When is an entrepreneur considered unemployed?

Private entrepreneur, i.e. sole proprietor and light entrepreneur

You are unemployed if your business has ceased its productive and economic activity and you have terminated your YEL-insurance. You can register your business with the Tax Administration’s VAT, prepayment and employer registers and the Trade Register.

Entrepreneur in a limited company, general partnership or limited partnership

You have ceased business activities, when

1. your business has ceased its productive and economic activity and a) you have terminated your pension insurance, b) you have submitted a notification to the Tax Administration’s prepayment and employer registers to have your business removed, and c) you have submitted a notification to the Tax Administration to have your business removed from the VAT register or to suspend business activities , or
2. your company has been wound up , or
3. your business has been declared bankrupt , or
4. you have sold your business , or
5. the dissolution of a company other than a limited company is the subject of an agreement between the partners

You can keep your business in the Trade Register.

A part-owner’s status as an entrepreneur has ended when

• you have sold the shares you own , or
• you own less than 50% of the company and you are leaving a leading position* in the company.

*You hold a managerial position in your company if you are the managing directo or a member of the board of a limited company or if you hold a similar position in a limited company/other company/entity.

Is your business still operational and your status as an entrepreneur has not ended? You can still be unemployed in limited circumstances. You are regarded as having ceased to work in a business if

1. Your sickness is prolonged

You are unemployed if you have received the maximum amount of sickness allowance for disability (approx. 300 days), provided that your disability pension claim is pending or rejected and your inability to work continues.

2. Your seasonal business activity ends

If your business activity is seasonal (active up to 6 months a year due to natural conditions), the employment official may consider you unemployed at the end of the activity period. This seasonal nature will be assessed by the employment official when you register as an unemployed jobseeker.

3. You are an entrepreneur comparable to an employee and your commission relationship ends

You can be as an entrepreneur comparable to an employee if you are personally involved in the performance of the work in a way determined by the employer, you are in a commission relationship with the same few employers and you do not have a fixed place of purchase or sale or a similar establishment for carrying out the activity.

In addition, you must not have had more than occasional employees in the last year since you registered as a jobseeker.

In certain situations, you may be entitled to an adjusted earnings-related daily allowance if your business becomes a sideline. A reduction in income or work are not necessarily yet an indicators of part-time entrepreneurship, and thus the employment official will assess your overall situation. Your business can be part-time if you have been a full-time student or have been employed in a job that accrues the work requirement for at least six months in addition to working in your business.