Unemployment fund membership and residence permits – what you need to know

Topics

• Income security
• Membership
• Unemployment

Membership in an unemployment fund is an important part of job security. However, your residence permit may affect when it is advisable to join an unemployment fund. Find out here what the requirements are for joining an unemployment fund, how your residence permit affects your right to receive earnings-related daily allowance, and what you should know if you’ve moved to Finland from abroad.

I’m thinking about joining an unemployment fund. What should I keep in mind regarding my residence permit?

If you are authorized to work either directly without a residence permit or under your residence permit, you can join the unemployment fund for wage earners when you start paid employment.

YTK Unemployment Fund is open to all wage earners. You can join YTK if you are between the ages of 18 and 67, live in Finland, and have a valid employment relationship.

With a temporary residence permit (B permit), you are generally entitled to earnings-related daily allowance if you meet the eligibility requirements for earnings-related daily allowance.
 
Read more:  Residence permit and earnings-related daily allowance – how it works

It’s a good idea to join an unemployment fund while your working life is still going well. To receive earnings-related daily allowance, you must have been a member of an unemployment fund for at least 12 months prior to potential unemployment or layoff. Many people only realize this when problems arise at work. By then, it may already be too late to meet the requirements for receiving earnings-related daily allowance.

If your residence permit was issued solely for employment with a specific employer (i.e., you have only a work permit), you cannot register as a job seeker with the employment authorities, and therefore you will not receive earnings-related daily allowance from the unemployment fund once your employment ends. In this case, membership in an unemployment insurance fund is therefore of no benefit to you.

One of the requirements for receiving earnings-related daily allowance is meeting the working condition. How is the working condition met for someone who has moved to Finland from abroad?

You can accrue the working condition while you are a member of an unemployment fund. You need 12 months of employment to meet the requirement.

The working condition is accrued based on your paid wages. Wages are considered gross, i.e., before taxes.

One month of the working condition is accrued when you have received at least 930 euros in wages during a calendar month.

You can also accrue the working condition based on half-months. You accrue half a month of the working condition when you have earned a salary of 465–929 € during a calendar month.

We can only count salary that meets or exceeds the minimum wage specified in a collective agreement or by law toward the working condition. So be sure to check this! The minimum wage for full-time work under the Unemployment Security Act in 2026 is 1 463 € per month.  Please also note that all statutory payments and taxes must have been paid from the salary received.

Can I count my periods of employment in another EU country toward the working condition in Finland? 

You can transfer periods of employment and insurance accrued in another EU/EEA country or Switzerland to a Finnish unemployment fund. When you return from an EU/EEA country or Switzerland, you must join a Finnish unemployment fund so that your insurance and employment periods can be credited. To transfer your insurance and employment periods, you must join a Finnish unemployment fund within one month of your insurance coverage ending in your country of origin.

What about periods of employment outside the EU? Are they taken into account for the working condition?

Periods of employment outside the EU and the EEA cannot be counted toward the working condition in Finland.

How much earnings-related daily allowance can I receive if I am a member of YTK?

The amount of earnings-related daily allowance depends on how much you earned before becoming unemployed or being laid off. The earnings-related daily allowance paid by the unemployment fund can be more than double the basic daily allowance paid by Kela (approx. 800 €/month).

Use our calculator to see how much earnings-related daily allowance you could receive!

How long can I receive earnings-related daily allowance if I am a member of YTK and meet the eligibility requirements for earnings-related daily allowance?

If you meet the working condition, we can pay you earnings-related daily allowance:  
 

• 300 days if your employment history is 3 years or less,
• 400 days if your work history is more than 3 years, or
• 500 days if you are 58 years old when the working condition is met and have worked for at least five years during the previous 20 years.
   

In addition to work performed in Finland, work performed in EU/EEA countries and Switzerland is also counted toward your work history.

Please note that even if you still have the so-called maximum duration remaining (i.e., days entitling you to earnings-related daily allowance), your entitlement to earnings-related daily allowance ends if your residence permit and your right to work in Finland expire.

Why choose YTK?

As a member of the YTK Unemployment Fund, you are entitled to:

• Earnings-related daily allowance during periods of unemployment, layoff, part-time work, or part-time self-employment
• Mobility allowance if your new job is further from home
• Change security allowance if you are over 55 years of age and have been made redundant
• YTK Spark’s job search services

You’ll benefit the most by also joining YTK Worklife

As a member of the YTK Unemployment Fund, you can also join YTK Worklife. For a small additional fee, you’ll get:

• Assistance from lawyers and payroll experts with questions regarding your employment
• Legal protection insurance
• Leisure accident insurance
• Thousands of online training courses
• Personal career coaching
• A wide range of discounts, for example on hotels and wellness services