Unemployment benefits

• Apply for general social security benefit from Kela.
• You can get general social security benefit if you do not belong to an unemployment fund or if you do not meet the work requirement (työssäoloehto).
• You can get general social security benefit even if you have been paid earnings-related unemployment allowance (ansiopäiväraha) for the maximum period of time.

Read more about the general social security benefit.

• Apply for earnings-related unemployment allowance from your unemployment fund.
• You can get earnings-related unemployment allowance (ansiopäiväraha) if you are a member of an unemployment fund and if you have fulfilled the work requirement during your membership.
• The amount of allowance you can get is based on your wages or salary.
• Kela cannot pay you general social security benefit if you are a member of an unemployment fund and you qualify for earnings-related unemployment allowance.

When can I claim earnings-related allowance? (tyj.fi)

The reference period is a certain period of time that applies to the work requirement. Work you have done during the reference period counts towards the work requirement.

Usually, the reference period for employees is 28 months and for self-employed persons 48 months.

• However, the period is extended by for example
• military or non-military service
• illness
• full-time studies
• caring for a child under the age of 3
• participation in employment-promoting services.

The maximum extension is 7 years. This means that the longest possible reference period is 9 years and 4 months.

You fulfil the work requirement if you meet both of the following conditions:

• Your pay (wages or salary) has been consistent with the terms of the collective agreement that applies in your industry.
  • If no collective agreement applies, your pay from full-time work must have been at least EUR 1,430 per month in 2025. This means that your daily pay must be at least EUR 66.51 and your hourly pay at least EUR 8.31
• You have accumulated at least 12 months of work history during the reference period (the last 28 months).

The work requirement does not have to be fulfilled during a single, consecutive period of employment. All paid work done during the reference period of 28 months counts towards the requirement, as long as your wages or salary meet the conditions above.

Work you have done in another EU or EEA country, Switzerland, Great Britain or Northern Ireland can also count towards the work requirement.

You accumulate work history for the calendar month in which you are paid your wages or salary. However, there are some exceptions:

• If you are paid late for reasons that have to do with your employer, your wages or salary will be recognised for the calendar month in which they were scheduled to be paid.
• If you are paid for a period longer than a month rather than monthly as is the norm, your progress towards meeting the work requirement is calculated so that your wages or salary are divided among the number of calendar months during which you have earned them and recognised for the same number of months.
• If you are paid bonuses or other performance-based wages for a period longer than one month, these performance-based wages will be recognised for the period during which you earned them.

Wage-subsidised work will only count towards the work requirement if the work is intended to facilitate the employment of a person with reduced work capacity or the employment of a long-term unemployed person over the age of 60.

Wage-subsidised work will only begin to count towards the work requirement after 10 months of work. In that case, 75% of the wage-subsidised work will count towards the requirement. The 25% of the wage-subsidised work that does not count towards the work requirement extends the reference period for the requirement.

Any wage-subsidised work that does not count towards the work requirement extends the reference period for the requirement by its full duration.

Example: Work requirement

You worked full time from 1 October 2024 to 30 September 2025. You become unemployed and apply for unemployment benefits starting from 1 October 2025.

You were paid a salary of EUR 2,500 per month on the 15th day of each month.

You meet the work requirement on 30 September 2025, because at that point, you have accumulated 12 months of work history that counts towards the work requirement.