The TE Office and the municipalities participating in the local government pilots to promote employment can give you more detailed advice. They are responsible for enforcing the new system, giving advice, arranging job search discussions and monitoring jobseekers’ job search obligations. Please contact the TE Office or your municipality and follow their instructions.

According to the information we have, the TE Office and the municipalities gradually start inviting jobseekers to job search discussions, in which their obligation to apply for work will be assessed. It could be that you have just not been invited yet.

Your dealings with the YTK will not change. You can continue to use our services and apply for earnings-related daily allowance from us just as before.

Getting a reminder does not affect your right to receive unemployment benefits. When you get a reminder, no labour policy-related assessment of your conduct will be carried out. The purpose of the reminder is mainly to remind you what you need to do as a jobseeker.

The new gradual sanctions system involves sanctions related to job search discussions, employment promotion services, and the jobseeker’s obligation to look for work.

Any unpaid waiting periods that result from termination of employment or refusal to accept a job are excluded from the gradual sanctions system. The duration of these waiting periods was reduced from 90 days to 45 days. These periods will no longer be taken into account when assessing the recurrence of the jobseeker’s non-compliance.

In questions concerning the waiting period, you should primarily contact the TE Office. The TE Office determines whether the jobseeker’s conduct has been reprehensible, whether a waiting period will be set, and how long it will be. 

According to the guidelines of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, the crucial factor here is when you have terminated your employment relationship. So, if you have terminated your employment contract on or before 1 May 2022, the TE Office can set a 90-day waiting period in accordance with old legislation. The period of notice and the actual end date of the employment relationship are irrelevant. The same applies when the employment contract is terminated by the employer.

We cannot pay you earnings-related daily allowance until you have fulfilled your work obligation.

You can fulfil your work obligation by doing work that meets the working condition, by participating in an employment promotion service, engaging in full-time studies, or by becoming a full-time entrepreneur or self-employed.

The new Nordic labour market service model allows the jobseeker to address and correct their actions that led to the work obligation if no more than three months have passed since the initial interview at the beginning of the job search. We advise you to contact the TE Office about this.

In the new model, the job search discussions and the obligation to apply for work also apply to jobseekers who participate in vocational labour market training or engage in independent study while receiving unemployment benefits. The job search discussions and the obligation to apply for work mainly apply to jobseekers who are at the end of their studies or training. You can get more information on this from the TE Office or your municipality.

If you receive a statement from the TE Office or your municipality that the payment of your unemployment benefit is suspended, this means that your case is being processed. The labour policy statement related to your case will be automatically sent to the unemployment fund once it is ready. The main thing you need to do is to respond to any information requests as soon and as comprehensively as possible. 

You can continue to apply for your unemployment benefit normally during the processing of your case. We, the YTK, can start processing your application before we have received the statement and finish the processing as soon as it arrives.