7 day waiting period and mandatory waiting period
The date from which unemployment benefit is paid depends on several factors.
To receive the unemployment benefit, you must be registered as an unemployed jobseeker in the eServices of Job Market Finland. The unemployment benefit can only be paid for a period for which the unemployment fund has received a qualified labour policy statement from the employment authority.
The starting date of paying the unemployment allowance is also affected by:
- any mandatory waiting period imposed by KEHA Centre
- the periodisation of vacation compensation
- any agreement with the employer on termination of employment, and
- 7-day waiting period.
When you became unemployed or laid-off for the first time, the payment of unemployment allowance starts only after a waiting period of 7 unemployed working days. A calender week is considered to have 5 working days, so the 7-day waiting period lasts more than a week. The waiting period does not have to be continuous. The days of unemployment for a maximum of 8 consecutive calendar weeks can be included in the waiting period.
The running of the mandatory waiting period is subject to the validity of your job search. The mandatory waiting period does not run during the periodisation of vacation compensation or a qualifying period.
Example:
Full-time employment of more than two weeks ends on 31 May. At the end of the employment relationship, you receive a vacation compensation equivalent to three weeks’ pay. The vacation compensation is periodised from 1 to 20 June. The 7-day waiting period starts to run when the periodisation has expired, i.e. from 21 June. The 7-day waiting period is completed on 1 July and the unemployment allowance can be paid from 2 July.
For those who work part-time or gig job, the waiting period is calculated by deducting the working hours during the calendar week from the maximum working hours according to the collective agreement. When these hours amount to 7 working days, the waiting period has been completed.
Example:
A person works part-time in a workplace where the normal working day is 8 hours. The person works 50% of the hours; in other words, the person works 4 hours a day, five days a week. The accumulated mandatory waiting period is half a day for each working day. The mandatory waiting period is completed after 14 working days.
The KEHA Center can impose a mandatory waiting period if you quit your job or your employment ends for reasons attributable to you. A mandatory waiting period can also be imposed if you refuse a job or an employment service or fail to comply with a plan agreed with the employment authority. The KEHA Centre will examine on a case-by-case basis whether you can be considered to have had a valid reason for leaving your job, for example. If the termination is due to reprehensible conduct, you will be subject to a mandatory waiting period.
The duration of the mandatory waiting period varies depending on the situation. For example, failure to comply with a plan agreed with the employment authority will result in the lightest of penalties and you could get off with a warning the first time. Resigning or refusing to work, on the other hand, will always result in a 30 or 45-day mandatory waiting period if there was no valid reason for your action. The duration of the mandatory waiting period depends on the duration of the employment relationship you have resigned from or refused.
for which no unemployment allowance is paid. KEHA Center examines on a case-by-case basis if a person can be considered to have had a valid reason for resigning or refusing to work. If the KEHA Center imposes a mandatory waiting period, the normal 7-day waiting period is still taken after the mandatory waiting period.
Read more about mandatory waiting periods from JobMarket Finland.
If you are participating in an employment service (TE service), unemployment allowance can also be paid during the mandatory waiting period. Employment services include, for example, labour market training and job search coaching provided by the employment authority.
Regardless of a mandatory waiting period unemployment allowance can be paid, if you participate in a employment promoting service during the waiting period.
Read more about employment promoting services from JobMarket Finland.
Please note that the unemployment fund is not an employment authority. Unemployment allowance cannot be paid during a qualifying period, even if you participate in services organised by the fund.
The usual seven-day waiting period does not run during the qualifying period, but is set from the end of the qualifying period. However, the periodisation of vacation compensation can coincide with the qualifying period.
In some situations, your employer may enter into an agreement with you to terminate your employment and agree to pay you a separate compensation. If the payment of the compensation is not based on a collective agreement or any law, you are not entitled to unemployment allowance for the period of time for which the compensation received corresponds to as salary. The period for which unemployment allowance is not paid is calculated by dividing the compensation you received by the salary on which your daily allowance is based on. Read more about the salary on which your daily allowance is based on.
Holiday pay or salary for notice period are not separate compensation as they are based on law. Separate compensation is extra money that your employer is willing to pay to you. Compensations can be paid under several names, e.g. support package, lump sum payment, severance pay, golden handshake.
