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We can pay a maximum total of 300, 400 or 500 days of earnings-related daily allowance. Each time you meet the working condition, you will be entitled to a new maximum period of payment.

The maximum duration of the daily allowance is 300 days if you have worked for a maximum of three years before becoming unemployed.

This situation is most common for young workers who have only recently started their working career.

The maximum duration of the daily allowance is 400 days if you have worked for more than three years in total before becoming unemployed.

This is the most typical maximum period for jobseekers in receipt of earnings-related daily allowance.

The duration of the daily allowance is 500 days if you are aged 58 or over when you start working and you have worked for at least 5 years in total over the last 20 years.

The maximum period of 500 days is the most typical maximum period for jobseekers approaching retirement age.


Expiry of the maximum payment period

Each full daily allowance paid reduces the maximum period by one day.

The maximum number of days we pay is five per calendar week. Paid in one period:

  • The maximum duration of 300 days is therefore about 14 months, or just over a year,
  • 400 days in about 18 months or 1.5 years, and
  • 500 days in about 23 months, or just under 2 years.

The maximum period will run differently if we pay you an adjusted daily allowance for part-time work. In these situations, the adjusted daily allowance will be adjusted to the full daily allowance before being deducted from the maximum period. For example, if the amount of the adjusted daily allowance is half of the full daily allowance, only half a day will be taken from the maximum period. This means that if you work part-time, the maximum period will run more slowly.

There is no similar slowdown if the full daily allowance is reduced by the social benefit.

We can still pay you an earnings-related daily allowance after the maximum payment period if you are entitled to additional days. However, the law has been changed so that the right to additional days is being abolished. The right to additional days has been replaced by a transition security allowance to support the employment of people over 55. Any transition security allowance does not affect the maximum period of payment of the daily allowance.

How many days are left?

In the OmaYTK service, you can check how many days you have been paid and how many days are left of the maximum payment period.

Expiry of the maximum payment period

When the maximum payment period expires, we will notify you.

If your unemployment continues after the maximum payment period has expired, you can apply for labour market subsidy from Kela.

New maximum payment period

When you meet the employment condition, you will receive a new maximum payment period.

The maximum payment period always starts from the beginning. This means that we will not add a new maximum payment period on top of the previous one, even if there is still a maximum payment period left when the employment condition is met again. The maximum payment period is therefore always 300, 400 or 500 days.

The length of the maximum payment period is determined when you become entitled to a new maximum payment period. This means that the maximum payment period does not change in the middle of the maximum period, for example because you turn 58 in the middle of the maximum payment period. Only when you meet the employment condition again will we check how long you are entitled to the maximum period.

There is no limit to the maximum payment periods. So you will always get a new maximum payment period when you meet the employment condition again.

Additional days

As you approach retirement age, you may be entitled to additional days of earnings-related daily allowance. We can then pay you earnings-related daily allowance after the maximum payment period until the end of the calendar month in which you turn 65.


Additional days are being phased out

The possibility of additional days will be phased out from 2023 onwards.

The change will reduce the number of additional days for people born in 1963 and 1964.

If you were born in 1965 or later, you will no longer be entitled to additional days.


The right to additional days depends on your year of birth and when your maximum payment period is reached.

You may be entitled to additional days of earnings-related daily allowance, if

  • you were born in 1955 or 1956 and you will have reached the age of 60 before the end of the maximum period
  • you were born between 1957 and 1960 and have reached the age of 61 before the end of the maximum period
  • you were born in 1961 or 1962 and you reach the age of 62 before the end of the maximum period
  • you were born in 1963 and you have reached the age of 63 before the end of the maximum period
  • you were born in 1964 and you have reached the age of 64 before the maximum period expires

We also require you to have been working for at least five years in the last 20 years when the maximum period is reached.

We will make sure that you do not miss out on any additional days of income support. When the maximum period comes to an end, we will automatically review your entitlement to additional days of earnings-related daily allowance. If you are entitled to additional days but do not continue to claim, we will contact you and let you know.

While you are on additional days, keep your job application valid and continue to claim daily allowance as normal. Also remember that the additional days of income support do not otherwise exempt you from what is required of you as an unemployed person.

Additional day certificate

If you need a certificate from us to prove to your pension company that you have received daily allowance for additional days, you can ask us for it. Please send us a message via OmaYTK.

You may be able to make a shorter than normal application for daily allowance at the beginning of the month before your pension starts, so that you can get the certificate you need for additional days more quickly. However, this is on a case-by-case basis, so you should contact us. We will check your situation and advise you.