Labour Politic Preconditions

Investigating preconditions

Labour authorities investigate the labour politic preconditions for receiving daily unemployment compensation. Thus, it is crucial to register at the employment office on your first day of unemployment, at the latest. The fund is only able to pay earnings-related daily allowance after labour authorities have investigated the labour politic preconditions and issued a statement on the matter.

Labour authorities consider the following matters when issuing a labour politic statement:

1. Is the claimant prevented from being on the labour market? This would be the case, for example, during foreign travel, military service, non-military service, imprisonment, hospitalization, or other institutional care. However, in certain cases it may be possible to have the right for daily allowance during foreign travel.
2. Is the claimant employed with entrepreneurial activities? A full-time entrepreneur or a self-employed person is not entitled to unemployment benefits.
3. Is the claimant a full-time student? A full-time student is not entitled to unemployment benefits, neither during studies nor during holiday periods.
4. Is the claimant at the disposal of the labour market? In case the claimant him/herself causes such limitations that prevent him/her from accepting employment offered with conditions generally agreed upon or from taking part in educational activities, (s)he is not at the disposal of the labour market.
5. Termination of employment and a valid cause for resigning. If the claimant has had a valid cause for resigning or the contract has been terminated without the claimant's own fault, the statement will not include labour politic hindrances for the entitlement to unemployment benefits.
6. Absence from the labour market. Labour authorities investigate whether the claimant has been on the labour market for at least six weeks within the previous six months.
7. A refusal to accept employment, training, job seeking plan, or labour politic activities.
8. Interrupting training or labour politic activities, or neglecting the job seeking plan.

Commuting area

The general rule states that as a job-seeker, you cannot refuse work offered to you within your immediate commuting area without the loss of your unemployment security. Besides your own home town, your particular commuting area comprises other locations where employees from your home town commute, or which are within a daily commuting distance of your home town. Commuting areas for each municipality is confirmed by the Ministry of Labour. You can easily check your own working area for example by visiting the Ministry of Labour web site at www.mol.fi/.

Foreign travel

You can be paid unemployment allowance even during a short, occasional foreign trip in case you are available on the labour market and have notified your employment office of your travel beforehand.  In addition, you are within reach; i.e. you have informed the employment office on your contact details during your trip and are able to accept work or training within a reasonable time. The journey can last for approximately one week (6 payment days) during a year, and your destination is within the EU/EEA area.

Full-time studies

Full-time students are not entitled to unemployment allowance. The labour committee will investigate the nature of the studies and issue a statement on whether the conditions regarding the allowance are met. The employment office must therefore be notified of the starting date of the studies. As a general rule, studying is considered full-time when it prevents the claimant from accepting full-time work offered to him/her.

Full-time studying is considered to include studies at a university or vocational college. Attendance in an upper secondary school is also full-time studying if it continues for a minimum of 75 courses. Full-time studying also includes upper secondary education in a boarding school. Vocational and other studies are considered to be full-time when the study curriculum shows at least three study weeks in a month of a minimum of 25 hours per week in duration. When determining whether the studies are full-time, consideration will be paid to the extent of the study curriculum, the amount of work required, and the level of binding of the studies. Leisure studying is not considered full-time.

The studying is considered full-time until it is verifiably finished. A degree or some other form of final certificate must be presented to the employment office.

Suspension

In certain cases, the statement issued by employment authorities demands a suspension of the unemployment allowance. These cases are listed below.

If you have resigned from your employment without a valid reason, or have personally caused the employment to end, you lose your entitlement to unemployment allowance for a period of 90 days. If your employment would only have lasted up to five days, your entitlement is suspended for 30 days.

If your own actions prevent the drafting of an employment contract, you lose your entitlement to unemployment allowance for a period of 60 days. If the employment would only have lasted up to five days, the entitlement is suspended for 30 days.

If you refuse to draft a job seeking plan, to revise a re-employment programme, or repeatedly refuse activities included in your job seeking plan or re-employment programme, your allowance is suspended for 60 days from the date of your refusal.

During the first three months of unemployment you can to refuse to do work which can be considered professionally unsuitable to you, without losing your entitlement to unemployment allowance.

You cannot refuse full-time employment based on a comparison of salary and unemployment allowance. The right to refuse work on these grounds only applies to part-time work. Working a maximum of 75% of the full-time working hours is considered part-time.

The earlier stated principles also apply if, without a valid reason, you refuse training allocated to you by labour authorities if, during such training, your own livelihood, and that of your family, is reasonably secure, or if you have resigned or been forced to resign from such training without a valid reason.

If you have been on the labour market for less than six weeks during the past six months without a valid reason for your absence, your entitlement to unemployment allowance is suspended for 60 days from the date of your return to the labour market.

If you repeatedly refuse to accept a job or training offer, or by your actions prove unwilling to work or be trained, the allowance is suspended until such time that you have been at work or in training for at least three months.