Legislation

Unemployment funds are tasked with providing their members with statutory income security, i.e. earnings-related allowances, mobility allowances and alternation allowances.

Unemployment funds perform a public duty, which makes them subject to a number of laws and procedural guidelines. All unemployment funds grant benefits based on the same laws, and the allowance payable in certain circumstances is therefore always the same regardless of the unemployment fund to which you belong.

The most important laws that unemployment funds need to comply with are the Unemployment Funds Act and the Unemployment Allowances Act. Unemployment funds are also subject to several laws that provide for the conduct of government authorities. Examples include the Administrative Procedure Act and the Act on the Openness of Government Activities.

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health advises unemployment funds on the application of these laws. Legislative reforms with links to the unemployment security system are also usually drafted by either the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health or the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.

Key laws and regulations

You can find the most important laws and regulations governing unemployment funds in the Ministry of Justice’s online database of legislative and judicial information. Click on the links below to visit the relevant pages.

• Unemployment Allowances Act
• Act on Job Alternation Leave
• Act on Public Employment and Business Service
• Unemployment Funds Act
• Administrative Procedure Act
• Government Decree on the Implementation of the Unemployment Allowances Act
• Government Decree on the Public Employment and Business Service
• Government Decree on income to be taken into account in the calculation of unemployment benefits

Regulatory oversight of unemployment funds

Unemployment funds are subject to regulatory oversight by the Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority in respect of both their finances and procedures. The Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority cannot overturn individual decisions issued by unemployment funds; the competent appellate authority is the Social Security Appeal Board.

The Parliamentary Ombudsman and the Chancellor of Justice are the two supreme overseers of legality in Finland. They ensure that government authorities, unemployment funds and other organisations that perform a public duty comply with the law and discharge their obligations. Anyone can file an administrative complaint about the actions of a government authority or a government employee with the supreme overseers of legality.