Practical examples

Ella starts her first employment as a psychologist on January 1, 2024, and joins the unemployment fund at the same time. Her fixed-term employment lasts from January 1, 2024, to May 31, 2025. Ella becomes unemployed starting June 1, 2025.

• The length of the employment condition is 12 calendar months, as Ella has worked at least half a month after September 2, 2024 -> Ella is within the 12-month employment condition.
• Ella’s employment condition accumulates in euros for the period from September 2, 2024, to May 31, 2025 (9 months), and based on workweeks for the period before September 2, 2024. We convert the workweeks into months using a specific calculation formula.
• In this transition phase, it is possible to combine the employment condition in two different ways. No workweeks are ‘lost,’ so we can also consider the work done before September 2, 2024.

Employment condition weeks and months can thus also be combined!

Erja is a full-time teacher and started receiving unemployment benefits from June 3, 2024, after her employment ended.

After the summer, Erja takes up a fixed-term position as a classroom teacher, and her employment ends on May 31, 2025. She becomes unemployed starting June 1, 2025. At this point, the length of the employment condition has changed to 12 months.

A new earnings-related allowance period began in June 2024, and Erja has not yet accumulated the 12 calendar months of employment condition between June 2024 and May 2025.

Erja can receive unemployment benefits based on the rights that began in June 2024. The benefit amount will be the same as in the summer of 2024.

This is a very likely situation for many of our members in the summer of 2025!

Åke starts his first employment as a training manager on August 1, 2024, and joins the unemployment fund at the same time. Åke’s fixed-term employment lasts from August 1, 2024, to May 31, 2025. He becomes unemployed starting June 1, 2025.

The length of the employment condition is 12 calendar months, which Åke will not yet fulfill by the summer of 2025.

Åke can apply for unemployment benefits from Kela.

Due to legislative changes, it takes longer for new members to become eligible for earnings-related unemployment benefits!

1. Does holiday compensation count when determining if a month fulfills the employment condition?
   
   Answer: Holiday compensation and holiday pay are not included in the salary sum.
2. Are taxable travel reimbursements considered income?
   
   Answer: Taxable expense reimbursements are generally considered income.
3. When discussing the 930-euro month that fulfills the employment condition, is this amount gross or net?
   
   Answer: This is the gross amount.
4. Is the paid salary considered for the employment condition based on the period the work was done or the payment date? For example, if work was done in October and paid in November, which month’s employment condition is considered?
   
   Answer: The employment condition is based on the paid salary, meaning the payment date matters. In this example, the employment condition would accumulate for November, provided the payment was at least 930 euros, or half a month if the payment was between 465 and 930 euros.
5. Should the employment condition period still be considered over 28 months?
   
   Answer: Yes, the review period is still 28 months.
6. What happens if the maximum duration of the unemployment benefit period is reached? Does the situation then depend on a new employment condition?
   
   Answer: If the maximum duration of the unemployment benefit is reached, the employment condition must be fulfilled again for a new right to benefits to arise. If work performed and paid after September 2, 2024, is included in this new employment condition, it will be 12 calendar months long.
7. There is still some uncertainty about how the 465-euro salary affects the benefit amount if there are more employment months.
   
   Answer: We recommend reading the blog post written by our head of unemployment fund Jenni on this topic. The blog provides an example of how half months of employment affect the calculation of the benefit level. You can find the blog under the “Recent” section of our website by searching for the post titled “Unemployment benefits are reduced for part-time workers“.
8. Is the rule still in place that the benefit can decrease by a maximum of 20% when recalculated?
   
   Answer: If your maximum benefit period has not ended before your employment condition is fulfilled again, your new unemployment benefit will be at least 80% of the previously paid amount. This so-called 80% rule is still in effect.

Ville becomes unemployed and starts receiving earnings-related daily allowance from January 29, 2025. Ville’s full daily allowance rate is €75.00 per day.

In summary, the progression of Ville’s daily allowance amount as his unemployment continues is as follows:

• €75.00 per day from January 29, 2025, to March 25, 2025 (full daily allowance for the first 40 payable days).
• €60.00 per day from March 26, 2025, to September 23, 2025 (80% of the full daily allowance after 40 days until the 170th payable day).
• €56.25 per day starting from September 24, 2025 (75% of the full daily allowance after 170 payable days).

In the gradation system, the level of the daily allowance decreases as the period of unemployment lengthens.

• Maija’s employment ended on June 2, 2024, and she began receiving daily allowance from July 1, 2024. Maija received benefits for 23 days out of the 400-day allowance period, leaving her with 377 days remaining.
• Maija starts a full-time substitute position on August 1, 2024, which lasts until December 31, 2024. When she becomes unemployed again on January 1, 2025, her 12-month employment condition does not yet qualify her for a new allowance period. Therefore, the payment of her earnings-related daily allowance continues based on her previous allowance period (at the same full daily allowance rate as before).
• Since the daily allowance payments are not based on work performed after September 2, 2024, but rather on the allowance period that began in summer 2024, the gradation of the daily allowance level does not yet apply to Maija. She can continue receiving daily allowance until the end of the ongoing 400-day allowance period.
  
  Gradation does not immediately affect everyone!

1. Does the gradation apply to adjusted daily allowance?
   
   Answer: Yes, the gradation also applies to adjusted daily allowance.
2. If a person has remaining old earnings-related allowance and engages in intermittent employment that interrupts their unemployment without yet fulfilling a new employment condition, will they continue to receive ungraded earnings-related allowance until the new employment condition is met?
   
   Answer: If the daily allowance period began on or before September 1, 2024, the person will be subject to gradation only once they meet the employment condition again. This means they can engage in work and accrue the employment condition in the interim, but the gradation of the daily allowance level will only start once the earnings-related allowance is paid based on fulfilling the 12-month employment condition.

Risto has fulfilled the employment condition (26 weeks) on May 31, 2024, at the age of 59. His new daily allowance is calculated based on a salary of €3,000. However, during his previous allowance period, his salary for calculating the allowance was €3,500. Since the legislative amendment has not yet come into effect, the protection of the daily allowance level for those aged 58 and over applies to Risto. This means his daily allowance for the new period will still be based on the €3,500 salary.

While unemployed, Risto takes on occasional substitute positions and fulfills a new employment condition (12 calendar months) on August 31, 2025. At this point, the protection of the daily allowance level for those aged 58 and over no longer applies. Consequently, the salary used as the basis for his daily allowance may decrease if his earnings have declined.

1. Is the protection of the daily allowance level for older individuals still in effect if I have already acquired this right previously, but I am now working and will become unemployed after September 2, 2024?
   
   Answer: If your employment condition is fulfilled again when you become unemployed after September 2, 2024, the protection of the daily allowance level for those aged 58 and over will no longer apply.
2. Is the protection of the daily allowance level still in effect if there are remaining days from a previous allowance period?
   
   Answer: If your daily allowance period started on or before September 1, 2024, and the protection of the daily allowance level was applied at that time, the daily allowance can be paid based on that calculation until the maximum duration of the daily allowance period is reached or until the employment condition is fulfilled again.
   
   If the employment condition is fulfilled in such a way that the work performed and paid after September 1, 2024, can be counted, the protection of the daily allowance level will no longer be applied when recalculating the daily allowance.

The maximum amount of adjusted daily allowance and salaries paid during the adjustment period cannot exceed the salary on which the daily allowance is based.

Example: Janne applies for daily allowance for the period from October 1, 2024, to October 31, 2024. In Janne’s case:

• His salary on which the daily allowance is based is €3,000 per month.
• His full daily allowance amount is €83.26 per day.
• On October 15, 2024, he receives salary of €2,500 from part-time work which will be adjusted.

Without the maximum amount -rule, part-time earnings would reduce the full daily allowance by €2,500 * 0.5 = €1,250 per month, or €58.14 per day. In this case, the adjusted daily allowance would be €83.26 – €58.14 = €25.12 per day, or €540.00 per month.

However, since the total of the adjusted daily allowance and the earnings exceeds the salary on which the daily allowance is based (€3,000), the maximum adjustment rule applies (€540 + €2,500 = €3,040). Therefore, the adjusted daily allowance can be paid at most €3,000 – €2,500 = €500 per month, or €500 / 21.5 = €23.26 per day.

Thus, Janne’s adjusted daily allowance amount is €23.26 per day!

Kirsi occasionally substitutes as a teacher at an adult education centre (maximum working hours 21 hours per week) and as an early childhood education teacher (maximum working hours 38.25 hours per week). Kirsi applies for adjusted daily allowance for the period 1 December 2024–31 December 2024. On 15 December 2024, Kirsi receives a salary of 1,800 euros for her work as an adult aducation centre teacher, and on 31 December 2024, she receives 1,000 euros for her work as an early childhood education teacher.

The salary for the adult education centre teaching includes pay for 60 hours, and the early childhood education teaching includes pay for 50 hours. The working hours are converted to correspond to the maximum working hours of the job with the higher hourly maximum during the adjustment period. The hours for early childhood education teaching are adjusted to match the working hours of the adult education centre teaching:

50h / 38.25 * 21 = 27.45 hours

When the hours for early childhood education teaching are adjusted to correspond to the maximum working hours of the adult education centre teaching, the total hours paid to Kirsi are 60h + 27.45h = 87.45 hours.

To qualify for adjusted daily allowance, the working hours paid during the adjustment period must not exceed 80% of the maximum working hours of a full-time employee in the field. Therefore, the maximum paid hours would be:

21h / 5 * 21.5 * 0.8 = 72.24 hours per month.

Kirsi is not entitled to adjusted daily allowance for the period 1 December 2024–31 December 2024 because the paid hours of 87.45 exceed 72.24 hours.

Ismo receives adjusted daily allowance for the period 1 November 2024–30 November 2024, totaling 1,200 euros. His full daily allowance is 75.00 euros per day. The amount added to Ismo’s maximum time counter for the period 1 November 2024–30 November 2024 is:

1,200 € / 75.00 € = 16 days.

1. If you belong to the so-called old system, is the €300 standard entitlement still in effect? Or has it been removed for everyone?
   
   Answer: The €300 or €279 standard entitlement has been removed for everyone starting from April 1, 2024.