Amount of the earnings-related allowance

Amount of the earnings-related allowance

The amount of your earnings-related daily allowance is based on your wages based prior to unemployment or layoff. We calculate the amount of your earnings-related daily allowance from your regular wage during the period that counts towards satisfying the employment requirement.

Your holiday bonus and holiday compensation are deducted from your taxable income. Any compensation that you may receive on the basis of the termination of your employment is not considered to be part of your regular wage and is therefore not taken into account in the calculation of the amount of your earnings-related allowance.

An amount equivalent to your pension contributions, unemployment insurance premiums and daily sickness allowances is also deducted from your pay.  The deduction is 3,76% in 2024 (3,54 % in 2025).

If your 12-month employment requirement is met after 1 September 2024, your earnings-related allowance will be staggered. This means that the amount of your earnings-related allowance will decrease if your unemployment is prolonged.

The earnings-related allowance is paid for a maximum of 300, 400, or 500 days. You can find more information on the duration of the earnings-related allowance on the page “Length of the allowance period”.

Basic daily allowance and earnings-related component

The earnings-related allowance is made up of a basic daily allowance and an earnings-related component. The basic daily allowance is EUR 37,21 per day from in 2024 and 2025. The earnings-related component is 45% of the difference between the basic daily allowance and your daily wage.

If your monthly wage exceeds a certain threshold, the earnings-related component is 20% for the amount above the threshold. The threshold is EUR 3534,95 in 2024 and 2025.

Your full earnings-related allowance including child support supplements cannot exceed 90% of the daily wage on which your allowance is based. Your earnings-related allowance is always at least equal to the basic daily allowance.

Increased earnings-related allowance

You can be paid a higher earnings-related allowance if

• you have agreed with the employment authority to participate in a service that promotes employment and
• the service starts no later than 31 December 2024.

No increased earnings-related component will be paid for employment-promoting services that commence on or after 1 January 2025. If  the services are organised in separate segments that are not continuous, the increased earnings-related component will not be paid for segments starting on or after 1 January 2025.

You can receive the earnings-related increment for a maximum period of 200 days.

The earnings-related increment is 55% of the difference between your daily wage and the basic daily allowance. The increment is 25% for any amount above the threshold.

Your daily allowance with the earnings-related increment added on cannot exceed the daily wage on which your allowance is based.

Review period for the calculation of the amount of the earnings-related allowance

The amount of your earnings-related allowance is calculated taking into account your pay during the period that counts towards satisfying the employment requirement. The employment requirement must satisfy during a review period of 28 months.

In some circumstances, the review period can be extended by up to seven years. Examples of acceptable reasons for extending the review period include illness, institutional care, full-time study, rehabilitation, military service, alternation leave, birth of a child and care of a child up to the age of 3. You can read more about the review period under Employment requirement.

Staggering

Staggering of the earnings-related allowance means that the amount of the allowance decreases as the period of unemployment extends.

The amount is reduced for the first time when you have received the allowance for 40 days and for the second time when you have received it for 170 days. On the first step, the amount decreases to 80 percent, and on the second step, to 75 percent of your full earnings-related allowance. Your earnings-related allowance is always at least equal to the basic daily allowance.

Your earnings-related allowance will be recalculated when you fulfil the 12-calendar-month employment requirement again. At that point, your earnings-related allowance will return to the 100% level.

You can estimate the amount of your earnings-related allowance after the staggering using our daily allowance calculator.

Who Does the Staggering Affect?

The staggering applies to those who meet the employment requirement after 1 September 2024 and whose employment requirement is 12 months. Thus, the staggering does not affect you if:

• The maximum period for your earnings-related allowance (300, 400, or 500 days) has started before 2 September 2024
• Your 26-week employment requirement is met by 1 September 2024
• Your employment requirement includes work with wage subsidies that started by 1 September 2024
• Your employment requirement includes work or employment-promoting service arranged under an employment obligation and where the obligation arose by 1 September 2024.

In these situations, the staggering will be applied when the employment requirement is met again after 1 September 2024 and the employment requirement is 12 months.

Staggering in Practice

The earnings-related allowance is paid for a maximum of five days per week. Paid days are the days for which you have received the allowance. For example, waiting period days and sanction days are not included.

Paid days are consumed more slowly if you receive a salary from part-time or temporary work, and your earnings-related allowance is paid as adjusted.