Payment period of earnings-related allowance and extended allowance
The payment period of earnings-related allowance depends on your age and the duration of your work history at the onset of unemployment.
Allowance is paid
- for 300 days of unemployment, if you have an employment history of exactly or under three years
- for 400 days of unemployment, if you have an employment history of over three years
- for 500 days of unemployment, if you have met the employment condition after turning 58 years and if you have had at least five years of employment history in the last 20 years
For the purpose of calculating a three-year employment history, all paid employment completed over the age of 17 may be taken into account.
For the purpose of calculating a five-year employment history, the age requirement concerning the maximum period and the five-year employment history must be met before the employment condition is fulfilled. 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.
At the end of the maximum allowance period, you can apply for labour market subsidy from Kela.
The allowance is paid for up to five days a week (Mon–Fri, including midweek holidays). If you are fully unemployed, each day of allowance payment counts for one day of the maximum payment period. If you receive an adjusted allowance, the days counted towards the maximum are calculated in the same proportion as the paid allowance is in comparison to the full allowance.
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Extended allowance
Elderly jobseekers may have the right to extended earnings-related allowance. This means that you may be eligible for earnings-related allowance after the normal maximum period until the end of the month in which you reach the age of 65. If you retire before you turn 65, your right to an allowance will end at the start of retirement.
The right to extended allowance depends on your birth year and when your allowance period ends.
The right to extended allowance arises if:
- you were born between 1955 and 1956 and have turned 60 before the end of the maximum period,
- you were born between 1957 and 1960 and have turned 61 before the end of the maximum period,
- you were born in 1961 or later and have turned 62 before the end of the maximum period*
The fund will determine your right to extended allowance when processing your normal application. Therefore, there is no need to apply for a right to extended allowance with separate forms.
*In December 2020, the Government has
decided on the gradual removal of the right to extended allowance starting from
the year of 2023. This change does not apply to those, who are already
receiving their allowance on extended days. Gradual removal will be put into
effect as such: The age limit for the right to extended allowance will be
increased by one year per age group starting from those born in the 1963 and
the possibility for extended allowance will be removed completely for those
born in the year 1965 and after. These decisions
will come into effect after the Government proposal to the Parliament of
Finland has been made and the Parliament has confirmed the proposal.
Certificate of extended allowance for the pension application
The unemployment fund is involved in the handling of a pension matter only by providing the certificate of extended allowance that is required for the pension application. The certificate will be issued upon request, and it may be issued only if you have been paid the extended allowance, meaning that earnings-related allowance has been paid after the maximum period has been exhausted.
The certificate of extended allowance can be issued after the unemployment fund has paid earnings-related allowances for at least one day in the month prior to the start of the retirement. For example, if you apply for old-age pension starting on 1 October, the unemployment fund can issue the certificate if an earnings-related allowance has been paid in September. The application for an earnings-related allowance for the previous month can then be sent in two instalments, for example first from 1 to 9 September, so the certificate can be issued, and then from 10 to 30 September.
However, if you are being paid adjusted earnings-related allowance, we can’t process your application and write the certificate of extended allowance until your adjustment period has ended. For example, if your application and adjustment period is a calendar month, we can process your application from 1.9 – 30.9 and write the certification 30.9. at the earliest.