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Frequently asked questions
When will I get my money?
It only takes us a few minutes to process an application. However, we get tens of thousands of applications every month, and it may therefore be a while before we get around to yours. The wait depends on the type of application and how many other similar applications are in the queue at the same time.
Roughly speaking, there are three types of applications:
- First application
- Follow-up application with no changes
- Follow-up application with changes
The average processing time for first applications is one week. Follow-up applications can be turned around in a day if there are no changes. Follow-up applications with changes take approximately one week to process.
However, these processing times are averages. Unemployment and lay-offs tend to follow the same pattern every year, in addition to which the job market fluctuates with the economy. There are also various kinds of unexpected events that can cause a spike or a drop in the number of applications and affect processing times.
We will soon be adding an estimated payment date calculator to our website, which will show you how long it is likely to take from the filing of your application to the money being in your account. We also post statistics on which day’s applications we are processing at any given time on our website, which give you an idea of where your application is in the queue.
Our estimates of processing times are based on statistics that may not apply in all cases. We may, for example, have to suspend the processing of an application. This can happen, for instance, if we need to ask the applicant to supply more information or if the applicant has not included a statement from their local TE Office. In such cases, we can only resume processing the application once we have all the necessary information and documents.
Please also note that processing times are different for different types of applications. First applications typically take the longest to process because there is more manual work involved. Follow-up applications, on the other hand, are paid out automatically if there are no changes, and can therefore be turned around in a day. If a follow-up applicant is declaring days of work or other changes, certain manual steps have to be performed, and the length of the queue can therefore change faster than we are able to update our processing time estimates.
The queue counter on our website shows the length of the queue in days. The length of the queue is the number of days it takes us from receiving an application to finish processing it. In your case, the processing time was slightly longer. It takes us longer to log applications that are not submitted via OmaYTK. Once we finish processing an application, we notify the bank, and it typically takes two banking days before the money is in the recipient’s account. It can also take longer if there is a weekend in between. The time that an application spends in a queue with us is therefore different from the time that you spend waiting for your money.
Questions about applying for earnings-related daily allowance
- Register as a job-seeker in the TE Office as soon as you are laid off or given a notice of termination.
- Always apply for daily allowance retroactively for a past period. Make the first application for two past weeks and the further applications for either four past weeks or one past month.
- You cannot apply for daily allowance in advance for a future period.
- Send the first application when two weeks have passed from the beginning of the unemployment or lay-off. Apply for daily allowance for the past two weeks.
- Send a further application, if your unemployment or lay-off continues, even if your first application had not yet been processed.
- Send a further application no earlier than four weeks or one month after the last day of your first application.
- You will get your money sooner, if you use in your further application the application period proposed by OmaYTK.
- Send the last application on the last day of the lay-off or unemployment at the earliest.
- Send the application within three months from the first day of the application period at the latest.
- Keep calm. In case your application is missing essential attachments, we will ask you for them straight away.
- Register as a job-seeker in the TE Office as soon as you are laid off or given a notice of termination. A statement of the TE Office on the lay-off or unemployment is a requirement for the payment of daily allowance, and it cannot be made valid retroactively. File your registration online at te-palvelut.fi.
- Ask your employer already before the lay-off to use the greater level of detail in reporting the income to the Incomes Register and give all voluntary information if there is any. In that case it is highly likely that we will have direct access to all the information we need to calculate your unemployment daily allowance.
- Request a tax card for a benefit in the online service of the Tax Administration. In the same place where you enter an estimate on the amount of the benefit you can name General Unemployment Fund YTK as the recipient of the tax information. Then the Tax Administration will send the new tax information directly to us. That way we can implement the tax withholding directly using the percentage of the revised tax card. If we have your tax card calculated for salary, the tax withholding is then at least 25%. We have received your tax card for salary automatically from the Tax Administration if you have been our member last year.
- When your lay-off or unemployment has lasted for a minimum of two weeks, you should make an application for daily allowance through OmaYTK. The service will guide you in filling out the application. If your lay-off or unemployment lasts for less than two weeks, you can make an application as soon as your lay-off/unemployment has ended.
- If the lay-off or unemployment continues, you should make a further application retroactively at four-week or one-month intervals. Please remember that daily allowance have to be applied for retroactively within three months at the latest. It means that we cannot pay daily allowance for a retroactive period longer than three months.
You can submit your first application two weeks after you are laid off or become unemployed.
Examples:
- If you become unemployed or are laid off on 1 January, you can submit your first application on 14 January.
- If you become unemployed or are laid off from 1 January until 31 October, you can submit your first application on 14 January.
- If you become unemployed or are laid off from 1 January until 13 January, you can submit your first application on 13 January.
As a general rule, you need not send a salary certificate to us, because we get the information from the Incomes Register. Ask your payroll clerk to use the greater level of detail in reporting the income to the Incomes Register. That will ensure that we can process the application using only the information in the Incomes Register, and we need not request additional information from you for processing the application. It does no harm to send the salary certificate, but it is not necessarily needed.
All benefits paid by the unemployment fund are subject to withholding tax. The Tax Administration sends us the tax rates for salary for those members who have joined before the end of the year. When we use the tax card for salary, the withholding rate is always at least 25%.
If you are applying for a daily allowance or job alternation compensation, you can request a revised tax card for the benefit, this way, we can use the correct tax rate stated in the tax card.
If you enter the General unemployment fund YTK as the payer of the benefit when you estimate the amount you will receive, we will get the tax information directly from the Tax Administration.
Invoices
You can postpone the payment of your membership fee by a couple of weeks, e.g. to your pay day. If you only wish to postpone the payment by a few days, there is no need to contact YTK. If you need more time to pay the invoice, or if you wish to pay your membership fee in instalments due to your financial standing, you should contact us by e-mail as soon as you receive the invoice at: [email protected].
According to the Employment Security Act, you will not lose your accumulated employment history with regard to the working condition if you are absent from the labour market for an acceptable reason. The cases mentioned in the question are such acceptable reasons. This means that, for example, if you have been working before your maternity leave, you will keep the accumulated employment history as long as you also pay the membership fee when you are on maternity leave. These acceptable reasons can extend the review period of the working condition (28 months) by as much as seven years. However, you need to remain a member of the unemployment fund, and the only way to do that is by paying the membership fee. The rules of YTK do not allow for exemption from the membership fee.
If you retire in the middle of the year, you should pay the membership fee in the normal manner. When you receive the decision on your pension, you should send us a notice of resignation. Date your resignation one day before the start date of your retirement. For example, if the start date of your retirement is the first day of June, enter the last day of May as your date of resignation. We will return the membership fee for the remaining part of the year to a bank account designated by you, if the remaining sum is at least EUR10.
If you become a full-time entrepreneur, we recommend that you join an unemployment fund for entrepreneurs right away, because you can only accumulate the entrepreneur’s employment history with regard to the working condition as a member of an unemployment fund for entrepreneurs. If you do not join an unemployment fund for entrepreneurs, you can continue your membership in YTK for 18 months at the most after becoming a full-time entrepreneur. Further information.
If you are a combined member of YTK, you will receive separate invoices for the membership of the General Unemployment Fund YTK and the YTK Association. The membership fee of the Unemployment Fund secures your earnings-related benefits and the membership fee of the Association includes many other benefits for combined members.
It is easy to check the status of your membership fee online at OmaYTK. If you have not yet paid your membership fee, you will also find the information needed to make the payment on the website.
You need to make an e-invoice authorisation for us in your online bank. You will find the information needed for the authorisation online at OmaYTK.
The membership fee of an unemployment fund is tax-deductible. We report the membership fee details directly to the Tax Administration annually. The membership fee is credited in the taxation for the year in which the payment was made. So, if you paid for your membership for 2018 already in 2017, the Tax Administration will take it into account in the taxation for 2017.
The membership fee of the YTK Association is not tax-deductible.
We always send the membership invoice to the member. If you and your employer agree that your employer will pay your membership fee, you should give the invoice to your employer once you receive it.
Membership
OmaYTK is the easiest and fastest way to check whether your membership is valid.
- Log in OmaYTK. To log in you need either online banking codes, mobile certificate or a certificate card. See here for more detailed instructions on logging in.
- Check in OmaYTK that the status of your membership fee is paid. If you are a member of both the YTK Unemployment Fund and the YTK Association, the status of the membership fees is shown separately for each membership.
- If your membership fee has been paid, your membership is valid.
- If your membership fee is unpaid, you should pay it immediately. Only by paying the membership fee will you ensure that your membership remains valid. If you have just paid the membership fee, there is a delay of a few banking days before the information is updated in OmaYTK.
The membership of the unemployment fund alone does not guarantee that you are entitled to receive earnings-related daily allowance. See here for more detailed information on what are the requirements for receiving earnings-related daily allowance.
It is not possible to start the membership retroactively. At the earliest, the membership can start on the day we receive your membership application.
Benefits
If you have a revised tax card for your salary, your tax rate will be increased to at least 25% in accordance with the decision of the Tax Administration.
If you receive an earnings-related daily allowance or job alternation compensation, you should request a revised tax card for the benefit. Then we can deduct the tax according to the revised tax card, and the rate will not be automatically increased to 25%.
You can request a tax card using the Tax Card Online service. Please note that there is no alternative for a revised tax card for benefits. To get a revised tax card for benefits, enter in the benefits field the amount of the earnings-related daily allowance you expect to receive.
In that same area, you can enter the General unemployment fund YTK as the receiver of your tax information. That way, we will get the information directly from the Tax Administration.
If you wish, you can also send your tax card to us electronically using OmaYTK.
As a general rule, we do not need the certificate of employment at all. We need the notice of termination, because it includes information on the date you were given notice of termination of your employment. The certificate of employment indicates the start and end date of the employment relationship, but not the date the notice of termination was given.
It is important for us to determine the date you were given the notice of termination, because the notice period is calculated from that date. It is determined in accordance with the Employment Contracts Act, the collective agreement applied in your industry, or your employment contract. You are not entitled to an earnings-related daily allowance during the notice period. During the notice period, you are entitled severance pay. If you meet the other preconditions, you may be entitled to an earnings-related daily allowance at the earliest after the end of your notice period.
You do not need to apply for a daily allowance for the suspension period, as you will not be paid an allowance for that period. When you apply for a daily allowance for the first time after the end of your suspension period, you need to tell us whether you were completely unemployed during the entire suspension period.
If this is your first application and you send it to us in the normal way, including the suspension period, and you are still unemployed after the suspension period, we will be able to process your application faster. We will be able to process your application and determine the amount of your daily allowance during the suspension period.
If you wish to wait until the end of the suspension period, remember to inform us of any earnings during the suspension period. If you worked during the suspension period, send information on your employment to the unemployment fund with your first application after the suspension period.
You can apply for the child increase by entering the child’s date of birth in the application form in the field where children under 18 are listed. We normally get information on children from the Population Information System rather quickly, but sometimes we have to pay first the daily allowance without the child increase. In this case we will pay the amount retroactively, once the child is shown in the Population Information System. If you wish, you can send the child’s birth certificate to us to speed up the processing of your application. You can also apply for the child increase separately by sending a message through OmaYTK.
You can fill in your next application for an earnings-related daily allowance according to your regular application period despite starting part-time work. If your part-time work continues, you can apply for an adjusted daily allowance to be paid in accordance with your pay period; every four weeks, every month, or every calendar month. This is why you should let us know your pay period when you start working part-time. If we need to, we may ask you to provide more information or documents to help us pay the adjusted daily allowance at the same time as you receive your salary.
- Enter the hours you have worked in your application so that we can see your weekly working hours. This will help us monitor the accumulation of your employment history with regard to the working condition, while you work part-time.
- We will usually receive the necessary salary information directly from the Incomes Register. If we need to, we will ask for more information.
- You should also submit a copy of your part-time employment contract. If you have no written contract, please provide a written statement from your employer explaining the conditions of your employment.
Remember to tell the TE Office about your part-time work.
- Enter the hours you have worked in your application so that we can see your weekly working hours. This will help us monitor the accumulation of your employment history with regard to the working condition, while you work part-time.
When you work part-time and receive an adjusted daily allowance, the maximum payment period will last longer than for people who are completely unemployed. At the same time, every week you work at least 18 hours will count towards a new maximum payment period of 400 days.
While working part time, you can accumulate your right to a new maximum payment period of 400 days. We will review the amount of your daily allowance then, if the previous review was carried out more than a year ago. If you still have time remaining from the maximum payment period of 400 days, the daily allowance will be at least 80% of the previous amount. This means that even if you earn less, your daily allowance will not be reduced considerably.
What shall I do, if I fall ill while unemployed?-
- If you are unemployed, the pandemic caused by the coronavirus shall not as a general rule change your situation in terms of unemployment security. You should continue job-seeking as per normal and send your applications for daily allowance as before.
- If you are receiving earnings-related daily allowance and fall ill, you should keep applying for daily allowance as per normal. Short-time illness does not affect your right to receive unemployment benefit.
- If the illness lasts for more than 10 days, you should mention in the application for daily allowance that you have been ill, and apply for sickness daily allowance from Kela
- If you fall ill so seriously that you are hospitalised or put in other institutional care, you should also mention that in the application. When you are in institutional care, according to the law you are not available to the labour market. You are not entitled to receive earnings-related daily allowance for such a period.
Earnings-related daily allowance cannot be paid, because your employment relationship has not ended and you have not been laid off.
Kela may pay sickness allowance on account of an infectious disease, when the employee has been ordered to stay away from their job due to prevention of the spreading of an infectious disease, such as coronavirus. The custodian of a child under 16 is entitled to receive sickness allowance on account of an infectious disease, if the child has been ordered to quarantine, and the custodian is unable to work because of that. For more information see Kela’s website.
Sickness allowance on account of an infectious disease does not prevent the payment of earnings-related daily allowance, but it will be reduced from the earnings-related daily allowance to be paid i.e. it is a reduced benefit. It may be applied, if you have been in part-time employment and you are ordered to quarantine. If you have been in full-time employment, in practice you cannot receive unemployment benefit for the same period for which you receive sickness allowance on account of an infectious disease.
Questions about lay-off
- Coronavirus in itself is not a viable reason for lay-off, but the epidemic may cause difficulties to the company in terms of economy and/or production e.g. in a situation in which it is not possible to work at the workplace due to lack of materials or customers. In that case the reason is attributable to the employer, and it is possible to lay-off employees.
- If you are not ill and could go to the workplace, but working is prevented there due to an epidemic of a communicable disease, the employer is obliged to pay salary for 14 days as per normal. If working continues to be prevented after that period, you can apply for unemployment daily allowance. Receiving a benefit requires that you have registered as a job-seeker in the TE Office, and the TE Office will issue a statement to the payer of the benefit on a reason comparable to lay-off.
Check the situation with your employer and register in the TE Office as soon as your working is prevented.
It is possible to agree on a notice period for lay-off shorter than 14 days by a collective agreement. The Government has proposed that the notice period for lay-off be shortened to 5 days, but it has not yet been recorded in the law, and the details are not known.
Check the notice period for lay-off with your employer. Register in the TE Office on the first lay-off day at the latest.
The Government has proposed that the right to lay off would also concern fixed-term employment relationships. It has not yet been recorded in the law, and the details are not known.
Check the situation with your employer and register in the TE Office on the first lay-off day at the latest.
The requirement for paying earnings-related daily allowance due to lay-off is that the lay-off is based on the Employment Contracts Act. Because the provisions concerning the managing director of a limited liability company are found in the Limited Liability Companies Act, the Employment Contracts Act shall not be applied to the managing director. The managing director of a limited liability company cannot be laid off in the way referred to in the Employment Contacts Act, so such lay-off does not entitled the person to receive earnings-related daily allowance.