Frequently asked questions

The most common question we receive concerns the payment schedule for earnings-related daily allowance.

You can check the current processing status on the payment estimate.

It is important to us that you receive your earnings-related daily allowance quickly. Processing a single application takes us no time at all.

At the same time, we take care of the unemployment security of more than half a million wage earners, so there can sometimes be a lot of applications to process at once. For example, we receive a large number of applications at the turn of the month. This can extend the processing time, as the processing of applications is partly manual work. You can find a forecast of current processing times on our website.

The processing time also depends on the type of application. The first application is often the most labor-intensive, as we check all the requirements and restrictions, calculate the amount of earnings-related daily allowance, and set the waiting period. The processing time for these applications may therefore be slightly longer.

If your full-time unemployment or layoff continues without any changes, your follow-up application will in practice be paid immediately. In that case, you will receive your earnings-related daily allowance within two banking days.

Read more about applying for earnings-related daily allowance and the different types of applications on our website.

Don’t worry! Register as a jobseeker and submit an application for earnings-related daily allowance. Then focus on your job search.

You can register as a jobseeker at the JobMarket.

You can apply for earnings-related daily allowance through our OmaYTK service.

You can get support for your job search through our Spark service. The employment authority in your area can also help you with your job search.

You can find more detailed instructions on our website.

We have a convenient online application form that you can use to join the YTK Unemployment Fund. At the same time, we recommend that you also join YTK Worklife. The fund provides you with income security, while Worklife offers other services, benefits, and insurance.

You can join the fund when you are employed. For example, if you are unemployed or a student, you can only join when you have a working day. You can join YTK Worklife when you are a member of the fund.

Once you have joined, it is worth keeping your membership valid until you retire.

The YTK Unemployment Fund membership fee is 102 €.

The membership fee is annual, but it is tied to the membership period. If you join or leave during the year, you only pay for the membership period.

You can check the remaining membership fee for the current year on the YTK Worklife pages.

The amount of earnings-related daily allowance depends on the income used to calculate it. In addition, the amount of earnings-related daily allowance paid is affected by your income during unemployment and other social benefits you receive.

On average, we pay unemployed persons approximately 80 € per day in earnings-related daily allowance. We pay for five days a week, which means that we pay an average of approximately 1 700 € per month. After taxes, the average take-home amount is approximately 1 400 €.

You can estimate the amount of your earnings-related daily allowance using our calculator.

In order for us to pay you earnings-related daily allowance, you must be entitled to it and there must be no restrictions preventing payment.

It’s annoying to be unable to access the service just when you have the time set aside. Our online service OmaYTK is reliable, but it is always possible that a technical failure comes up and the service is unavailable.

• If you are unable to access OmaYTK, first check if there is a notification about the disturbance on our website. The fault may be caused by a larger network problem or by a maintenance outage on our end.
  • If you can see a notification on our website, this means that we are already fixing the problem.
• Sometimes the reason may be a problem with identifying to the service. In such cases, you can contact the bank or operator whose identification service you are using.
• If none of the above seems to be the problem, try clearing your browser’s cache.
  • A browser is an application that allows you to access content on the Internet. A browser is almost always needed when using the Internet, and they can be found in one form or another on all computers and other smart devices. The settings of the browser you are using typically have a privacy section, under which you will often find a button to clear the browser cache.
• You can also try logging in with an entirely different browser. Also, check the browser version you are using and always update it to the latest version.
  • Recommended browsers are Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome.
• If you have a very old computer, you may not be able to install the latest browser versions. In this case, try using a newer computer or mobile device. For example, old game consoles may have difficulty logging in to OmaYTK.

You can submit your first application two weeks after the start of unemployment. For example, if unemployment starts on 1 January, you can submit your first application on 14 January. In this case, the application period is from 1 January to 14 January.

When you submit a follow-up application, OmaYTK will automatically suggest a start date and an end date for the application. Please follow the suggestion unless we specifically ask you otherwise.

When your unemployment or lay-off ends, you can submit applications until the last day of unemployment or lay-off. In this case, you can select another date than the one suggested by OmaYTK.

We generally receive all the necessary information with the application and from the Incomes Register. Sometimes, we need additional information about your wages or your employment contract, for example. By filling in the application carefully, OmaYTK will guide you and ask for the necessary attachments. However, you can always send the application without attachments. When we process your application, we will ask for additional information if necessary.

You can find more information about the necessary attachments in our knowledge bank.

When you register as a jobseeker, the employment authority evaluates your situation and gives a statement on your case. We receive the statement directly electronically. With the statement, the employment authority tells us whether you are entitled to unemployment benefits. If we have not received a statement, we cannot pay you earnings-related daily allowance. That’s why it’s important that you remember to register as a jobseeker.

However, the lack of a statement does not prevent you from submitting the application. For this reason, always submit your application on time, even if you have not yet received the employment authority’s statement.

In our knowledge bank, you can find more information about the employment authority’s duties.

The law requires us to give you a decision within 30 days of receiving the application, provided that all necessary information is available to us. However, it is very rare that you will need to wait this long. Normally, we get your money to you very quickly.

However, there are situations when processing the application is slower. Sometimes, for example, we have to wait for further clarification or statements from the employment authority. We also experience congestion from time to time due to the high number of applications. The busiest time is the turn of the month for the first few months of the year. This is when unemployment is typically at its highest, and we receive tens of thousands of applications at once.

It is important to us that you receive your earnings-related daily allowance quickly. That is why we are constantly developing our tools and online service. In addition, we train our staff and try out new practices. For your part, you can help us by filling in your application carefully. In particular, entering your income correctly helps us greatly.

See also our estimated payment times.

There is a waiting period at the start of the period of receiving earnings-related daily allowance. During the waiting period, we cannot pay you earnings-related daily allowance. The waiting period is applied no more than once a year when you meet the working condition (työssäoloehto) and the maximum payment period starts over.

Read more about the waiting period in our knowledge bank.

Earnings-related unemployment allowance is taxable income. We receive the necessary information directly from the tax authorities.

However, when you apply for earnings-related daily allowance, you should visit the Tax Administration’s MyTax service. Order a new tax card so that the tax authorities have an estimate of the earnings-related daily allowances to be paid to you. When you register YTK Työttömyyskassa as the recipient of tax information, the tax authority will send us the revised withholding rate directly for the payment of earnings-related daily allowance.

During the notice period, you are not yet unemployed, so we cannot pay you earnings-related daily allowance.

If the notice period has not been observed, the employer must pay you compensation corresponding to the notice period. If you are entitled to such compensation, we cannot pay earnings-related daily allowance for this period. What is often confusing is that we cannot pay you earnings-related daily allowance even if you do not receive the compensation. The payment of the earnings-related daily allowance is prevented by the mere right to compensation. In other words, it makes no difference whether the compensation has been paid to you or not.

The unemployment fund cannot help you in matters related to your employment relationship. Because of this, we cannot help you if your employer refuses to pay you the compensation you are owed. If you are a member of YTK Worklife, you can use the Legal Buddy legal service to help you with issues related to your employment relationship.

We cannot pay you earnings-related daily allowance if you are entitled to annual holiday pay based on earnings from full-time work. If you are fully unemployed, such a situation will not arise in practice.

If you are employment part-time, it is possible that you are entitled to holiday pay on the basis of full-time work. We cannot pay you earnings-related daily allowance during this period. If, on the other hand, you receive holiday pay based on earnings from part-time work, we will take the holiday pay into account when adjusting your allowance. In this case, holiday pay reduces the earnings-related daily allowance paid to you. In these situations, it is also possible that earnings-related daily allowance may not be paid to you at all.

Unfortunately, we cannot receive information about holiday pay from the Incomes Register. Therefore, always remember to report your holiday pay carefully in your application.

You can apply for earnings-related daily allowance even if you work part-time. In that case, we will pay you an adjusted earnings-related allowance. Read more about adjusted earnings-related daily allowance in our knowledge bank.