The maximum payment period, i.e. how long you can receive a daily unemployment allowance, is determined by your work history and age before unemployment or lay-off.
Your work history can include all work you have done in employment or service relationship that you have done since you turned 17. Also work done in another EU/ETA-country can be included.
The work did not have to be continuous.
If you have been working less than 3 years, you can receive unemployment allowance for a maximum period of 300 days.
If you have been working only for a little while (0 - 3 years), send to the fund copies of all your certificates of employment (työtodistus) so that the fund can calculate your work history. You don't need to send the certificates with your first application. You can send them if / when the 300 days counter is running low. This way, you avoid sending unnecessary statements in a situation where unemployment of lay-off lasts only for a short time.
If you have been working at least 3 years, you can receive unemployment allowance for a maximum period of 400 days.
If your latest employment has not lasted at least of 3 years, the fund will record that you are entitled to allowance for 300 days and checks the actual duration of your work history if / when the 300 days counter is running low. This avoids unnecessary work in situations where unemployment of lay-off lasts only for a short time.
The fund calculates your work history mainly from information received from various registers (e.g. pension records kept by Finnish Centre for Pensions). If, for some exceptional reason, the information found in the registers is not sufficient to calculate your work history, the fund will ask you for further information of your work.
You can receive unemployment allowance for a maximum period of 500 days, if
When your unemployment starts, the fund may register your maximum payment period as 400 days and check the actual duration of your work history if / when the 400 days counter is running low. This avoids unnecessary work in situations where unemployment of lay-off lasts only for a short time.
The fund calculates your work history mainly from the pension records kept by Finnish Centre for Pensions. If, for some exceptional reason, the information found in the registers is not sufficient to calculate your work history, the fund will ask you for further information of your work.
When you are fully unemployed, one day is added to the maximum period counter for each day allowance is paid for. If allowance is not paid (example due to the 5-day waiting period), no days are added to the maximum period counter for that period.
Normally allowance is paid for 5 days per week (in practice from Monday to Friday), so if you are continuously fully unemployed
If you during your unemployment work part-time or gig job and receive adjusted allowance from the fund, days are added to the maximum period counter only in proportion to what the adjusted allowance paid is compared to the full daily allowance. Read more about the adjusted allowance.
If you were born before 1965 and are unemployed, you will be paid unemployment allowance only up to the end of the calendar month in which you turn 65 - regardless of the number of maximum payment days left. An unemployed person must therefore retire at the latest at the age of 65, even if there are still days left of his/hers maximum payment days.
If you have been laid off, you can be paid unemployment allowance up to the end of the calendar month in which you turn 68.
Example: A person becomes unemployed when he or she is 63 years and 8 months old. He/she is, in principle, entitled to unemployment benefit for 500 days, which, if he/she is completely unemployed, will suffice for just under 2 years, ie would end when he/she is 65 years and 7 months old. However, unemployment benefit is paid only until the end of the month in which the person reaches the age of 65.
For those born in 1965 or later, the minimum retirement age is more than 65 years. Unemployment benefits can be paid to them until the end of the calendar month in which they reach the minimum retirement age. Those born in 1965 will meet their minimum retirement age in 2030.
If your were born in 1957 - 1964 and you are approaching retirement age, you may have a right to additional days of unemployment allowance. Additional days can be paid up to the end of the month in which you turn 65.
In addition, it is required that you have accumulated at least 5 years of work history during the last 20 years.
If your may have a right to additional days due to your age, the fund will check your right, when the the 400 / 500 days counter is running low.
If your maximum payment days run out, the fund will no longer pay earnings-related unemployment allowance to you. A decision is always given on the fulfilment of the maximum payment period. You should notify employment authorities of the decision you received and apply for labour market subsidy from Kela. Read more about labour market subsidy from Kelas webpages.
It is wise to monitor the accumulation of days yourself because the fulfilment of the maximum payment period always means financial changes to your situation. You can monitor the accumulation of days in WebKassa -service on the "Days paid" -page (under "Payments and decisions").
The maximum payment period is reset, i.e. your maximum payment days start to accumulate from 0 again, if you fulfil a new work requirement of 26 working weeks. If you participate in labour market training or independent study, the maximum payment period doesn't start from the beginning until your studies have ended.
If you during or in between unemployment of lay-off periods work at least 18 hours a week, your right to earnings-related allowance lasts longer. This means that the maximum payment period starts from beginning every time you fulfil the work requirement again.
If you work during unemployment, the fund monitors the fulfilment of the work requirement. Report also the work you have done between unemployment periods to the fund, so that the employment can be added to your work requirement.
Read more about the work requirement https://www.tehytk.fi/en/abc-unemployment/conditions-claiming-allowance
