Annual income

The amount of your allowance is based on your annual income. You can estimate the amount of sickness allowances by using the calculator (in Finnish). 

In certain situations the allowance can be determined on the basis of the income for the last 3 calendar months of the reference period. Read more: Special circumstances

Wage or salary income

Earnings from private- or public-sector employment paid during the reference period are included in the annual income. As a rule, Kela receives information on wages and salaries that are included in the annual income from the national Incomes Register, so this information need not be reported to Kela separately.

The employer must report wage and salary information to the Incomes Register within five days of the date of payment. You can check the information submitted by your employer in the Incomes Register (vero.fi/income register). You log in to the online service with your online bank credentials or a mobile ID. Please note that employers also report income that is not included in the annual income, e.g. reimbursements of costs, to the Incomes Register. 

If you think that your earnings data in the Incomes Register contains inaccuracies or incorrect information, you should ask your employer to correct the information. You cannot correct the data contained in the national incomes register yourself.

Foreign earned income can exceptionally be included in the annual income, even if you have not been entitled to social security in Finland, if all of the following conditions are met:

• You have returned to Finland.
• You have received salary during the review period while working in another European Union member state or a state where European Union legislation applies (e.g., Norway).
• You have become insured for healthcare again in Finland and have no annual income from Finland.

If the salary you earned abroad significantly differs from the salary you would have received for equivalent work in Finland, your daily allowance will be based on an estimate made by Kela. This is an estimate of the income you would have earned for equivalent work in Finland, taking into account your education and qualifications.

Salay for insurance purposes

If you have worked abroad during the reference period, and a salary for insurance purposes has been determined for the duration of your employment abroad, your annual income is calculated on the basis of the insurance salary instead of on the salary actually paid to you.

Income under the self-employed persons' (YEL) and farmers' (MYEL) pension insurance schemes

If you are a self-employed person insured under the YEL or MYEL pension insurance scheme, your annual income will include the reported YEL or MYEL income for the 12 calendar month reference period. The income is calculated only for the period when the insurance was in force.

No other income from self-employment is included in the annual income, for example not wage or salary income from your own business, nor income from self-employment. If the YEL or MYEL insurance has not been in force during the reference period, no income from self-employment is included in the annual income.

Self-employment and paid employment

If you are self-employed on a part-time basis, i.e. you have worked as a self-employed person during the reference period and at the same time worked as a salaried employee for another employer, your annual income will, in addition to the reported income under the YEL or MYEL scheme, also include the salary paid to you.

Grants and scholarships

If you have a research or arts grant or scholarship and you have a MYEL insurance with the Farmers' Social Insurance Institution (Mela) based on the grant or scholarship, your annual income is calculated on the basis of your reported income under the MYEL insurance.

If you are not under obligation to take out MYEL insurance, your grant or scholarship is not included in your annual income.

Benefit-based income

The benefit-based income is a calculated income determined on the basis of the average daily amount of certain benefits you have received in the 12-month reference period.

The benefit-based income only includes the following benefits when the period of award falls within the 12-month reference period:

• unemployment benefit
• job alternation compensation
• sickness allowance
• partial sickness allowance
• daily allowances for parents
• special care allowances
• sickness allowance on account of human cell, tissue and organ donation
• rehabilitation allowance from Kela
• rehabilitation allowance or rehabilitation increase provided under the earnings-related pension acts
• disability pension provided under the earnings-related pension acts
• disability pension provided under the National Pensions Act
• guarantee pension as supplement to disability pension
• adult education subsidy
• adjustment pension or adjustment allowance for Members of Parliament
• study grant.

Benefits paid to the employer are not included in the annual income because you have for the same period received wages that are included in the annual income.

Compensations for loss of income

Compensations for loss of income awarded during the reference period are included in the annual income if the compensation is based on one of the following:

• accident at work
• occupational disease
• traffic accident
• patient injury
• military injury
• communicable disease under the Act on Communicable Diseases (sickness allowance on account of an infectious disease).

Compensations for loss of income are taken into account to the amount awarded.

The compensation is usually not included in the annual income if payment continues alongside a Kela benefit awarded for the same period. Compensations paid to the employer are not included in the annual income because you have for the same period received wages that are included in the annual income.