Right to earnings-related daily allowance

Earnings-related allowance provides income security in case of unemployment or layoff. To receive the allowance, the jobseeker must meet certain conditions, such as fulfilling the membership and employment conditions before unemployment begins. On this page, you will find information about when the right to earnings-related allowance arises.

Conditions for claiming earnings-related allowance

The right to earnings-related unemployment benefit requires, among other conditions, that

• You have registered as an unemployed jobseeker with the employment authorities and are applying for full-time work. Register no later than on your first day of unemployment or layoff, as jobseeking cannot be made retroactive.
• You are between 18 and 64 years old (or 18 and 67 years old if it is a layoff or a situation comparable to a layoff).
• You meet the membership condition.
• You meet the employment condition during your membership period.

If the membership and employment conditions are not met, check with Kela to see if you may be entitled to the basic unemployment allowance or labor market subsidy.

What is the membership condition?

The membership condition means that you must have been a member of an unemployment fund for at least 12 months before you can be entitled to earnings-related allowance.

Membership time can also include time in another unemployment fund if you joined our fund within one month of the previous membership ending. In addition, the membership fees of the previous fund must have been paid in full until the end of the membership. You can read more about our membership in the section Membership.

What is the employment condition?

Meeting the employment condition means that you must have worked long enough and earned a sufficiently high salary for the right to earnings-related allowance to arise.

The length of the employment condition is 12 calendar months, and it must be accumulated within a 28-month review period. The employment condition does not need to be accumulated through continuous work; it can be collected in parts.

The employment condition is accumulated based on the salary paid for work (as of 2 September 2024). In order for the salary to be counted towards the employment condition, it must be earned in an employment relationship and be at least in accordance with the collective agreement, or if there is no collective agreement, at least 1463 euros per month in 2026 (€1,430.00 per month in 2025).

How is the employment condition accrued?

The employment condition is usually accumulated based on the salary payment date. For example, a salary paid on January 31, 2026, counts toward the employment condition for January. The table below shows how the employment condition is accumulated.

The employment condition salary includes the so-called established earnings from an employment or official relationship, such as hourly wages, various supplements (like evening work, Saturday, and personal supplements), taxable fringe or staff benefits, and taxable expense reimbursements. However, holiday bonuses and compensations are not included in the employment condition salary. Income from business activities does not accumulate the employment condition in an employee fund, including remuneration from a commission-based relationship.

The employment condition can accumulate from full and half months. Two half employment condition months form one full employment condition month. The half months do not need to be consecutive.

Until September 1, 2024, the length of the employment condition was 26 calendar weeks and the employment condition was accumulated based on the working hours completed during a calendar week. If employment condition weeks from before September 2, 2024, are included, they are converted into employment condition months as follows: 1–2 weeks form a half month, and 3–4 weeks form a full month.

Exceptions to the accrual of the employment condition

Below is a list of situations where the employment condition accrues in a way that differs from what was mentioned above.

Is it possible to extend the 28‑month review period?

The employment condition must be fulfilled within a 28-month review period, and this period can be extended for an acceptable reason by up to 7 years. Acceptable reasons for extending the review period include, among others:

• Full-time studies
• Period of sickness allowance or partial sickness allowance
• Parental leave and care of a child under 3 years old
• Military or civil service

An acceptable reason extends the review period for the duration of that reason. For example, a 5-month parental leave extends the review period to 33 months.

Work is generally not counted toward the employment condition if, during that work, you were on partial child care leave, received partial sickness allowance or partial disability pension, or were paid a reduced salary during sick leave. However, work performed during such situations can still be considered as extending the review period for up to 7 years.

Is it possible to lose the employment condition I have accumulated?

You may lose the accumulated employment condition if:

• You are absent from the labor market for more than 6 months without an acceptable reason. Acceptable reasons do not include, for example, independent job searching without registering as an unemployed jobseeker with the employment authorities, staying abroad without work or study, or being on unpaid leave without working in another job that accrues the employment condition, studying full-time, or similar activities.
• You operate as a full-time entrepreneur for more than 18 months.
• After changing unemployment funds, there is a gap of more than one month between the old and new fund memberships during which you were not a member of either fund.

In these situations, we can pay earnings-related allowance only after you have fully met the employment condition again, for example, after the labor market gap has ended.

Re-fulfillment of the employment condition

The employment condition is always checked when you apply for earnings-related allowance. You can also accrue a new employment condition while applying for adjusted allowance for part-time or occasional work.

The employment condition is fulfilled again when you have accumulated 12 calendar months of new employment condition after the previous one was completed. When the employment condition is fulfilled again, your allowance amount is recalculated, the maximum payment period (300/400/500 days) is reset, and a waiting period is applied. At the same time, you will be subject to the staggering of earnings-related daily allowance.

If the employment condition is fulfilled during self-motivated studies or labor market training, the maximum period will restart only after the training ends. Since the maximum period cannot be renewed during training, it is important to check before starting the training how long your earnings-related allowance will last. After the maximum period ends, you can apply for labor market subsidy from Kela.

When the employment condition is fulfilled again, your allowance amount is recalculated, the maximum payment period (300/400/500 days) is reset, and a waiting period is applied. At the same time, you will be subject to the staggering of earnings-related daily allowance.

Restrictions on earnings-related daily allowance

Even if your membership and employment conditions are met, you are not always entitled to earnings-related allowance. Below is a list of different situations where the right to earnings-related allowance does not arise.

How do other social benefits affect the earnings-related daily allowance?

Some social benefits prevent the payment of earnings-related allowance, some are deducted from the allowance, and some have no effect on the allowance at all.

What is the periodisation of holiday compensation?

Holiday compensation is compensation for unused annual leave when the leave has not been taken during the employment relationship.This is also known as a “free period compensation.” Its treatment regarding the allowance is the same as holiday compensation. However, holiday bonus is different and is not periodised.

If you receive holiday compensation for full-time work lasting more than two weeks, the compensation is periodised. This means that payment of earnings-related allowance can only begin after the periodisation time. Holiday compensation is also periodised if it has been paid during the employment with each salary payment.

Please note that after the periodisation, a waiting period may still be applied. The waiting period and the periodisation cannot run at the same time.

Holiday compensation paid for part-time work or full-time work lasting no more than two weeks is not periodised. Instead, it is taken into account in adjusted allowance in the same way as part-time wages.

How is the periodisation calculated?

The periodisation period is calculated by dividing the holiday compensation by the calculated daily wage. The result is the number of days to be periodised. Only weekdays (Mon–Fri), including public holidays, count toward the periodisation period.

The periodisation period for holiday compensation usually starts from the end of the employment relationship.

Waiting period

When you apply for earnings-related allowance, a waiting period may be set. The waiting period is applied when you apply for earnings-related allowance for the first time and if you meet the employment condition when becoming an applicant. The waiting period equals seven weekdays of unemployment, during which allowance is generally not paid. The waiting period must be completed within eight consecutive calendar weeks.

If you work part-time, the waiting period usually accrues more slowly than when you are fully unemployed. In this case, the waiting period is calculated based on the hours you work so that it corresponds to seven full working days.

Your jobseeker status must be active during the period for which the waiting period is set. The waiting period cannot be applied at the same time as a sanction period or the periodisation of holiday compensation. It also cannot be applied to a period for which the right to allowance has been denied due to exceeding working hours.

When is the waiting period applied again

A new waiting period is always set when you meet the employment condition again. For example, if you continuously apply for adjusted allowance for part-time work, we monitor the accrual of your employment condition with each application. When the 12-month employment condition is fulfilled again, we recalculate your allowance amount, reset the maximum duration counter, and set a new waiting period.

A suspension period imposed by the employment authority is different from a waiting period set by the unemployment fund.

Suspension period

A suspension period imposed by the employment authority is different from a waiting period set by the unemployment fund. A suspension period is a non-compensated period during which allowance is generally not paid.

The employment authority may impose a suspension period, for example, if you resign from a job, refuse a job or service, or neglect the service process.

Suspension periods are 7, 14, or 45 days. Starting March 1, 2026, a legislative change will take effect, which will alter suspension periods related to job seeking and employment services (for example, failing to attend an agreed appointment with the employment authority or not applying for jobs as agreed).

If you apply for earnings-related allowance after the suspension period has ended, submit your first application once two full calendar weeks (Mon–Sun) have passed since the end of the suspension period. In the application, indicate what you have done during the suspension period. If you have been in paid employment, provide documentation of your work during the suspension period (employment contract and weekly hours report if wages were paid based on hours worked).

If you disagree with the suspension period imposed on you, also submit an application for earnings-related allowance for the suspension period. In that case, we will issue a negative decision on the allowance based on the suspension statement provided by the employment authority, and you have the right to appeal this decision. You can read more about appealing a decision in the section Appealing a decision and recovery of overpayments.

For how long is the daily allowance paid?

The maximum duration of earnings-related allowance depends on how long your employment history is and how old you are when unemployment begins.

When calculating the three-year employment history, all paid work you have done after turning 17 is included.

When calculating the five-year employment history, both the age of 58 and at least five years of employment history must be reached before the employment condition is fulfilled. Employment history includes all work from which you have accrued pension as an employee or entrepreneur starting from the age of 18.

How is the maximum duration accumulated?

Earnings-related allowance is paid for a maximum of five weekdays per week (Mon–Fri, including public holidays). Days are counted toward the maximum duration counter as follows:

• If you are fully unemployed and the allowance is paid in full, one day is added to the counter for each day paid. This also applies if the allowance is paid at a reduced level (80% or 75%).
• If you receive adjusted allowance, days are counted in proportion to how large the paid allowance is compared to the full allowance. This also applies when the allowance is both reduced and adjusted.