Qualifications for membership

A person aged between 17 and 68, living and working in Finland, is eligible for membership. Only entrepreneurs cannot be insured at YTK.

Yleinen työttömyyskassa YTK is an unemployment fund for employees. Its members must, therefore, be taxpaying employees (with a tax card) and receive a salary. This rules out for example work with commission agreements, work as a self-employed person, and entrepreneurial activities. Furthermore, an unemployed or a completely laid-off person cannot join the fund, with the exception of certain instances where a person returns to the Finnish labour market after a period spent abroad.

In unemployment security, a person is considered an entrepreneur when obliged to take out insurance under the Entrepreneurs' Pensions Act (YEL), or Farmers' Pensions Act (MYEL). In addition, persons insured under another pensions act can be considered entrepreneurs if they work in a senior position (managing director, board member) in company in which they have at least a 15 % holding, or if their family members or they and their family members together have at least a 30 % holding of the share capital or otherwise have corresponding controlling power. A person without a senior position is considered an entrepreneur, in case (s)he works in a company in which (s)he holds, or if his/her family members or (s)he together with his/her family members hold at least one half (50 %)of the share capital, or otherwise have corresponding controlling power.

The spouse and the direct relatives in the ascending or descending line of a person employed in company who reside in the same household with the said person are considered to be family members. Thus, you may be considered an entrepreneur even with no personal ownership of the employing company.

If you fail to meet the qualifications for membership and the fund cannot accept your membership, you will receive a written decision with reasoning, in accordance with section 4 of the Unemployment Security Act. You are able to appeal against this decision to the Unemployment Security Appeal Board.