Changes proposed to unemployment security due to coronavirus
The proposed changes to unemployment security legislation aim to improve the financial situation of temporarily laid off employees. The amendments have not yet been confirmed.
The Government of Finland has proposed temporary changes to unemployment security legislation due to the coronavirus pandemic. The proposed duration of these temporary measures would be until 6 July 2020, and they would be implemented retroactively from 16 March.
The first discussion in Parliament was on 2 April 2020. Parliament will continue the process the proposal this week.
Earnings-related allowance to be paid during the waiting period
According to the proposal, earnings-related unemployment allowance would temporarily be paid also during the five-day waiting period. The payment of the allowance would begin on the first day of unemployment. This provision would apply to people whose waiting period begins between 16 March and 6 July 2020.
Work requirement halved
The work requirement for employees would be shortened to 13 weeks, if at least one week of work falls after 1 March 2020 and the work requirement of 26 weeks is not fulfilled. An additional requirement is that the first payment date of the allowance can be no later than 5 July 2020. The maximum payment period for the earnings-related allowance cannot be ongoing.
Halving the work requirement would also pertain to family members of entrepreneurs, temporarily bringing their requirement down to 26 weeks from 52 weeks. The required period of membership in an unemployment fund would be similarly halved.
Layoff period not counted towards the maximum payment period
According to the proposal, unemployment allowance paid due to temporary layoffs would not be counted towards the maximum payment period of the earnings-related allowance (300–500 days). This regulation would apply equally to employees who have been temporarily laid off fully and those whose work weeks or days have been shortened as a layoff measure. The change would apply to temporary layoffs beginning on or after 16 March 2020.
PAM is monitoring the progress of the new legislation. We will issue more instructions once the legislation has been confirmed. The website of the unemployment fund has further information and instructions. Read more here (in Finnish).