Unemployment

What to do when your work ends or you are laid off, and you become unemployed:

Register as a jobseeker in Job Market Finland’s e-services no later than on your first day of lay-off or unemployment. Fill in the registration form carefully.
If you cannot use the electronic service, you can fill in the form in the employment service office of your municipality or region or call tel. 0295 025 500, Mon-Fri from 9:00 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.
If you are tasked with an assessment of the need for service, prepare it within 2 working days in order that your search for work does not end.
If you are tasked with an employment plan, prepare it within 7 working days in order that your search for work does not end.
Apply for unemployment benefit electronically after two weeks from your own unemployment fund or from the Social Insurance Institution (Kela).
Remember to ensure that your search for work is valid in the TE Office throughout your unemployment.

View the video: If you are laid off or become unemployed, do this (Joint organisation of unemployment funds)

If your work ends and you because unemployed, you are entitled to unemployment benefit. Unemployment benefit means financial support that you receive during your unemployment. You can also get unemployment benefit during a lay-off. You can only receive unemployment benefit if you have applied for it personally.

Forms of unemployment benefit are earnings-related daily allowance, basic unemployment allowance and labour market support.

You apply for unemployment benefit from the unemployment fund or from Kela, if you are not a member of the unemployment fund. When you join the trade union, you can also join the unemployment fund of your sector. The unemployment fund pays you earnings-related unemployment daily allowance, if you fulfil the conditions for receiving unemployment daily allowance, including the condition of previous employment. The earnings-related unemployment daily allowance is greater than the basic unemployment allowance or labour market support paid by Kela to the unemployed.

Read more about the terms and conditions and duration of receiving earnings-related daily allowance:

Joint organisation of unemployment funds

When you receive unemployment benefit, you are obligated to search for work actively. You can lose the unemployment benefit for a fixed period, if

you receive a job offer from the local employment official and refuse to apply for the job in accordance with the offer without a good reason
you refuse the training provided by the local employment official without a good reason.

If you have jobs you receive a salary for during the unemployment period, report them to your own unemployment fund or Kela, that is, the place that pays your unemployment benefit. The salary you receive from these jobs is taken into account in the payment of the unemployment benefit.

Are you under 25 years of age and unemployed?

If you are between 18 and 24 years of age, you can receive unemployment benefit, if

you have a vocational education and
you have not refused work or education offered to you.

If you do not have any vocational education, you must apply for vocational education starting in the autumn or admittance to a university or a university of applied sciences no later than 31.8. You must apply for at least two education locations. You can also apply for upper secondary school if you have only completed comprehensive school.

If you do not apply for or start education, you will not receive unemployment benefit. You can only receive unemployment benefit once you have

worked or acted as an entrepreneur
studied or
participated in employment promoting services for 21 weeks in total (approximately 5 months).

Are you an immigrant and unemployed?

If you terminate your employment, your right of residence in Finland may end if you do not have new employment or other grounds for staying in Finland. A new job can usually only be acquired in the same sector. If you change the sector, you have to apply for a new residence permit

One condition of unemployment benefit is that you live in Finland on the basis of a non-temporary residence permit. There are other conditions as well. Check your rights with your unemployment fund or with Kela.

Read more about the unemployment security for immigrants:
Jobmarket.fi (in English)
Työmarkkinatori.fi (in Finnish)