Fortunately, the checklist for unemployment security is short and simple:

1. Register as a job seeker no later than on the first day of unemployment (tyomarkkinatori.fi -> e-services of the TE Services)
2. After two weeks, submit your first application for earnings-related daily allowance in the OmaYTK service

We cannot pay earnings-related daily allowance if you aren’t registered as a job seeker. Therefore, browsing jobs on your own is not enough. You have to register as a job seeker with the TE Services. This can be done through the e-services of the TE Services, which can be accessed via tyomarkkinatori.fi. There, you can find extensive advice on searching for work, training, and career planning in one place.

A condition for receiving earnings-related daily allowance is that you apply for and are prepared to accept full-time employment. Even if you already have a continuation planned for the autumn, you can’t neglect your job search during the summer. If you do not intend to look for work or are not willing to accept work, you will receive a statement from the TE Services saying that you are not entitled to unemployment benefit. When you are in contact with the TE Services, please provide details about your work plans and any jobs you may already have lined up. This affects the kinds of services that will be offered to you.

Once two weeks have passed since the termination of your employment, send us your first application. The easiest way to do this is in the OmaYTK service. OmaYTK is our online service where you can submit an application, send the necessary attachments and, if necessary, ask us for advice.

Nowadays, we do not require many attachments with the application. The necessary attachments depend on your situation. When you fill in the application, OmaYTK will tell you which attachments are needed.

We need salary information, but we get it from the Incomes Register. Everything we need is not always available there, so we will ask for clarifications and supplements from time to time.

However, the most important thing is that you send us your application. From there on, we will assume the responsibility and take the matter forward.

We can only pay daily allowance based on received applications. Therefore, remember to submit follow-up applications during periods of unemployment. Daily allowance is always applied for retroactively, and OmaYTK will provide advice on the correct application period. If you will resume employment in the autumn, apply for earnings-related daily allowance until you start working. You can indicate in the application that you will return to work, but you don’t need to take any significant action in our direction at that point.

If everything is in order, we can pay you earnings-related daily allowance. However, we can only pay earnings-related daily allowance after the five-day waiting period. More precisely, the waiting period is the equivalent of five full working days, so sometimes the waiting period accumulates in hours. In this case, the waiting period counted in days can amount to more than five days. Such a situation may arise if, for example, you work part-time during unemployment.

When we are able to pay, we pay earnings-related daily allowance retroactively on the basis of an application. We can pay for five days a week.

If you work on a part-time basis or in temporary work during the summer, mention this in your application. OmaYTK will provide advice on how to supplement your application and we will also ask you separately if we need further information to process your application.

Part-time jobs and short full-time jobs do not in themselves prevent you from applying for earnings-related daily allowance. The income from these is taken into account in the amount of earnings-related daily allowance on the date on which the wages are paid. Earned income of less than 300 euros has no effect at all. After that, each euro paid reduces the daily allowance by 50 cents. Therefore, part-time work is a great way to earn extra income alongside the unemployment benefit.