Did you receive a negative decision on your daily allowance application? See the most common reasons and expert tips
News
Topics
- Income security
- Lay-off
- Part-time job
- Unemployment
There are several reasons why a daily allowance application may be rejected. These situations are often unfortunate and may come as a surprise to the applicant. See the most common reasons for rejection and our experts’ tips on how to avoid pitfalls when applying.
During 2025, we issued a total of 368 546 decisions on applications for earnings-related unemployment benefits. Of these, 104 086 were negative decisions, i.e. almost one third.
The high relative proportion of negative decisions is due to the fact that several negative decisions can be issued during a single period of unemployment. Most of the negative decisions issued are temporary, meaning that they only prevent the payment of daily allowances for a certain period of time.
Here are the most common negative decisions:
1. Periodisation of holiday compensation
The most common reason for rejecting a daily allowance application is the periodisation of holiday compensation. Approximately one-fifth of all rejected decisions in 2025 were due to this.
What does the periodisation of holiday compensation mean?
If you have unused holiday when your employment relationship ends, your employer will pay you compensation for the unused holiday. When you receive holiday compensation, we cannot pay you earnings-related daily allowance at the same time. For example, if you receive holiday compensation equivalent to one month’s salary, we can only pay you earnings-related daily allowance after one month.
Note: Try to take any vacation days you are entitled to during your employment. If this is not possible, it is a good idea to be prepared in advance for the fact that you will not receive earnings-related daily allowance until later.
Read more about the periodisation of holiday compensation
2. Working hours exceed 80% of the adjusted earnings-related allowance
The second most common reason for rejecting an application is that the work done in part-time employment exceeds 80% of the maximum working hours for full-time employment.
In practice, this means that you have worked so much that, from the perspective of unemployment security, your work is no longer considered part-time. Adjusted earnings-related daily allowance can only be paid alongside part-time work. Part-time work must always be 80 percent or less of the maximum working hours, which in turn depends on your collective agreement. Remember that working hours are always considered to be the actual amount of work performed, not, for example, the working hours agreed in the employment contract.
Note: Even if you do not receive adjusted earnings-related daily allowance, you will still receive your salary. The maximum payment period for earnings-related daily allowance does not expire during the period of a negative decision. Furthermore, a negative decision only applies to the application period in question. If your workload decreases, you can reapply for earnings-related daily allowance in the next application period.
3. The adjusted daily allowance and earned income exceed the permitted limit
The adjusted earnings-related daily allowance cannot exceed the basic salary together with the income earned from work. Therefore, if your salary and daily allowance together exceed the base salary, we cannot pay you the daily allowance.
The purpose of this rule is to ensure that working is always more profitable than full-time unemployment and, correspondingly, that full-time work is always more profitable than part-time work.
Note: The same applies here as for exceeding working hours. Even if you are not eligible for earnings-related daily allowance, you will still receive your salary. The maximum payment period for earnings-related daily allowance does not expire during the period of the negative decision. Furthermore, a negative decision only applies to the application period in question. If your workload decreases and you receive less pay, you can reapply for earnings-related daily allowance in the next application period.
4. Job search is not active
A common reason why we cannot pay you earnings-related daily allowance is that you have not registered as a job seeker with the employment authority. The condition for payment of earnings-related daily allowance is always that your job search is active with the employment authority.
Note: Register as a job seeker before your employment ends or, at the latest, on your first day of unemployment. Always follow the instructions of the employment authority and keep your job search active, even if you have been laid off or your application has been rejected.
You can register as a jobseeker at the Job Market Portal.
5. The applicant has resigned from work without a valid reason
If you resign from work lasting more than five days without a valid reason, you are not entitled to earnings-related allowance for 45 days after the end of your employment. This situation is commonly referred to as a suspension period.
In unemployment security, valid reasons for resigning from work without penalty are mainly reasons related to incapacity for work and situations where your employer has seriously violated their obligations under the Employment Contracts Act. Unemployment security is therefore strictly limited so that a person cannot opt for unemployment .
Note: If you are planning to terminate your employment, always start by contacting the employment authority in your area. Your local employment authority can help you assess your situation and find solutions.