Frontpage / Conditions for receiving earnings-related unemployment allowance

Conditions for receiving earnings-related unemployment allowance

To receive earnings-related allowance, you must meet both the membership and employment conditions. This means that you need to have worked a sufficiently long time while you have also been a member of an unemployment fund.

Membership condition

You meet the membership condition if you have been a member of an unemployment fund for at least 12 months.

Employment condition

You meet the employment condition if you have worked for at least 12 calendar months while you have been a member of an unemployment fund.

You accrue one month towards the employment condition for calendar months during which you earn at least 930 euros a month.
You accrue half of a month towards the employment condition for calendar months during which you earn at least 465 euros a month.

Monthly wage or salary	Time accrued towards your employment condition
€930 or more	1 month
€465 to €930	1/2 of a month
less than €465	no time accrued

Two half-months are equal to one full month of employment. The half-months do not need to be consecutive. In other words, the right to earnings-related unemployment allowance can be earned from 10 full months and four half-months, for example.

The employment condition is calculated from your wage or salary before taxes and other deductions.

Other requirements for accruing the employment condition

In addition, the requirement is that

you have worked in an employment relationship
taxes and unemployment and social security contributions have been paid for the work
the pay for your full-time work is in accordance with the sector’s collective agreement or, if there is no collective agreement in your sector, at least €1,463 a month in 2026.

Even small earnings and employee benefits can accrue the employment condition

The employment condition can also be accrued entirely from employee fringe benefits, such as a car or housing allowance, increments on base pay, or wages paid after the employment relationship has ended (if they amount to at least 465 euros a month). It’s good to note that in this case, the amount of your earnings-related allowance may be lower as the daily allowance is calculated from your earned income during the months that count toward your employment condition.

Wages and salary are calculated based on date of payment

As a rule, wages and salary are calculated towards the employment condition based on the date of payment. For example, if you work temporary jobs for different employers in October and November and you are paid for all of these in December, only the month of December will count towards your employment condition.

Exceptions to this include bonuses earned from the entire year. They are distributed over the course of the year and count toward the employment condition based on when the bonus was earned.

Read more about exceptions:

Salary earned over a period of more than one month

If you are exceptionally paid a salary for a longer earnings period than the standard salary payment period, your salary is distributed over corresponding number of calendar months before or after payment form which the salary was earned, including the month of payment. Distributing the salary to months before or after the month of payment depends on when the salary was earned:

– Distribution over previous months: The salary is distributed over previous months if it is paid in arrears for a period of more than one month.
– Distribution over future months: The salary is distributed over future months if it is paid in advance for a period of more than one month.

Example:
Your employment begins on 15 October and ends on the last day of the following month, upon which you are paid the salary for the entire employment relationship in a single instalment. Your salary of 3,000 euros for the employment period (15 October to 30 November 2024) is paid in a single instalment on 30 November 2024. This differs from the standard salary payment period and earnings period of one month. The salary is distributed and allocated to the month of payment and the previous month, in other words October and November.

In cases where the base salary and supplements from previous months are paid during a calendar month, the salary is not distributed over several months.

Example:
On 15 October, you are paid your base salary for October and supplements from work done in September. The salary is allocated only to the month of October based on the payday, not to two separate months. The situation does not constitute a non-standard salary payment period or a longer earnings period than normal.

Performance-based pay, bonus and other pay by results earned over a period of more than one month

Delay due to the employer and wage security

If the payment of wages or salaries is delayed due to reasons attributable to the employer, the pay is allocated to the calendar month in which it should have been paid without the delay. A delay in payment refers to a situation in which the payment of wages or salaries is postponed in such a way that the salary is paid in a different calendar month than when it should have been paid.

Salary or wages paid from wage security is also allocated to the calendar month in which the salary or wages should have been paid before the delay.

Example:
Your employer faces financial problems and is unable to pay wages on the standard paydays (June 15, July 15 and August 15). You should have been paid €1,200 in June, €675 in July and €985 in August. The employer pays all of the late wages, 2,860 euros in total, on 21 October. The wages are allocated for the period 1 June to 31 August.

Review period of the employment condition

The employment condition must be met within the review period of 28 months (2 years and 4 months) immediately preceding the unemployment.

Months accrued towards the employment condition do not need to be consecutive or for the same employer. In other words, individual months during which you have been paid a salary or wages can be included in the employment condition from the last 2 years and 4 months.

Extended review period

The review period can be extended by up to seven years if you have an acceptable reason to be absent from the labour market. For example, if you have been studying, sick, completing your military or non-military service, on job alternation leave, on a grant period or taking care of a child aged 3 or younger, months can be counted over a longer period.

The reason for extending the review period must be personal. For example, the fact that you have been abroad because of your spouse’s job is not an acceptable reason to extend the review period. Your review period can be extended, however, if you have been abroad with your spouse and have simultaneously cared for a child no more than three years old or have studied.

Re-fulfilment of the employment condition

If you are applying for unemployment allowance while also working occasionally or part-time, each month (or half-month) that meets the employment condition counts toward your new employment condition. The unemployment fund records the months of employment in your employment register.

You will meet the employment condition again once you have worked at least 12 calendar months that count towards the employment condition.

When your employment condition is met again

the amount of your daily allowance is recalculated
a new 7-day waiting period begins
the period which you can receive the allowance starts over (new period of 300, 400, or 500 days).

1. Amount of the new daily allowance

Once you have met the employment condition again, the amount of your daily allowance will be recalculated. The amount of your allowance is calculated on the basis of earnings from the work counted toward your employment condition, in other words your most recent earnings. Your new daily allowance is at least 80% of the daily allowance you previously received if the amount of the allowance is recalculated during the allowance period (300, 400 or 500 days).

2. New 7-day waiting period

Once your employment condition is met again, a new waiting period is applied.

3. New payment period of allowance

When you meet the employment condition again, payment of the daily allowance starts over. This means that a new payment period will start that will last 300, 400, or 500 days.

Transferring membership and employment periods when switching unemployment funds

You can transfer any months you have accrued towards the membership and employment conditions from another fund to KOKO fund if you join KOKO within 1 month after leaving your previous unemployment fund.

Examples

1. You end your membership in your old fund on 4 May and join KOKO fund on 31 May. The break between the memberships is less than one month, so the membership and employment months you have accrued in the previous fund are transferred to your new fund.

2. You end your membership in your old fund on 4 May and join KOKO fund on 15 June. The break between the memberships is longer than one month, so you will need to restart and re-meet the membership and employment condition from zero.

Changes to the conditions for receiving allowance in 2024

The amended Unemployment Security Act in the autumn of 2024 changed the conditions for receiving earnings-related unemployment allowance. Previously, earnings-related unemployment allowance could be received after working for six months while being a member of an unemployment fund. Now, the requirement is a minimum of 12 months of employment while being a member of an unemployment fund.

Employment condition before 1 September 2024: 26 calendar weeks (about six months)
Employment condition as of 2 September 2024: 12 calendar months (1 year)

You may still have accrued time toward your employment condition under both the old and new rules. This is possible if you have been on a longer period of family leave between periods of employment, for example. For more information, see: Accruing the employment condition fully or partially before 2 September 2024.