On this page, you can find the answers to our most frequently asked questions regarding membership in KOKO. More information on the subject: Membership
Sign in to our eService using your online banking credentials. If you are a member of KOKO, you will be able to view your personal information. If you are not a member of KOKO, the service will tell you that once you have signed in.
There is a delay of 1 to 2 months before information about new members is transmitted from your trade union to the unemployment fund. In this case, you can check your membership status by contacting your union.
The fee is charged from the month you have joined the fund.
If you are a direct member of KOKO (meaning that you are only a member of the unemployment fund) or if you have joined KOKO through Safa ry, you can send your membership fee inquiries to KOKO in the eService in the Messages section.
If you have joined KOKO through your trade union (other than Safa ry), you can check your membership fee payment status by contacting your union.
The invoicing methods available to the direct members of the unemployment fund are paper invoice (default) and electronic invoice. If you want to, you can switch from paper invoice to electronic invoice in your online banking service.
If your KOKO membership is through your trade union, you can check the available invoicing methods from your union.
If you are a direct member of KOKO or you have joined KOKO through Safa ry, you can order an electronic invoice in your online banking service. Select Korkeasti koulutettujen työttömyyskassa KOKO as the payee and enter your personal identity code as the identifier.
If your KOKO membership is through your trade union (other than Safa ry), please contact your union.
Tip: To find KOKO on the list of payees in your online bank, use the official name of KOKO (Korkeasti koulutettujen työttömyyskassa KOKO), either in full or in part, or KOKO’s business ID (0116562-4).
Contact your bank if you need more detailed information on electronic invoicing.
If you resign from KOKO in the middle of the year, your membership fee for the rest of the year can be refunded. You need to send us a written request for the refund through eService function and give us your bank account details. You need to request your refund within three months of ending your membership in KOKO. If you were a member through your trade union, you can ask your union for the refund.
You cannot get a discount on your KOKO membership fee or have your fee waived (unlike your union’s membership fee). The membership fee is the same for everyone and you need to pay it even if you are unemployed, on maternity leave, on childcare leave, in the army or a student.
If you want to end your trade union membership and continue as a direct member of KOKO, notify both KOKO and your union in writing. You can notify KOKO by sending a message in our eService . You can notify your trade union in your union’s online service or by email.
To switch to being a member of the unemployment fund through your trade union, you should notify both KOKO and your union. You can notify KOKO by sending a message in our eService . You can notify your trade union in your union’s online service or by email.
You can join KOKO through 15 trade unions. A list of these unions is available here.
As a student, you can join the unemployment fund if you are in paid employment. When you are a member of the unemployment fund, you accumulate earnings-related unemployment security for yourself while working. If you do not find employment immediately after graduation, you can receive earnings-related unemployment allowance from the unemployment fund.
In order to receive earnings-related unemployment allowance, you must meet the employment condition, which means that you have to have worked for 26 calendar weeks, i.e. 6 months. However, the work does not have to be from one time period only: as a student, you can accumulate working weeks for several years, for example in summer jobs.
You cannot, however, have any interruptions in your unemployment fund membership. So, after you join, stay a member of the unemployment fund throughout your studies – even if you don’t work alongside your studies all the time.
Earnings-related unemployment security is accumulated by all kinds of paid work that is in accordance with the employment condition. Therefore, when joining the fund, you do not necessarily have to do work in a job related to your own field of study. People who work part-time can also join the unemployment fund, but they must have at least 18 working hours per week to fulfil the employment condition of the earnings-related unemployment allowance.
For more information, check the page Conditions for earnings-related allowance to see what is considered paid employment in accordance with the employment condition.