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You can get the general social security benefit even if you work part time or find a full-time job that lasts for up to 2 weeks.
Your general social security benefit will be adjusted to take the income you earn from work into account. This means that your general social security benefit is reduced in line with your wages or salary: the more you earn from work or self-employment, the smaller your general social security benefit will be. Half of your gross wages or salary will be deducted from the general social security benefit.
Can I get adjusted general social security benefit?
You can get adjusted general social security benefit if
- you get wages or a salary from part-time work with working hours up to 80% of the full-time working hours in the industry in question and there is no full-time work available
- you get wages or a salary from a full-time job that lasts for a maximum of 2 weeks
- you work shorter days due to a temporary lay-off
- you have income from part-time self-employment (secondary business)
- you start self-employment while unemployed
- your full-time self-employment activity provides employment for you for a maximum of 2 weeks.
If you work part time on a wage subsidy, you can get adjusted general social security benefit on the same grounds as for other part-time work.
You must stay registered as a jobseeker with the employment services at all times during unemployment to qualify for the adjusted general social security benefit. Even if you work part time, you must look for a full-time job in accordance with the employment plan you have made together with the employment services.
You cannot get adjusted general social security benefit if
- you work fewer hours on your own initiative
- you get a full-time job that lasts over 2 weeks. Tell Kela that you are no longer unemployed by submitting an unemployment status report in the OmaKela e-service. Send the report immediately after you have started working.
How to apply for adjusted general social security benefit
Apply for adjusted general social security benefit by reporting the days and hours you have worked on an unemployment status report in the OmaKela e-service. Always complete the report for a period that has ended and report the days that you have already worked.
Instructions for completing the unemployment status report
Apply for adjusted unemployment benefit
Report the days and hours you have worked on the unemployment status report.
How does the wage affect the general social security benefit?
The basic rule is that each euro you earn in wages or salary reduces the general social security benefit by 50 cents.
All earned income affects the amount of general social security benefit you can get. We take your income into account at its gross amount.
Kela gets information on your wages or salary from the national incomes register. Kela will ask you for more information if the information in the Incomes Register is incomplete or if your employer does not report your wages or salary to the register within a reasonable time.
The amount of general social security benefit you can get is affected by all taxable earned income (wages and salary) and income from self-employment. In addition to your wages or salary, for example compensations, taxable compensations for expenses, fringe benefits, holiday bonuses and holiday compensations also count as income.
Your income affects the amount of benefit you can get in the payment period during which the income is paid to you. It does not matter when you earned the income. For example, if you worked part time in May and you get your wages or salary in mid-June, your wages or salary will affect the general social security benefit paid for June.
Kela pays adjusted general social security benefit also for the days when you work. Any wages or salary you get will affect the amount of your general social security benefit for as long as you are paid them.
Estimate the amount of adjusted general social security benefit
Use our calculator to check how much adjusted general social security benefit you might get. The result is an estimate.
Will you start self-employment?
You can get general social security benefit for 4 months if you start your own business (self-employment) while unemployed.
Your general social security benefit will be adjusted based on the income you get from self-employment. Report the income from self-employment in the unemployment status report. Your own estimate of the income is enough. You must also report if you do not get any income at all. If you use an invoicing service to charge clients for your work, Kela will get information on your income from the Incomes Register.
When 4 months have passed since you started self-employment, the KEHA Centre will check whether your self-employment is full-time or part-time. The KEHA Centre will issue a statement on this matter to Kela.
If your self-employment is considered to be full-time, you can no longer be paid the general social security benefit. Income you get from part-time self-employment will affect your general social security benefit. This means that you can get adjusted general social security benefit.
Did you find a job further away from where you live?
If you find a job further away from where you live, you can get commuting and relocation allowance.
Read more about the commuting and relocation allowance.
Current topics
Do you work part-time? You can get general social security benefit even if you do
You can get general social security benefit at the same time as you work part-time, work full-time for a short period or are temporarily self-employed. If you are paid wages or a salary during the time you are unemployed, the general social security benefit will be adjusted to take your earned income into account. There is an online calculator you can use to estimate how much your earned income will reduce your general social security benefit.