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Changes to the adjustment of unemployment security as of 1 January 2023
The Parliament has approved amendments to the Unemployment Security Act related to the adjustment of unemployment security. The amendments will enter into force on 1 January 2023.
The adjustment of unemployment security means that income from part-time work or periods of employment lasting less than two weeks, for example, is taken into account in the payment of earnings-related unemployment allowance.
The special adjustment period and the imputed income will be abolished
A special adjustment period is used if the adjustment period needs to be shortened from the usual four weeks or one month. The adjustment period is shortened, for example, in cases where the period includes days for which there is no entitlement to earnings-related unemployment allowance. However, the specific adjustment period and the related imputed income have not been applied since May 2020.
The special adjustment period and the imputed income will be abolished permanently. The earned income paid during the adjustment period will be adjusted even if it is paid on a date for which there is no entitlement to earnings-related unemployment allowance. The earned income will no longer be mathematically adjusted, so it will be taken into account in the adjustment as the amount that was paid.
Distribution of earned income over several months
If earned income is paid in one go for a period longer than one month, the earned income may affect the earnings-related unemployment allowance for several months. In the future, earned income will be divided into the payment month and subsequent months only if the employer has deviated from the usual pay period.
In addition, the working hours on which the salary is based will be divided equally into the same number of application periods as for which the salary was earned.
Review of working hours for persons laid off with reduced daily working hours
Adjusted earnings-related unemployment allowance can be paid if the working hours are no more than 80% of the maximum working time for a full-time employee. Until now, the working hours of those laid off with reduced daily working hours have been prorated over one calendar week at a time.
In the future, the working hours review period will be the same as the adjustment period, i.e. four weeks or a calendar month. The change will apply to situations where daily working hours have been reduced due to a lay-off or a reason comparable to a lay-off, or work has been prevented due to an industrial action that does not depend on one’s own terms of employment or working conditions.
Assessment of working hours
If the employer has neither the opportunity nor the need to monitor working hours, the unemployment fund is usually unable to confirm that the conditions are met for receiving adjusted earnings-related unemployment allowance. In such cases, adjusted earnings-related unemployment allowance cannot be granted.
As of 1 January 2023, a provision on the exceptional assessment of working hours will be included in the Unemployment Security Act. Employees will be entitled to adjusted unemployment benefit if it can be inferred from the nature and circumstances of their work that their working hours are no more than 80% of the maximum.
Additional information
More information about the legislative amendment can be found on the website of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.
