Membership of a light entrepreneur in an unemployment fund for wage earners
When you work as a light entrepreneur, you are usually considered an entrepreneur with regard to unemployment security. As an entrepreneur, you cannot become a member in an unemployment fund for wage earners such as the General Unemployment Fund YTK. However, if you are already a member in an unemployment fund for wage earners, operating as a light entrepreneur will not prevent you from continuing your membership in the fund.
Membership in an unemployment fund for wage earners
Only salaried employees can join an unemployment fund for wage earners. For example, the General Unemployment Fund YTK is an unemployment fund for wage earners. You can only join our fund, if you work as a salaried employee. This is why we often advise you to join us no later than on your first working day. As an entrepreneur, you cannot become a member in our fund.
However, if you are already a member of our fund and start working as a light entrepreneur, you can continue your membership. Fund membership is also worthwhile, because if you have previously fulfilled the working condition, we can pay you an adjusted daily allowance if other conditions are met.
It is also possible that you are working part-time alongside working as a light entrepreneur. If there is enough part-time work, you can also use it to fulfil the working condition, even if you work as a light entrepreneur at the same time. This also requires that your membership is valid during the work. So you should not terminate your membership if you work as a light entrepreneur.
According to the legislation, you can retain membership in the unemployment fund for wage earners for a maximum period of 18 months, if you are working as a full-time entrepreneur continuously for that 18 months. Typically, working as a light entrepreneur is part-time and task-based in nature. Therefore, in practice, the above-mentioned article is more likely to be applied in a situation where you expand your business and set up a company for your business activities.
The Entrepreneur Fund provides insurance for entrepreneurs
As a light entrepreneur, you can take out unemployment insurance from the Unemployment Fund for Entrepreneurs. However, the membership fee at the Unemployment Fund for Entrepreneurs is higher than in an unemployment fund for wage earners. This is because a self-employed person finances a larger portion of their unemployment insurance themselves than the wage earner.
If you work on a small scale, it may not be worth insuring yourself in the Entrepreneur Fund as a light entrepreneur. If you only work a little, you will not be able to fulfil the entrepreneur’s working condition. For more information, please contact the Unemployment Fund for Entrepreneurs (website in Finnish).