Unemployment fund preparing for increased application volumes
The three-week restaurant shutdown ordered by the Finnish government will increase the number of applicants at PAM’s Unemployment Fund. The fund has been experiencing increased volumes of applications for earnings-related unemployment allowance since January.
Human resources are being increasingly channelled towards processing applications to prevent processing times being further delayed.
“Normally our staff process applications and do customer service. Now that we are focusing more on processing, we are having to reduce resources in customer service. This will lead to longer response times for our phone helplines and messages in e-services”, says Fund Manager Ilkka Nissilä.
A new processing team started at the unemployment fund in February, and their orientation period has been completed. Their input is already showing up in increased processing throughput in the fund as a whole. Overtime working and new arrangements have also been brought in to shorten processing times.
“We understand that our members working in low-paid sectors are in a very difficult situation. All the staff of the fund are committed to doing all they can to get allowances paid to members as quickly as possible”, says Nissilä.
Help and tips
If you become unemployed or are laid off, please remember the closest place to get help is your workplace shop steward. You can find detailed information on earnings-related unemployment allowance and how to apply on the fund’s website. Check out the instructions for applying for earnings-related unemployment allowance here. Please only contact customer service if you can’t find the answer to your question on the fund’s website (in Finnish). Remember also to try the search function on the site when searching for answers.
To make processing easier and speed up your application, complete your application carefully and send all the necessary attachments. Then your application is more likely to be processed as soon as it’s your turn without having to request further information. You are advised to attach a copy of your employment contract and lay-off notice to your application. The fund gets your wage payment details from the Incomes Register, but in some cases we have to ask for an earnings certificate if the employer has not reported all the information to the register. You can find more information on these and the other attachments here.
Applications are processed in the order they are received. Please avoid contacting us about processing times. You can follow the processing schedule and the number of pending applications on the fund’s website. Please only contact customer service if, based on the processing situation, your application’s arrival date has passed and you have not received requests for further information.