Adjusted daily allowance

You can claim an adjusted earnings-related allowance, if

• you are working part-time (however, not if the working hours have been reduced at your own instigation), or
• your daily or weekly working hours have been reduced due to a lay-off, or
• you have accepted full-time employment lasting no more than two weeks while being unemployed, or
• you receive income from business activities or self-employment, if this is considered part-time by the TE Office
• you receive writer’s fees, etc.

A current application for full-time employment at a TE Office is a prerequisite for the payment of adjusted allowance also!

Part-time work refers to employment subject to unemployment allowance, where the working time is no more than 80% of the maximum working time applicable to full-time employees in the sector.

Full-time employment refers to employment where the working time is more than 80% of the maximum working time applicable to full-time employees in the sector. Employment lasting no more than two weeks refers to full-time work carried out continuously for no more than 14 days.

In the education sector, weekends are usually paid if the employment or public service relationship Is valid during weekends. If the employment is interrupted so that weekends are unpaid, the employment period cannot be more than two weeks.

If you are in continuous full-time employment for the same employer for more than two weeks, this period is skipped so that your allowance can be paid up to the start of the work and then again after it ends.

The payment of an adjusted allowance requires that your working hours do not exceed 80% of the maximum full-time working hours in that sector (in the education sector, this usually refers to the teaching obligation) during the allowance claim period (4 calendar weeks or one month).

Income from work is generally taken into account in the daily allowance based on the payment date. This means that salaries are primarily considered for the period in which the payday falls. For example, if your adjustment period is a calendar month, all adjustable income that is paid during that month, will be adjusted. The adjustment period is always either four calendar weeks or a month (even, for example, if the application period is shorter due to the start or end of unemployment).

If employment income for a period longer than a month has been paid during the adjustment period, and if this procedure deviates from the usual pay period, the employment income and the working hours on which the pay is based will be divided to affect the payment month and as many subsequent months as the number of months for which the income has been paid.

Amount of adjusted daily allowance

Until 31.3.2024, the income of a person entitled to an adjusted allowance only affects the earnings-related allowance when it exceeds the standard entitlement. In addition to earned income, the standard entitlement is also applied to income from part-time business activities that is eligible for adjustment.

The amount of the standard entitlement depends on the adjustment period applied. The adjustment period is normally the same as the application period. If the adjustment period is one month or one calendar month, the income is taken into account in the adjustment to the extent that it exceeds EUR 300 (gross). If the adjustment period is a period of four calendar weeks, the income that exceeds EUR 279 (gross) is taken into account in the adjustment. After exempting the standard entitlement, one half of the income paid during the adjustment period (one month or four calendar weeks), is deducted from the full allowance.

As of 1.4.2024, a legislative amendment entered into force, which removed the standard entitlement from use. After the abolition of the standard entitlement, half of the adjusted income reduces the amount of the full daily allowance.

In adjusted daily allowance, the income to be adjusted includes not only the actual wage but also, for example, holiday pay and compensation paid for part-time or occasional work, meal benefits, and taxable expense reimbursements.

You can estimate the amount of your adjusted earnings-related allowance by using the allowance calculator in Openetti(opens in new window, you move to another service).

Maximum amount of adjusted daily allowance

Adjusted earnings-related allowance has a maximum amount. Adjusted allowance with child increase and your pay from work in total may not exceed the wages on which the daily allowance is based.

Accumulation of the maximum payment period

Adjusted unemployment allowance is counted towards the general maximum payment period for unemployment allowance, but it usually lasts longer. An adjusted unemployment allowance is taken into account for the maximum payment period by converting it into full unemployment allowance days.

Example: If you receive an adjusted unemployment allowance of EUR 500 in a month and the full unemployment allowance is EUR 50 per day, this counts as EUR 500 : EUR 50/day= 10 days.

Effect of social benefits

Social benefits can affect your earnings-related allowance. Some benefits prevent the payment of earnings-related allowance, some reduce the full amount of the allowance, and some have no effect at all.

All social benefits applied for and received must be reported to the fund in order to determine whether the benefit will affect the amount of your earnings-related allowance. However, child benefit, housing allowance or social assistance need not be reported.

Information about pensions and benefits income paid on and after 1 January 2021 must be reported to the Incomes Register. Unemployment funds will report all paid benefits also to the Incomes Register starting from January 2021.