The Government has proposed a new combined unemployment insurance scheme – change would affect the terms of the general social security benefit

The Government has proposed the addition of new provisions to the Unemployment Security Act that apply to the work requirement (työssäoloehto) under a new combined unemployment insurance scheme (yhdistelmävakuutus). This would affect those who get their income from several different sources.

If you work as an employee while also running your own business, the income you earn from your paid employment and your business will both count towards your work requirement after the change. Working grants and fees paid to family caregivers will also count towards your work requirement under the combined unemployment insurance scheme.

You may get earnings-related unemployment allowance (ansiopäiväraha) when unemployed if you meet the work requirement and are a member of an unemployment fund (työttömyyskassa). At present, income earned from either employment or self-employment counts towards the work requirement and they cannot be combined.

In the future, you can combine paid employment and self-employment to meet the work requirement if you are insured under the combined unemployment insurance scheme. Even in that case, you will meet the requirement only if you accumulate at least 12 months of work that counts towards the work requirement during a reference period of 28 months. A calendar month during which you have earned at least EUR 930 in income will count as a month towards the work requirement.

You must apply to be insured under the combined unemployment insurance scheme either when you join an unemployment fund or during your membership in the fund in order to accumulate the work requirement under the combined unemployment insurance scheme.

When unemployed, you may get general social security benefit even if you have not fulfilled the work requirement. If the government proposal is adopted, the change will affect these terms of the general social security benefit:

Calendar weeks that count towards the work requirement under the combined unemployment insurance scheme will shorten the qualifying period of the general social security benefit

If you do not have a vocational qualification or a higher education degree, you must complete a qualifying period (odotusaika) of 21 weeks before you can get general social security benefit. Weeks that can shorten your qualifying period include full calendar weeks you work in employment that counts towards the work requirement.

After the change, calendar weeks that count towards the work requirement under the combined unemployment insurance scheme will also shorten the qualifying period of the general social security benefit.

Your parents’ income will not reduce your general social security benefit if you fulfil the work requirement under the combined unemployment insurance scheme

If you live with your parents, their income may reduce your general social security benefit. However, your parents’ income does not reduce your general social security benefit if you fulfil the work requirement.

After the change, your parents’ income will also not reduce your general social security benefit if you fulfil the work requirement under the combined unemployment insurance scheme.

Your general social security benefit will be adjusted if you are paid a working grant or fees paid to family caregivers

If you get a working grant or you are paid a fee for being a family caregiver in addition to the general social security benefit, they will affect your general social security benefit in the same way as wages or salaries.

This means that your general social security benefit will be reduced in line with your wages or salary, your working grant, or the fee paid to you as a family caregiver. Half of the gross amount you get will be deducted from the general social security benefit.

After the change, working grants or fees paid to family caregivers will no longer be taken into account in the means test for your general social security benefit.

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The change will affect you if you work as an employee while also running your own business. In the future, you may get earnings-related unemployment allowance more easily because of the combined unemployment insurance scheme. Income from both your paid employment and your business will also affect the amount of earnings-related unemployment allowance you can get.

When unemployed, you may get the general social security benefit even if you have not fulfilled the work requirement. However, the change will affect some terms of the general social security benefit. These have been described under Which terms of the general social security benefit would change?

If Parliament approves the proposed law, it will come into effect on 1 January 2028. This means that the new combined insurance scheme could begin to apply to the way the work requirement accumulates as of 1 January 2028, and the first time the work requirement can be fulfilled under the new scheme is at the beginning of 2029.

Kela will keep customers up to date on the ongoing process and publish an update on the Unemployment page after the legislative amendment has entered into force.