Questions about applying for earnings-related daily allowance

I am applying for earnings-related daily allowance for the first time. Which documents do I need to include with the application?

To process your first application, we need at least the following documents:

• We process applications based on information reported to the Incomes Register. However, the information reported by your employer in the Incomes Register may not be enough, in which case we will need a wage certificate from you.
• Certificate of employment or employment contract.
• Notice of termination, lay-off notice or agreement terminating your employment, where applicable.
• Tax deduction card. You can order an adjusted tax deduction card used for the payment of earnings-related allowance in the MyTax service. You can also use the MyTax service to send your tax deduction card electronically to your unemployment fund. For more information about how earnings-related allowance is taxed, see Taxation.

Be sure to also register with the employment authority as an unemployed jobseeker. The registration must be made on your first day of unemployment at the latest. The employment authority will send us a labour policy statement about your situation automatically. In other words, you do not need to submit the statement to us.

Depending on your situation, we may also need any of the following documents:

• Employment contract if you have been working part-time
• We receive information about your wages from part-time work from the Incomes Register, but there are sometimes details missing. If necessary, we will ask you or your employer for additional information regarding your wages. To speed up processing, you can include your payslip with your application.
• Payslip showing the wages paid to you during the application period if you have been laid off with reduced daily working hours.
• Payslip showing your working hours during the application period if you have been laid off with a shorter working week.
• Your latest confirmed personal tax assessment if you are running a business part-time.

How long does it take to process my application, and when will I receive the money?

The processing time for initial applications is usually 2–3 weeks. If we need to ask for more information, the processing may be longer. For this reason, please fill out the application as carefully as possible.

If you are completely without work and your situation has not changed, your follow-up applications will be processed quickly, and you will receive the allowance within a few days. If we need to check something or make enquiries about your follow-up application, the processing time will be up to one week.

If you reapply for earnings-related daily allowance after a break, or if you have been employed part-time during the application period, your application will take approximately 1 to 3 weeks to process.

For more information, see Processing of applications. Our front page has information about the submission dates of applications being processed currently.

Why is the eService showing an error about the application period?

The eService asks for a reason for a non-standard application period whenever the application period is anything other than four calendar weeks (Monday to Sunday) or one full calendar month (from the first day of the month to the last day of the month).

You need to state a reason for the non-standard application period before you can send the application. If none of the options offered by the system describe your situation, select “other reason” and write the reason in your own words, for example, “adjusting the application period to four calendar weeks”.

Note that earnings-related daily allowance is always applied for retroactively. Please note that the earliest that you can submit your application is on the last day of the application period.

You can submit your first earnings-related allowance application after about two weeks have passed since your employment was terminated or you were laid off temporarily. It is important to fill in your application so that the last day of the application period falls on a Sunday or on the last day of the month. Going forward, you will need to apply for your earnings-related allowance in periods of either four calendar weeks (Mon–Sun) or a full calendar month.

My earnings-related daily allowance ran out during the application period. When can I submit the final application?

Fill in the application up until the final date of the maximum period of earnings-related daily allowance and send it to the unemployment fund at the earliest on the final date. If you send the application for a period shorter than the standard, the quick application option in the eService cannot be used. In this case, you need to select the start and end date of the application period manually in the eService and specify the reason for the non-standard application period.

If you are working part-time and apply for adjusted earnings-related allowance, fill out the application using the standard application period of one month or four calendar weeks. The maximum time of earnings-related allowance lasts longer if the allowance is paid at an amount adjusted to your earnings. The number of days that add up to the maximum depends on your adjusted earnings during the application period. For this reason, the final date when the allowance can be paid cannot be determined until after we process your application.

Can I send photos of the attached documents in the eService?

You can send photos of the attachments in the eService. Please note that permitted file formats are JPG, PDF and TIFF. Be sure to include photos of all pages of the document. Please also make sure that the photo is accurate enough so that the text is readable.