If you already have a study place when you become unemployed, or you wish to begin studies while you are unemployed, you should inform the TE Office of this so it can determine whether the studies can be supported as an employment promotion measure. If the studies cannot be agreed to constitute an employment promotion measure, proceeding with full-time studies will prevent the payment of any earnings-related allowance.
Employment promotion measures include:
- job search training
- career coaching
- work trials
- labour market training
- independent studies supported by unemployment benefit
- rehabilitative work
The TE Office will provide the unemployment fund with a statement that indicates which measure you are participating in and how long it will continue. On the basis of the statement, the fund will pay you an earnings-related allowance and a possible increased component, as well as an expense allowance. Please note that you are not automatically entitled to an employment promotion measure; you must agree on this with the TE Office.
More information on the content of the measures and how to apply and qualify: TE Offices and the Labour Administration website at http://www.te-services.fi/te/en(opens in new window, you move to another service).
Amount of allowance
You are eligible for an increased earnings-related component for a maximum of 200 days during your participation in an employment promotion measure that was agreed with the TE Office and included in your re-employment plan. You can calculate an estimate of the allowance using the earnings-related allowance calculator.
Have you already taken part in an employment promotion measure and received an increased earnings-related component? If the 200-day maximum period has not yet been reached, you may still be entitled to receive an increased earnings-related component during the new measure for the remaining calendar days up to 200 days.
The entitlement to the 200-day increased earnings-related component during employment promotion measures may begin anew if you re-fulfil the condition regarding previous employment. Special rules apply to labour market training and independent studies.
Expense allowance
An expense allowance is paid during most employment promotion measures on top of the unemployment benefit.
The expense allowance is EUR 9 per day. An increased expense allowance is EUR 18 per day.
The increased expense allowance is paid when the employment promotion measure takes place outside your employment area or municipality and you have to pay for accommodation. The expense allowance is non-taxable income.
How long can I receive an allowance?
Participation in employment promotion measures does not extend the maximum period of 300, 400 or 500 days during which you can normally claim earnings-related allowance. See Right to earnings related daily allowance. After the end of the maximum period, you can apply for labour market subsidy from Kela.
While you are participating in the service, you can usually reset the maximum calculator for earnings-related allowance by re-fulfilling the 26-week employment condition. If the employment condition is met during labour market training or independent studies, the maximum calculator is reset after the end of the training or study period. Your allowance is also recalculated after this.
Absences
If you are absent from an employment promotion measure, this may affect whether you can complete the agreed measure. With the exception of independent study and labour market training, you should report any days of absence on your allowance application.
The TE Office also collects information on absences directly from the organiser of the measure, and if there is an excessive amount of absences, the measure can be interrupted from the date of this determination or retroactively from the beginning of the measure. If the measure is interrupted retroactively, the allowances and expense allowances paid will be recovered from you.
How to apply for an allowance?
When claiming an earnings-related allowance for a period in which you are participating in labour market training or studying independently, complete the application as follows:
As a rule, you are entitled to study-related benefits for all working days on which you are studying independently or are in labour market training. You are participating in the measure regardless of whether or not there is classroom teaching on that day, so you should enter ‘In training’ for all days on your application, including weekends.
Reporting an absence on the application
If you need to be absent from independent study or labour market training, you do not need to report this on the application. However, if you fall ill and apply for a sickness allowance from Kela(opens in new window, you move to another service), you must report this on the application. Enter ‘Sick’ on the application for every day that you apply for a sickness allowance from Kela.
Are you employed during the measure?
If you are employed, enter ‘Employed’ on the application for your working days and add your working hours in the working hour column.
Keep in mind
If you frequently need to be absent from your studies or training due to work or other reasons, it is advisable to contact the Employment and Economic Development Office (TE Office(opens in new window, you move to another service)). The TE Office monitors the progress of your studies. In some cases, you may need to discuss whether it would be better to interrupt your studies or training and continue them at a later date rather than progress with them slower than planned.
An unemployment benefit is only paid for actual participation in these measures. This means that the earnings-related allowance and expense allowance is only paid for the days on which you participate in the measure as planned. On other days, the allowance is paid on the basis of unemployment. In your allowance application, enter ‘In an employment promotion measure’ for the days you have participated in preparatory training for working life or a traineeship, and ‘Unemployed’ for other days.
Reporting an absence on the application
If you are unable to participate in a planned or agreed measure, you must report such days on the application. If your absence is due to your own sickness or the sickness of your child aged under 10 years (up to four days), enter ‘Sick’ on the line given for those days and add a note to the ‘Additional information’ section or attach a free-form clarification on whether it is you or your child who was sick. If you are absent for more than three days due to your own sickness, attach a medical certificate to the application. If you are absent because of a job interview, note this on the line given for the day in question.
If you are absent from a measure because you were employed, enter ‘Employed’ for those days, add your working hours in the working hours column and explain that you had planned to participate in an employment promotion measure on that day in the ‘Additional information’ section or in a free-form clarification. If you receive a regular monthly salary for a part-time job, see the section ‘Adjusted earnings-related allowance’ for instructions on how to report your working hours.
Remember to append a copy of your pay slip to the application. Use the follow-up application in Openetti(opens in new window, you move to another service).
