Unpaid winter leave? How to apply for daily allowance
An employment relationship may sometimes include unpaid leave periods, during which there may be an entitlement to earnings-related unemployment allowance. Read this article to find out what conditions apply to the entitlement and how to apply for earnings-related unemployment benefit during an unpaid winter leave.
When can you receive earnings‑related daily allowance for unpaid periods?
In an employment relationship, there may be periods during which work and salary payments are temporarily interrupted. In the unemployment security system, these periods are considered equivalent to lay‑off periods. The right to earnings‑related daily allowance may also arise for a full‑time employee, provided that the unpaid periods have been agreed in advance and recorded in the employment contract.
If the employment contract does not include a provision on unpaid leave periods, the daily allowance cannot be paid.
Please also remember that your job search must be active. Register as an unemployed jobseeker with the employment authorities no later than the first day of the unpaid period – job search cannot be activated retroactively.
Do you work part-time?
If you have been applying for adjusted earnings‑related daily allowance throughout your employment, continue submitting your applications according to your normal schedule even when the application period includes an unpaid leave period.
Earnings‑related daily allowance is not paid in full for unpaid periods; instead, part‑time wages are adjusted in the usual way based on the salary payment date.
Which attachments are required for the application?
In many cases, no attachments are needed for the application if you have already applied for adjusted earnings‑related daily allowance during your employment. In that case, you have already submitted your employment contract to the fund, and it does not need to be sent again.
If something in your situation has changed, please send documentation related to that change to the fund.
Example: An unpaid winter holiday week in part‑time work
Marja works part‑time and has been applying for adjusted earnings‑related daily allowance throughout her employment. She applies in calendar‑month cycles, and her salary is paid on the last banking day of the month.
Marja has an unpaid winter holiday week in week 8. She applies for daily allowance normally for the entire month of February, meaning she submits her application for the period 1 February 2026–28 February 2026. She may send the application no earlier than 28 February 2026.
Marja is paid her wages on 27 February 2026, and this affects the amount of daily allowance for the whole application period. Her adjusted daily allowance is calculated to be €55.00 per day, so she receives a total of 20 * €55.00 = €1,100.00 for February. This means the daily allowance is paid as adjusted for the entire period, even though the month includes a fully unemployed and unpaid leave week.
Is your employment full‑time?
If you are in full‑time employment, the right to earnings‑related daily allowance can arise only for periods equivalent to a lay‑off or for an actual lay‑off. In such cases, you should submit an application only for the unpaid winter leave week.
Always complete the application for a full calendar week (Mon–Sun). The table below shows for which period you should apply and the earliest date you can submit your application, depending on when your winter leave takes place. Please remember to apply for earnings‑related daily allowance within three months!
| Unpaid leave week | Submit application for the period | Earliest submission date |
|---|---|---|
| Week 8 | 16.2.2026 – 22.2.2026 | 22.2.2026 |
| Week 9 | 23.2.2026 – 1.3.2026 | 1.3.2026 |
| Week 10 | 2.3.2026 – 8.3.2026 | 8.3.2026 |
Which attachments are required for the application?
Include at least the following attachments with your application
- a copy or photo of your employment contract showing the unpaid leave period (if you have not already submitted it to us earlier)
- we recommend submitting a weekly hours report showing your actual working hours. The weekly hours report should cover either the period from the start of the employment or from after the most recent unpaid leave. For example, if you last applied for daily allowance for the unpaid Christmas leave in 2025, you should provide a weekly hours report for the hours worked during early 2026.
- payslips are usually not required, as we receive salary information from the national income register. However, if your salary payment has included anything out of the ordinary, such as corrections or retroactive pay for a longer period, submitting the payslip can speed up the processing of your application.
Other commonly required attachments are listed on our website under Applying for earnings‑related daily allowance.
Example: An unpaid winter holiday week in full‑time work
Janne works full‑time and has an unpaid leave period included in his employment contract during week 10. Janne may submit his application no earlier than 8 March 2026 for the period 2 March 2026–8 March 2026.
Janne does not have, in addition to his full‑time job, any part‑time work or a secondary business activity, so he is entitled to the full daily allowance. His employment condition is not re‑established when he becomes an applicant for daily allowance, which means that no waiting period is set.
Janne’s daily allowance is €75.00 per day, so he receives 5 * €75.00 = €375.00 (gross) for the lay‑off week.
Is the daily allowance paid in full or as adjusted?
Earnings‑related daily allowance can be paid either in full or as adjusted. This depends on whether your employment is part‑time or full‑time, whether you have additional employment alongside your main job, and whether you engage in secondary business activities or own-account work. In addition, the daily allowance may be staggered if you have moved to a system where the allowance level is gradually staggered.
If your full‑time employment includes an unpaid period comparable to a lay‑off, but you also work part‑time alongside it, the daily allowance is usually paid as adjusted. This applies even if the salary payment date of the part‑time job does not fall exactly within the unpaid period. If the salary payment date for the part‑time job falls within the adjustment period (which is always either a calendar month or four calendar weeks), the daily allowance will be paid as adjusted even for the unpaid winter leave period.
If you are unsure about your eligibility, it is still worth submitting an application – we will check it for you. Please remember that the right to earnings‑related daily allowance always requires that you register as an unemployed jobseeker with the employment authorities in time.
Salary payment date and adjustment period
Irene works full‑time as a teacher at a community college. Her employment includes unpaid autumn, Christmas and winter holiday periods. In addition to her full‑time job, Irene has a part‑time position at another educational institution.
Irene applies for earnings‑related daily allowance for week 8, as she has an unpaid winter leave week in her full‑time job. She submits her application for the period 16 February 2026–22 February 2026. Her part‑time salary is always paid on the last banking day of the month.
Even though the part‑time salary payment date does not fall within the application period itself, it still affects the amount of daily allowance, because the adjustment period is always either four calendar weeks or one month depending on the applicant’s overall situation. Any part‑time wages paid during the adjustment period are taken into account when calculating the allowance, meaning that the salary paid on 27 February 2026 reduces Irene’s daily allowance. Therefore, she cannot receive the full daily allowance for the unpaid leave week, even though she has no working hours during that period.
Read more about adjusted daily allowance via the link: Part‑time work and adjusted daily allowance
Please remember that the right to earnings‑related daily allowance always requires that you register as an unemployed jobseeker with the employment authorities in time.
Will a waiting period be applied to me?
A waiting period may be applied to your unpaid leave period if
- your 12‑month employment condition is fulfilled when you apply for daily allowance for the unpaid period
- the waiting period was not taken at all, or not fully, when the employment condition was last fulfilled
Example of how a waiting period is applied
Kaisu has a full‑time employment relationship that includes an unpaid Christmas leave from 22 December 2025 to 6 January 2026 and an unpaid winter leave from 16 February 2026 to 22 February 2026.
Kaisu applied for earnings‑related daily allowance for the unpaid Christmas leave period. She received daily allowance for the period 22 December 2025–31 December 2025. Her employment condition was fulfilled again on 31 December 2025, which meant she needed a new waiting period starting on 1 January 2026.
During the period 1 January 2026–6 January 2026, four waiting‑period days were completed. Because the waiting period is seven unemployed weekdays, it did not fully accumulate during the unpaid Christmas leave.
Kaisu then applies again for daily allowance for the unpaid winter leave. The waiting period must be completed within eight consecutive calendar weeks, so the remaining three waiting‑period days can be taken from the winter‑leave week. Therefore, Kaisu is assigned waiting‑period days from 16 February 2026 to 18 February 2026, and earnings‑related daily allowance can be paid for 19 February 2026–22 February 2026 (two payable days).
Please note that this example describes Kaisu’s situation. Each applicant’s case can be fully assessed only during the processing of their application. If you would like to ask about your own situation, you can contact us, for example, by sending a message in Otenetti.
Having trouble filling in the application?
If filling in the application feels difficult or if you need additional guidance on how to use Otenetti, you can check our illustrated Otenetti instructions. You can access the instructions via the link below.
Lay-off and earnings-related daily allowance
You can read more about lay‑offs or periods comparable to lay‑offs here
Lay-off and earnings-related daily allowance