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Part-time work and adjusted daily allowance

Earnings-related allowance can be paid as adjusted if you receive salary from part-time work or occasional work, or if you have secondary self-employment.

When can adjusted daily allowance be paid?

You may be entitled to adjusted daily allowance, if

  1. 1

    You do part-time work

    You may be entitled to adjusted allowance if your working hours are no more than 80% of the maximum full-time hours applicable in your sector. However, you cannot receive adjusted allowance if your working hours have been reduced at your own request or by mutual agreement with your employer

  2. 2

    You do occasional work

    If you start full-time work lasting no more than two weeks, you can also receive adjusted allowance for the duration of the employment. In full-time work, working hours exceed 80% of the maximum full-time hours applicable in your sector

  3. 3

    Your working hours have been reduced due to layoff

    You can receive adjusted allowance if your daily or weekly working hours have been reduced due to a layoff

  4. 4

    You receive income from part-time business activities or self-employment

    If the employment authority has assessed your business activity as secondary, you can apply for adjusted allowance. In this case, the income from business activity is considered as adjusted income.

  5. 5

    You receive writing fees or other similar compensation

    For example, writing fees, certain meeting fees, or fees for positions of trust may be considered adjusted income

Payment of adjusted allowance requires that you have registered with the employment authority as a full-time jobseeker!

When is salary taken into account in the adjustment?

In adjusted allowance, salary from part-time or occasional work is usually taken into account based on the payment date. This means that the income is considered in the adjustment period that includes the payment date. The adjustment period is always either four calendar weeks or one month. This applies even if the application period is shorter, for example when unemployment begins or ends.

If you are paid salary during the adjustment period for an unusually long earning period — for example, longer than one month — and this does not correspond to the normal payment schedule, the income and related working hours are divided across several months. The income and working hours are allocated to the payment month and as many subsequent months as the period for which the salary was earned. However, the salary is not divided over a longer period if the applicable collective agreement in your sector allows salary to be paid for more than one month at a time.

Example of adjustment based on payment date

Maija worked part-time from December 1, 2025, to December 31, 2025. She did not receive any salary in December; the entire salary is paid on January 15, 2026.

Maija receives full earnings-related allowance for the period December 1–31, 2025, and adjusted allowance for the period January 1–31, 2026.

Example of adjustment when salary is divided over a longer period

Miikka has been working part-time during the autumn and is usually paid monthly on the 15th. His application period is January 15, 2026 – February 14, 2026.

  • January salary (€1,500 for 51.60 hours) is paid on January 15, 2026.
  • February salary (€1,500 for 51.60 hours) would normally be paid on February 15, but since that day is a Sunday, it is paid earlier on February 13, 2026.

Because Miikka receives two salaries within one adjustment period and this differs from the normal payment schedule, the income and working hours are divided across two months:

€1,500 and 51.60 hours are allocated to February 15 – March 14, 2026.

€1,500 and 51.60 hours are allocated to January 15 – February 14, 2026.

You can read more about the adjustment of income from business activities in the section I have business activities.

I have business activities

How much adjusted daily allowance is paid?

In an adjusted daily allowance, half of the income that is taken into account in the adjustment reduces the amount of the daily allowance.

In addition, the adjusted daily allowance has an upper limit, known as the maximum amount. This means that the adjusted daily allowance and the earned income you receive during the adjustment period may together be no more than the wage on which your daily allowance was calculated.

If your full daily allowance is staggered to the 80% or 75% level, the adjustment is made to the already staggered daily allowance.

The amount of adjusted daily allowance

Jani applies for earnings-related unemployment allowance for the period 1 January 2026 – 31 January 2026, so his adjustment period is a calendar month. He is paid wages of EUR 500.00 from part-time work on 15 January 2026, meaning that the earned income reduces the amount of the full daily allowance:

500€ * 0,5 = 250€ per month, which is 250€ / 21,5 = 11,63€ per day

Jani’s full daily allowance is €85.00 per day, so the adjusted daily allowance amounts to:

85,00€ – 11,63€ = 73,37€ per day. There are 22 payable days in January 2026, so the adjusted daily allowance paid to him is:

22 * 73,37€ = 1614,14€ (gross).

The maximum amount of adjusted daily allowance

Tiia applies for daily allowance for the period 1 January 2026 – 31 January 2026. In her case:

  • the wage on which the daily allowance is based is €3,000 per month (this was calculated when Tiia last met the employment condition upon becoming unemployed)
  • the amount of the full daily allowance is €83.26 per day

She is paid €2,500 in wages from part-time work on 15 January 2026, and this income is adjusted.

If the maximum amount rule for the adjusted daily allowance did not exist, the part-time wages would reduce the full daily allowance by €2,500 × 0.5 = €1,250.00 per month, i.e. €58.14 per day. In that case, the adjusted daily allowance would be €83.26 − €58.14 = €25.12 per day, or €540.00 per month.

However, the adjusted daily allowance and the income taken into account in the adjustment together exceed the wage on which the daily allowance is based (€540 + €2,500 = €3,040.00 > €3,000).

Therefore, the maximum amount rule for the adjusted daily allowance applies, and the adjusted daily allowance can be paid at a maximum of €3,000 − €2,500 = €500 per month, which corresponds to €500 / 21.5 = €23.26 per day.

The adjusted daily allowance is therefore €23.26 per day.

The amount of the adjusted daily allowance when the daily allowance is staggered

Marko’s full daily allowance is €100 per day. He has already applied for earnings-related unemployment allowance for more than 40 days, so his allowance has been staggered to the 80% level, meaning it is now €80 per day.

Marko does 10 days of temporary (gig) work, for which he earns €1,500. The wages reduce the daily allowance by €750.00, which corresponds to €750 / 21.5 = €34.88 per day.

Marko’s staggered and adjusted daily allowance is therefore:

80.00 € − 34.88 € = 45.12 € per day

If the earnings-related allowance had already been stepped down to the 75% level, the amount of the stepped-down and adjusted daily allowance would be:

75.00 € − 34.88 € = 40.12 € per day

Wages are adjusted over the entire adjustment period, and the daily allowance is paid as adjusted for the whole period. Therefore, the daily allowance is not paid in full for the unemployed days within the application period; instead, the wages are taken into account and adjusted across all days of the adjustment period.

Adjusted daily allowance is paid for a maximum of five working days per week (Monday to Friday, including public holidays), in the same way as the full earnings-related daily allowance.

Test the amount of your adjusted daily allowance with our calculator

You can try out how much adjusted daily allowance you might receive by using the earnings-related unemployment allowance calculator available on our website. Please note, however, that the calculator always provides an estimate only. The actual amount of the daily allowance and your entitlement to it can only be determined when your application is processed.

Daily allowance calculator

Accumulation of the maximum payment period when receiving adjusted allowance

Daily allowance paid as adjusted counts toward the general maximum duration of earnings‑related unemployment allowance (300/400/500 days), but usually more slowly than the full daily allowance. An adjusted daily allowance is converted into full earnings‑related allowance days when counted toward the maximum duration.

For example, if the amount of the full daily allowance is €100 per day and €1,000 in adjusted daily allowance is paid, 10 days are accrued toward the maximum duration for that application period (€1,000 / €100 = 10 days).

How is adjusted daily allowance applied?

Apply for adjusted daily allowance via Otenet under “Apply for earnings‑related allowance.” There is no separate application form for adjusted daily allowance; it is applied for using the same form as for the full daily allowance. The adjusted daily allowance is applied for in cycles of four calendar weeks or one calendar month, depending on your pay schedule. It is applied for every day, including the working days of part‑time or occasional work.

In the calendar section of the application, report the hours worked during the application period separately for each employer. Also report the pay date. If there is no pay date during the application period, provide an estimate of when the wages for the reported hours will be paid. If the employment relationship lasts more than two weeks, attach a copy of the employment contract to the application. If the work is occasional and lasts less than two weeks, submitting the employment contract is not required.

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