Legislative changes 2024

Topics

• Income security
• Law change

Several changes to the law regarding unemployment benefits are planned for 2024. The changes will affect the earnings-related benefits paid by unemployment funds and, where applicable, the basic benefits paid by Kela. We are compiling information on the legislative changes on this page and will update the situation as the preparation of the laws progresses.

The government programme has agreed a number of changes to unemployment benefits and labour legislation. The changes concerning unemployment protection are included in the budget proposal published on 28.8.2023.

On 12.10.2023, the Government submitted proposals to Parliament on freezing indexes, tying the working condition to ​​​​​​​your income and extending the working condition, abolishing the exempt amount and child increase, extending the waiting period and how the holiday compensation decreases daily allowance. The legislative amendments are expected to be adopted in December, following a parliamentary debate.

The government plans to present proposals on the staggering of income security, the abolition of age-related exemptions and the removal of the employment condition for subsidized work in spring 2024.

The changes to the law are expected to enter into force in stages during 2024, with the first changes to be applied from the beginning of the year on 1.1.2024.

We will follow the preparations and report as and when appropriate. We will continue to implement unemployment benefit under the current rules until the changes enter into force and start to apply.

Status of legislative changes 12.10.2023

We compiled a table of agreed legislative changes and their known timetable. The timetable is subject to change as preparation progresses. We will correct if necessary.

Law	Change	Date of entry into force*
Holiday compensation	For the period of the holiday compensation ​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​unemployment benefit cannot be paid	1.1.2024
Waiting period	Waiting period extended from five to ​​​​​​​seven days	1.1.2024
Index	Rising cost of living does not raise unemployment benefits	1.1.2024
Child increase	The child increase will be abolished	1.4.2024
Exempt amount	The exempt amount will be abolished	1.4.2024
Alternation leave	Alternation leave will be abolished	1.8.2024
Working condition 1	The working condition will be tied to ​​​​​​​your income	2.9.2024
Working condition 2	The working condition will be extended ​​​​​​​from 26 weeks to 12 months	2.9.2024
Working condition 3	Subsidized work does not accumulate ​​​​​​​the working condition	1.9.2024
Staggering	Level of unemployment benefit decreases in steps as unemployment ​​​​​​​becomes more prolonged	1.9.2024
Age-related	Age-related rules will be abolished	1.9.2024

*Planned timetable, subject to change. Also, for example, some changes to the law may also come into force on the planned date, but their application will not start until later.