Unemployment allowances to be paid as quickly as possible
According to Director Ilkka Nissilä at the Unemployment Fund, the most important thing now is to ensure that unemployment allowances are paid as quickly as possible.
The Unemployment Fund of PAM has sought solutions to speed up the processing of applications. The number of applications has multiplied, which may lead to delays.
The sudden standstill of society caused by the coronavirus epidemic has resulted in a crisis at many service industry companies. During the past few weeks, Ilkka Nissilä has also noticed this in his work as director of the Unemployment Fund.
The goal of the Unemployment Fund is to pay all earnings-related unemployment allowances as quickly as possible.
The processing capacity for applications has been increased rapidly, as the number of unemployment allowance applications has increased more than ten-fold from the beginning of the year. We have reorganised staff resources inside the Unemployment Fund, sped up our processes and recruited new employees. We have also received staff from PAM to help us with duties at the Unemployment Fund.
The Finnish system of unemployment and social security was not built for an abrupt stop of our society. This has put unemployment funds into a difficult position. The work of the unemployment funds is governed by legislation, and we cannot deviate from it. It’s difficult to predict the future, but I’m sure processing times will be longer than usual.
Amendments have been made to unemployment security legislation to improve the situation of temporarily laid off employees. The amendments were necessary, as many people are now in dire financial straits. Unfortunately, these legislative changes caused additional work at the Unemployment Fund, delaying the payment of unemployment allowances.
Due to the huge volume of new applications, Nissilä asks members to only call the helpline if they absolutely have to. The websites of PAM and the Unemployment Fund provide a great deal of information, for example on how to apply for earnings-related unemployment allowance. The website also features up-to-date information on the status of unemployment allowance applications.