Layoffs and situations comparable to layoffs
Layoff refers to a situation in which your employer unilaterally decides to shorten your working hours and, consequently, reduce your pay, while the employment relationship is otherwise valid. You may be entitled to an earnings-related allowance during the layoff period if the other conditions for the payment of the allowance are fulfilled. To pay the daily allowance on the basis of a lay-off or a situation comparable to lay-off, yor job search must also be valid with the TE Office.
Implementation of the lay-off
In addition to the actual lay-off, you may be eligible for earnings-related allowance due to a situation comparable to being laid off. Situations comparable to being laid off are fairly common in the education sector for part-time hourly teachers due mainly to operating periods of educational institutions. These include situations such as holiday periods of educational institutions when the employer cannot offer any work and does not pay wages.
The employment contract should mention any periods with no teaching and no pay that are based on the institution’s established period of operation. Otherwise, the employer must follow normal laying off practices for the person working full-time to be entitled to unemployment benefit during the employment relationship.
Sometimes voluntary leave and saved holiday leave arrangements are implemented alongside layoff measures. In these cases, the employee agrees to the leave voluntarily. An earnings-related allowance is not paid during such a voluntary leave or saved leave.
To pay the daily allowance on the basis of a lay-off or a situation comparable to lay-off, you must register as a jobseeker with the TE Office no later than on the first day of the lay-off.
Different types of layoff-situations
In layoff situations, working time is reviewed on a calendar week basis. A calendar week refers to the time from Monday to Sunday of the same week (e.g. the days from Tuesday to Monday of the following week do not form a calendar week). In order to be eligible for earnings-related allowance, the calendar week’s working hours must not exceed 80% of the full-time working hours of that work. In practice, a layoff can take one of the following forms:
- Full-time layoff, where the employer lays you off for at least one full calendar week (Mon–Sun). You may be entitled to a full earnings-related allowance during a full-time layoff.
- Reduced weekly working hours, or shortened working week. This refers to a situation in which the employer reduces the working hours of a full-time employee by one or more full days per calendar week. However, the layoff does not last for a full calendar week. In this case, an earning-related allowance may be paid in full for the layoff days.
- Reduced daily working hours, or shortened working day. This refers to when the employer reduces the employee’s daily working hours on one or more days per week. In this case, an adjusted earnings-related allowance is paid.
An employee can also be laid off from a part-time post by further reducing the working hours. The daily allowance is adjusted regardless of whether the daily working hours are further reduced or whether entire working days are reduced. You may be entitled to a full earnings-related allowance if the layoff is full-time.
If the method of layoff varies within a calendar week, or if there are other grounds for adjustment during the week, the allowance is adjusted for that week. For example, pay for part-time work or business income are counted as grounds for adjustment.
If you are laid off while on a part-time pension, a partial disability pension or a partial child-care leave, contact your shop steward or the unemployment fund for advice.
Applying for layoff-period
Register with the TE Office as an unemployed jobseeker no later than the first day of your layoff. You can also register as an unemployed jobseeker with the TE Office in advance.
Fill in your working hours or other activity by editing the application form’s Application period information –section. Here you must first choose what you have done during the application period, and by pressing Continue you are directed to fill in the calendar section accurately for each specific day. If you do not choose any activity for even one of the days, it is not possible to send the application.
If you have chosen ”employed”, you must fill in the working hours on this work day. It is not possible to mark 00:00 as your work hours. On the days during which you have not worked, but have not been laid off either, you can choose the option ”unemployed”. If you do not wish to mark ”unemployed”, it is possible to choose on the first part x other reason, what? and write ”day off”. This way the option ”day off” will appear on the calendar section as a selectable option.
You are laid off in two periods: Wed 13.1.2021 – Fri 15.1.2021 and Mon 18.1.2021 – 19.1.2021.
Fill in your application for the period Mon 11.1.2021 – Sun 24.1.2021, although in reality you only apply for the allowance for your lay-off days. Outside the lay-off period Mon 11.1.2021 – Tue 12.1.2021 and Wed 20.1.2021 – Fri 24.1.2021 you have been working, so fill the hours of work on the day of their deed.
If you have no work during the weekends, technically easiest is just to choose the option ”unemployed” for these days you have been off from work. If you wish, you can fill in the other reason ”day off”.
Apply for earnings-related allowance retrospectively within three months at the latest. Even in the event of a layoff, a waiting period is set before the entitlement to an earnings-related allowance begins.
If you start receiving pay for your notice period, you should inform the unemployment fund of this immediately. You should also inform the unemployment fund if you have already been paid an earnings-related allowance due to the layoff, but the layoff is cancelled or you receive pay for the layoff period retroactively for some other reason.
