Applying for earnings-related daily allowance

You can apply for earnings-related allowance electronically through our Otenetti service. A paper application form can be printed from the Forms section.

The unemployment fund processes applications in the order they are received. Please note that incomplete applications and missing attachments will delay the processing of both your application and all applications!

When do I fill out the first application?

You can submit your first application to the fund after two full calendar weeks (Mon–Sun) of unemployment. For example, if your first day of unemployment is on Sunday of week 22, you can submit your first application for the period from that Sunday until Sunday of week 24. Please note: the application must be completed retrospectively.

If you are laid off, fill in your application for at least a full calendar week from Monday to Sunday, even if you are applying for earnings-related allowance for only one layoff day. You can find more information about layoffs in the Layoff section on our website.

You must apply for earnings-related allowance within 3 months
from the date you want it to be paid from.

Attachments to the first application

We receive salary and employment information from the Incomes Register. As a rule, you no longer need to submit payslips or a salary certificate as attachments to your application. If all the information required to process your application is not available in the Incomes Register, we will request these details either from your payroll administrator or from you. If you receive holiday bonus or holiday compensation, providing your latest payslip may speed up the processing of your application.

Most common attachments to the first application

Notice of termination/layoff or other documentation of changes in working hours
Employment contract or official appointment. The contract or appointment must indicate the essential terms of employment (agreed weekly working hours, teaching obligation or full-time status, basis of remuneration, and duration of employment). If no written employment contract exists, please provide equivalent documentation of the essential terms of employment.
Decision on any concurrent pension or other benefit, as well as the latest statement of the benefit amount.
Form regarding home care allowance paid to your spouse.
For part-time entrepreneurs, the latest confirmed personal tax decision including detailed pages.
Weekly hours report if your employment condition has been accumulated through hourly work and your working hours have varied weekly. A separate weekly hours report must be completed for each employment relationship.
Providing your latest payslip may speed up the processing of your application, especially if you have received holiday compensation for unused holidays after the end of employment.

When do I send the follow-up application

Earnings-related allowance is applied for in periods of either four calendar weeks or one month. A monthly period does not have to be a calendar month; for example, from the 13th of one month to the 12th of the next.

Your future application schedule will be determined when your first application is processed. Once your first application has been reviewed, you will receive a message informing you of the schedule for submitting subsequent applications.

Explore step-by-step illustrated instructions for completing your application. If you encounter any difficulties while filling out the application, you can always contact us for assistance.

Attachments to the follow-up application

In most cases, you do not need to submit any attachments with a follow-up application. However, below are examples of attachments that may be required for a follow-up application.

Most common attachments to follow-up application

Employment contract or official appointment for part-time work. The contract or appointment must indicate the essential terms of employment (agreed weekly working hours, teaching obligation or full-time status, basis of remuneration, and duration of employment). If no written employment contract exists, please provide equivalent documentation of the essential terms of employment.
When circumstances change, provide documentation of changes in home care allowance and other benefits.”

Reporting working hours on the application

Report the working hours you have completed during the application period in your application, even if the income paid during that period remains below the exempt amount. Income from part-time work and occasional work (full-time work lasting no more than two weeks) is generally taken into account for the payment of earnings-related allowance based on the payment date, meaning during the application period in which the salary is paid.

Report working hours in your application according to the actual dates worked, even if the salary is paid later. This allows the fund to monitor the accumulation of your employment condition.

You can enter employers separately in the application. The application provides separate rows for each employer, so you can record work for different employers on the same day on different rows.

If salary is paid for a period longer than one month, the income is generally allocated to the payment month and as many subsequent months as the period for which the salary was earned. Income is still considered on an accrual basis when you have been laid off for a shortened workweek and perform part-time work or short-term full-time work

Do not report working hours performed as an entrepreneur in your application. You can read more about reporting working hours in the Otenetti instructions section.