ukk-kategoria: Becoming unemployed

The labour authority may consider you to be an entrepreneur comparable to an employee if you work for a small number of employers. In this case, the unemployment benefit office may pay unemployment benefit even if you do not stop your business. Any income from your business will be offset against your unemployment benefit.

You can find out about the definition of self-employed person as an employee by calling the Unemployment Security Advisory Service of the Employment Line on 0295 020 701.

A member of the entrepreneur’s family who is covered by TyEL insurance is also considered an entrepreneur if he or she.

• owns 15% or more of the company alone or if he/she and his/her family members own 30% or more of the company in which he/she works in an executive position (director, member of the board of directors)
• owns alone or jointly with family members at least 50% of the company in which he/she works without holding a managerial position (as an employee)

Family members include the self-employed person’s spouse, as well as the unmarried partner, children and parents living in the same household as the self-employed person.

Note! From 1 July 2019, TyEL-insured persons working in a family-owned company who do not personally own a share in the company will be considered employees for unemployment insurance purposes. Previously, they were considered self-employed. Family members of TyEL-insured persons who do not own a share in a self-employed person should be transferred to the employee insurance scheme so that their employment in the family business continues to accrue unemployment insurance. The condition of employment fulfilled as a self-employed person can be carried over to the employees’ fund on the basis of the so-called “after-protection” if you join the new fund within one month of leaving the former fund.

If you own more than 0% of your family business, you will not be affected by the change in the law. In this case, you are still an entrepreneur on unemployment security. It also excludes people who work in a family-owned firm (and are therefore always entrepreneurs in the pension scheme, i.e. covered by the YEL-insurance).

Find out if you are considered an entrepreneur for unemployment security: the “Are you an entrepreneur?” test.

If your spouse continues to run the business in which you are employed, it is possible that the employment authority will consider you to be employed in the business as well. You can ask about the conditions of employment policy by calling the Unemployment Benefit Advisory Service of the Employment Line on 0295 020 701. In some situations, your spouse may cease to be employed. These situations include, for example, the cessation of a production activity or the outsourcing of work. The Fund does not make decisions on labour market conditions.

You may be considered unemployed by the employment services in at least the following cases:

• You have been made redundant full-time and a non-family member has also been made redundant during the year
• Your spouse also quits the business
• You prove that your business activity is part-time, for example by working full-time in a paid job at the same time for the period of the employee’s employment condition (26 weeks).
• Your work in the company ends, for example, when a production line ends

An entrepreneur cannot lay off himself or herself due to lack of work, but it is possible to lay off a family member. A member of the entrepreneur’s family can be laid off only if the lay-off is full-time employment and the enterprise has laid off or dismissed for economic or production reasons at least one employee who is not a member of the entrepreneur’s family during the one-year reference period.

A full-time lay-off is one that lasts for at least a full calendar week (Monday to Sunday) in one period. For a family member to be laid off, the family member must have owned less than 15% of the company in the last two years and must not otherwise have had a similar level of control over the company. You can read more about this under Family member of a self-employed person.

For information on the conditions of the labour market policy, please contact the Unemployment Security Advisory Service of the Employment Line on 0295 020 701.

The primary benefit during your studies is student support. If you receive adult education support, you cannot get unemployment allowance. If the employment authority considers that your studies contribute to your employment and you meet the conditions for receiving unemployment benefit, the unemployment insurance fund may pay daily allowance based on the opinion of the employment authority. You can read more about this under Employment services.

On your application for daily allowance, report any sick leave you have taken. The Entrepreneur Fund pays unemployment allowance for the period of the Kela sickness allowance deductible. The next time you apply for unemployment allowance, you must wait until the end of your sick leave. For more detailed instructions, see What if I fall ill during unemployment?

If your sick leave is so long that your entitlement to the 300 days of sick pay paid by Kela ends, you can still get unemployment benefit even if you are not medically certified as fit for work. The requirement is that your claim for disability pension is pending or has been rejected. If you have received unemployment benefit before the start of your sick leave, your daily allowance may be extended. You can read more about the payment of daily allowances during periods of incapacity for work under earnings-related daily allowance.

Unemployment benefit is intended to compensate for loss of earnings due to unemployment. If you receive other social benefits while you are unemployed, these benefits may have an impact on your daily allowance. Some benefits prevent you from receiving the daily allowance, others fully reduce the amount of the daily allowance and others have no effect on the benefits paid by the cash office.

The benefits that prevent you from receiving the daily allowance include several pensions, sickness or partial sickness allowance, parental allowance or rehabilitation allowance.

Benefits that reduce the earnings-related daily allowance include partial disabilty pensions or pensions under the State Pensions Act that are paid on the basis of a lower retirement age than the normal retirement age.

A partial early retirement pension does not prevent or reduce the amount of unemployment benefit.

Childcare allowance for caring for a child under 3 years old is a deductible benefit, which is taken into account on a family-by-family basis. This means that the childcare allowance received by the spouse is also deducted from the earnings-related allowance, unless the spouse is caring for the child and is therefore not in the labour market.

Read more about the impact of social benefits.

The mobility allowance compensates for travel and removal expenses incurred in taking up a job.

A mobility allowance can be paid if you take up an employed or part-time job lasting at least 2 months. The daily commute must be more than three hours for full-time and more than two hours for part-time work. The allowance is only paid for days actually worked.

Part-time work is work that does not exceed 80% of the maximum working time in the sector. For example, if the maximum working time is 37.5 hours per week, the job is still part-time at 30 hours per week. Mobility allowance can also be used for work-related training if the training is linked to a job lasting at least two months. The training must be provided by the employer or acquired by the employer from elsewhere.

To be eligible for a mobility allowance, you must.

• you are entitled to unemployment benefit just before starting work or work-related training
• your commute or work-related training trip is more than three hours a day for full-time work or more than two hours a day for part-time work
• the employment lasts at least two months

Travel time to work and education is calculated as the time taken from the place of residence to the place of work by public transport. The travel time takes into account possible transfers and waiting times. Travel time is calculated according to the fastest available means of transport. If you have a car at your disposal, the commuting distance is calculated on the basis of the number of kilometres travelled by car.

You can also move closer to your place of work and get a mobility allowance if you meet the conditions for the length of your commute, calculated from your actual place of residence before you moved.

Since the beginning of 2018, the mobility allowance can also be paid for part-time work,job where the average working time is less than 18 hours per week. If the part-time work,job meets the requirements for the payment of the adjusted allowance, we can pay the adjusted allowance and the mobility allowance for the same claim period for the number of working days. In addition, we can also pay a mobility allowance if starting work requires you to attend work-related training.

If you think you might be entitled to a mobility allowance, contact the cashier. For more information on the mobility allowance.

The mobility allowance is around €800 per month and is subject to withholding tax. The mobility allowance is paid in arrears every month. You can apply for a mobility allowance on a separate form.

1. Register as unemployed on your first day of unemployment at the latest.(For details.)
2. Fill in the application in the Entrepreneur’s Fund’s eAssignment in two weeks at the earliest. (More detailed instructions.)
3. Attach a statement of capital gains form with attachments and information on YEL insurance to your application. If necessary, the Fund will ask for further clarifications.
4. Once you have received a decision, apply for daily allowance in periods of at least one month or four weeks and keep your job application with the employment office.