Unemployment insurance in the EU area (EU, EEA and Switzerland)
You must take out unemployment insurance in the country in which you perform the work, except if you are a posted worker. It is not relevant whether you are resident in the country in which you work.
Sweden and Denmark have a system of unemployment funds similar to the one in Finland. If you are working in Sweden or Denmark, you must join a local unemployment fund in lieu of unemployment insurance. Further information on working in the Nordic countries.
In other countries in the EU area, you have unemployment coverage on the basis of employment. However, check with the local authorities to find out about requirements for unemployment security before starting work in that country.
Please note that the UK has entered into a partnership agreement with the EU, which will remain in force for the next 15 years. With this partnership agreement, work carried out in the UK may be acknowledged when claiming for earnings-related unemployment allowance benefit in Finland. Read more
The U1 form is important
Work done in the EU area counts towards the employment condition in Finland under certain circumstances. You can register the employment and insurance periods accrued abroad in Finland using a U1 form. The U1 form is a form used to transfer employment and insurance periods between EU area countries.
In order to qualify for earnings-related daily allowance, you must meet the employment condition and the membership condition, and employment in another EU area country can be taken into account in this respect.
You no longer need to request a U1 form yourself from the country of work. The authorities in the country of your current residence can send a form request to the authorities of the country in which you previously worked via an electronic system RINA.
Always save all documents related to your employment.
Crediting work done in the EU area to the employment condition in Finland
You must take out unemployment insurance in the country in which you perform the work. It is not relevant whether you are resident in the country in which you work.
You may join KOKO when your employment in another EU area country ends even if you are unemployed, provided you join within 1 month of the expiry of your unemployment insurance in that country. In EU area countries, unemployment insurance generally expires when the related employment is terminated (see also Working in the Nordic countries).
Work done in the EU area cannot be counted towards the employment condition in Finland until the KOKO fund has received your U1 form. Your application cannot be processed before your form is received. Remember that you must apply for daily allowance within 3 months.
Also, for the work abroad to be taken into account in your employment condition, you must have been employed in Finland after your return for at least 4 calendar weeks meeting the employment condition. This is not required if you have been resident in Finland while working in another country.
Your daily allowance is calculated on the basis of your most recent wages and may thus be calculated on the basis of wages paid in another country. The calculation is performed in Finland on the basis of wages paid over 4 weeks of employment, if an employment period is required. Only wages from one country will be considered in the calculation, even though the employment condition may be met with a combination of work done in more than one country. This means that the calculation may be based for instance on 2 weeks’ work, if that was the duration of your most recent employment relationship.