You may work and still receive unemployment allowance

When you work during unemployment or lay-off, you must report all working days and hours on your application. Declare also all paid days off, such as public holidays and vacation days. If you work for more than one employer, the workdays should be reported by employer.

Please state the exact number of hours you have worked each working day. Do not roud the working time to the nearest hour or half hour. We use the work information you give e.g. to calculate the 7-day waiting period and to check the working time limit of adjusted allowance. Read more about fulfilling the work requirement again.

Please also state in your application all salary payment dates that you have had during the application period. If part of the salary for the work you have done during the application period will be paid later, please also state your estimate of the date on which the rest off the salary will be paid. 

Salary affects the daily allowance for the application period during which the salary is paid. This way, you can send your application as soon as the application period ends – you don´t have to wait for the payday of the work you have done.

Income affects the daily allowance for the application period during which the salary is paid – regardless of when the work was actually done.

Half (50 precent) of the gross salary paid during the application period will be deducted from your dull daily allowance. Thus even small salary incomes affect your daily allowance.

However, the salary paid, and the adjusted allowance may not exceed the total amount of the salary on which your daily allowance is based on (so-called 100% rule). On the other hand, the adjusted allowance is paid at least to the amount that you would be entitled to as basic unemployment security in the same situation (Kelas basic unemployment allowance minus the salary’s reducing effect).

You can estimate the amount of your adjusted allowance by using the allowance calculator.

Example:  

An unemployed person sends applications monthly and receives a daily allowance of 70 euros/day (gross) when fully unemployed. She works during 29.5. – 7.8.2024 in a part-time job, where the gross salary is 1000 euros / month. Salary is always paid on the 15th of the following month. That means that the salary for the work done during 29. – 31.5.2024 is paid on15.6.2024, salary for work done during June is paid on 15.7.2024 and so on.

The allowance for 1. – 31.5.2024 is paid in full (70 euros/day), because no salaries were paid during May (first pay day was in June). The daily allowance is therefore paid in full, even though she had working days in January.

For 1. – 30.6.2024  adjusted allowance is paid in the amount of 67,75 euros/day. The allowance has been affected by the salary for the period 29. – 31.5.2024  of 96,77 euros (gross) which eas paid on June 15th.

For 1. – 31.7.2024 adjusted allowance is paid in the amount of 46,74 euros/day (gross). The allowance has been affected by the July salary of 1.000 euros (gross) which was paid on August 15th. 

For 1. – 31.8.2024 adjusted allowance is paid in the amount of 46,74 euros/day (gross). The allowance has been affected by the June salary of 1.000 euros (gross) which was paid on July 15th. 

For 1. – 30.9.2024 adjusted allowance is paid in the amount of 64,57 euros/day (gross). The allowance has been affected by the salary for the period 1. – 7.8.2024 of 233,33 euros (gross) which was paid on September 15th. The allowance is paid adjusted due to the salary pay day on September 15th, even if she has not worked at all in September.

Earnings-related unemployment allowance is paid for a maximum of 300, 400 or 500 days. When you receive adjusted allowance, the maximum payment days counter accumulates only in proportion to what the adjusted allowance paid is compared to the full daily allowance. 

Example 1: monthly applications

Daily allowance is 70 euros/day (gross) when fully unemployed. Person starts to work part-time and receives a salary of 1.000 euros/month (gross).

The amount of gross salary exceeding the exempt amount is 700 euros gross (1.000 e – 300 e), half of which, that is 350 euros, reduces the full daily allowance for that month. According to law, it is considered that there are an average of 21,5 compensation days per month, so the salary reduces the full daily allowance 16,28 euros/day gross (350 e / 21,5 = 16,28).

The adjusted allowance is paid in the amount of 53,72 euros/day gross (70 e – 16,28 e). When there are 22 compensation days in the month adjusted allowance is paid a total of 1.181,84 euros gross (22 days x 53,72 euros/day). The amount paid equals the allowance of 16,88 days of full unemployment (1.181,84 e / 70,00 euros/day), so 17 days are added to the maximum payment days counter.

Example 2: application in periods of 4 weeks

Daily allowance is 70 euros/day (gross) when fully unemployed. Person starts to work part-time and receives a salary of 1.000 euros/4 weeks (gross).

The amount of gross salary exceeding the exempt amount is 721 euros gross (1.000 e – 279 e), half of which, that is 360,50 euros, reduces the full daily allowance for that month. There are 20 compensation days in a 4 week period, so the salary reduces the full daily allowance 18,02 euros/day gross (360,50 e / 20).

The adjusted allowance is paid in the amount of 51,98 euros/day gross (70 e – 18,02 e). For a 4 weeks period a total of 1.039,60 euros gross (20 days x 51,98 euros/day) of adjusted allowance is paid. The amount paid equals the allowance of 14,85 days of full unemployment (1.039,60 e / 70,00 euros/day), so 15 days are added to the maximum payment days counter.

If you have a business or are self-employed you must always notify both the employment authorities and the fund of your activities.

If you have had a business or have been self-employed even before you were unemployed, notify the employment authorities of your activities when you register as a job seeker. The employment authorities will evaluate how extensive your business activity is and decides whether the business activity is sufficiently small to allow payment of the earnings-related allowance. In general, a business or self-employment that has been practiced alongside full-time employment for 6 months does not prevent payment of the daily allowance.

If you start a business or self-employment while you are unemployed, notify the employment authorities of your business activities as soon as the activity begins. During the first four months the employment authorities will not evaluate how extensive your business activity is. Therefore, you can still continue to receive unemployment benefit payments for at least another 4 months.

After the 4 months period has passed, the employment authorities will evaluate whether your business is principal or secondary.

If the employment authorities evaluates your business activities to be

• secondary, you have a right to adjusted unemployment allowance. While you have a secondary business, the income you receive from your business affect the amount of your unemployment allowance.
• principal, you have no right to unemployment benefits. 

Taking business income into account

If you have had a business for a longer time, the income is taken into account according to your latest confirmed tax decision. Attach to your application the tax decision of your latest confirmed personal taxation (all pages).

If you have just begun a business and have not yet completed a tax return, attach to your application your own explanation of your business income and expenses (separately for every unemployment month).

Income from a secondary business affects the daily allowance in the same way as income from park-time job or gig job.

In unemployment insurance, agriculture and forestry are considered to be business activities and the income received from them is taken into account in the same way as other business income.

Income from agriculture of forestry is taken into account according to your latest tax decision. Attach to your application the tax decision of your latest confirmed personal taxation (all pages).

If you are involved in a working time bank system, provide a copy of the agreement to join the working time bank. Working hours and salary saved to or withdrawn from a working time bank during unemployment, are taken into account in the adjustment of your unemployment allowance in the same way as normal working hours and salary.

• When you save working hours to the working time bank, state the working hours that you have saved to the bank in your application.  Attach for example a copy of your shift list and a statement written by payroll office on the salary of the saved time.
• When you take time off based on working time you have already saved to the bank, state the free-time in your application. Mark Other reason: bank-free-time