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Personal liability period
You can start receiving an earnings-related unemployment allowance when you have been an unemployed job-seeker for a total of seven days. This seven-day period is called a personal liability period.
Only days on which your job-seeker status has been active with the employment authority count towards your personal liability period. However, days during which you are not entitled to earnings-related allowance, such as due to a waiting period or holiday compensation, cannot be included in the personal liability period. Saturdays and Sundays do not count towards the personal liability period.
The days that count towards the personal liability period must accumulate during a period of eight consecutive calendar weeks.
If you work part-time or have been laid off on a part-time basis, your personal liability period is calculated on the basis of your weekly working hours to make up seven full working days.
Personal liability period for part-time workers
If you work part-time or have been laid off on a part-time basis, your personal liability period is calculated on the basis of your weekly working hours to correspond to seven full working days.
The number of hours equivalent to seven working days is calculated by subtracting the number of hours you have worked from the maximum working time stated in the collective agreement for your sector. If there is no collective agreement within your sector, the maximum working time according to the Working Time Act is 40 hours per week.
The personal liability period is initially reviewed on a weekly basis. Starting from the beginning of the week during which the personal liability period is met, the review is done on a daily basis.
Example 1:
You work part-time for 5 hours a day from Monday to Friday, or 25 hours a week in total. Your employment requirement is fulfilled on 30 June 2024, and the personal liability period applies as of 1 July 2024.
According to the collective agreement for your sector, the maximum working time is 40 hours per week, and there are five working days per calendar week. Therefore, your maximum daily working hours are 8 hours (40 ÷ 5 = 8). The equivalent of seven full working days is 56 hours (7 x 8 = 56).
Of the hours you work in a week, 15 hours can be counted towards the personal liability period (40 – 25 = 15). By 21 July 2024, you have accrued 45 hours of the personal liability period of 56 hours.
The remaining 11 hours are accrued on a daily basis starting from 22 July 2024. Of your daily working hours, 3 hours can be counted towards the personal liability period (8 – 5 = 3). The full 56 hours are reached on 25 July 2024, and your personal liability period is from 1 July to 25 July 2024.
Example 2:
You work part-time with varied hours. Your employment requirement is fulfilled on 30 June 2024, and the personal liability period applies as of 1 July 2024.
According to the collective agreement for your sector, the maximum working time is 40 hours per week, and there are five working days per calendar week. Therefore, your maximum daily working hours are 8 hours (40 ÷ 5 = 8). The equivalent of seven full working days is 56 hours (7 x 8 = 56).
Between 1 July and 7 July, you work a total of 35 hours. From the hours you worked during this week, a total of 5 hours can be counted towards the personal liability period (40 – 35 = 5).
From 8 July to 14 July 2024, you are entirely without work, so the number of hours from this week that count towards the personal liability period is the full 40 hours.
Between 15 July and 21 July, you work a total of 30 hours. From the hours you worked during this week, a total of 10 hours can be counted towards the personal liability period (40 – 30 = 10). As of 21 July 2024, you have accrued a total of 55 hours of the required 56 hours of your personal liability period.
From 22 to 28 July 2024 you work a total of 10 hours, so you meet the full 56 hours of the personal liability period during that week. On Monday, 22 July 2024, you work 5 hours and meet the full 56 hours of the personal liability period. Your personal liability period is from 1 July to 22 July 2024.
Change in the duration of the personal liability period 1 January 2024
Due to the change in legislation, the personal liability period will be seven days if the first day of the period is 1 January 2024 or after that. The personal liability period is five days if at least the first day of the period falls within 2023.
Example 1:
You resigned from your job and your employment ended on 31 October 2023. Due to your resignation, the employment authority imposed a mandatory waiting period that lasts from 1 November 2023–29 January 2024. The personal liability period and the mandatory waiting period do not overlap, so the first day of the personal liability period is 30 January 2024 at the earliest. Therefore, the personal liability period is seven days.
Example 2:
Your fixed-term employment ends on 14 December 2023. You register as a job-seeker with the employment authority on 2 January 2024. Days counted towards your personal liability period are only the days when your job search is active at the employment authority, so the first day of the personal liability period is 2 January 2024 at the earliest. Therefore, your personal liability period is seven days.
Example 3:
Your fixed-term employment ends on 28 December 2023. You register as a job-seeker at the employment authority on 29 December 2023, and the personal liability period can be imposed as of 29 December 2023. Therefore, your personal liability period is five days.
