Government proposes stricter mandatory waiting periods for unemployment benefits – how would the unemployed be affected?

Mandatory waiting periods (karenssi) are periods of time during which you will not be paid any unemployment benefits.

If employment services impose an obligation to work (työssäolovelvoite) on you, Kela will stop paying you unemployment benefits for the time being. Your right to unemployment benefits will be restored after you have worked or participated in employment-promoting services for at least 6 weeks.

If the government proposal passes into law, the stricter mandatory waiting periods will come into effect on 1 January 2026. Employment services will impose the following mandatory waiting periods on you after the change if you do not apply for jobs or complete the tasks employment services have given to you:

• The first infraction will result in a 7-day mandatory waiting period. You will not be paid any unemployment benefits during this time.
• A second infraction will result in a 6-week obligation to work. This means that you can get unemployment benefits only after you have fulfilled your obligation to work by either working or participating in employment-promoting services for at least 6 weeks.

Until the change passes into law, employment services will impose the following mandatory waiting periods on you if you do not apply for jobs or complete the tasks employment services have given to you:

• The first infraction will result in a reminder.
• A second infraction will result in a 7-day mandatory waiting period. You will not be paid any unemployment benefits during this time.
• A third infraction will result in a 14-day mandatory waiting period. You will not be paid any unemployment benefits during this time.
• A fourth infraction will result in a 12-week obligation to work. This means that you can get unemployment benefits only after you have fulfilled your obligation to work by either working or participating in employment-promoting services for at least 12 calendar weeks.

The number of infractions will continue to be assessed on an annual basis even after the change.

Employment services currently do not and in the future will not impose a mandatory waiting period or an obligation to work on you if you have a valid reason for not applying for jobs or completing the tasks employment services have given to you. For example, illness or an accident count as valid reasons. Read more below.

Read all instructions and decision notices you get from employment services carefully and complete all tasks given to you by employment services by the deadline. If you cannot complete the tasks for some reason, please contact employment services to let them know well before the deadline.

Employment services may impose a mandatory waiting period or an obligation to work on you if, for example, you miss an appointment with employment services, you do not submit documents related to your ability to work as agreed or you do not keep your job search plan up to date.

Employment services will first send you a request for clarification before taking any other action. We recommend that you reply to the request without delay. If you have a valid reason for not applying for jobs or completing the tasks employment services have given to you, write down that reason in your response to the request for clarification and send any proof you have as attachments. For example, illness, an accident or some other event that was beyond your control count as valid reasons.

Employment services will not impose a mandatory waiting period or an obligation to work on you if they agree that the reason why you have not applied for jobs or completed the requested tasks is valid.

Read more about why employment services may impose a mandatory waiting period on you and what counts as a valid reason in terms of work and services at Job Market Finland.

You can ask Kela to review a decision Kela has issued to you on your unemployment benefits. Before you ask Kela to review the decision, read the decision notice you got from Kela and the labour policy statement given by employment services to check the reasons why Kela issued the decision to you.

Kela does not impose mandatory waiting periods on anyone. Kela issues decisions on unemployment benefits based on a labour policy statement given by employment services. Please contact employment services (Job Market Finland) if, for example, you want to submit more information that relates to your mandatory waiting period or ask employment services to reassess the labour policy statement they have issued.

If you have any other questions about mandatory waiting periods, please call the KEHA Centre’s helpline for unemployment security advice (Job Market Finland).

Contact Kela to check if you have the right to other benefits such as general housing allowance, sickness allowance or rehabilitation subsidy.

Social assistance is a last-resort form of financial assistance that you can apply for if your income and assets are not enough to cover your essential daily expenses, such as rent and food. However, Kela may have to reduce the basic amount of your social assistance if employment services have imposed a mandatory waiting period or obligation to work on you that affects your unemployment benefits. Read more about when Kela can reduce the basic amount included in social assistance.

If Parliament approves the government proposal, it will come into effect on 1 January 2026. If you do not apply for jobs or participate in employment services despite being asked to do so before 1 January 2026, employment services will apply the law that is currently in force to your case.

Kela will publish an update on its Unemployment page in late 2025 to let customers know if the government proposal passes into law.

The changes proposed to mandatory waiting periods will also apply to unemployed persons who are paid the upcoming general social security benefit based on unemployment. Kela publishes updates on how the preparation of the general social security benefit is progressing on its Unemployment page and will provide instructions on how to apply for it in the OmaKela e-service.