Residence permit and earnings-related daily allowance – how it works

Topics

• Income security
• Lay-off
• Membership
• Part-time job
• Unemployment

The termination of your employment may raise questions, especially if your residence permit in Finland is based on your job. As a member of YTK, can you receive earnings-related daily allowance? What are the conditions for receiving daily allowance? Who is subject to the 3/6-month rule for finding new work? See our experts’ answers.

I am in Finland on a work-based residence permit. I have been dismissed from my job. Am I eligible for earnings-related daily allowance as a member of YTK?

Based on your temporary residence permit (B permit), you are, in principle, entitled to earnings-related daily allowance.

We can pay you earnings-related daily allowance if you are completely unemployed and live permanently in Finland. In addition, you must meet the conditions for receiving earnings-related daily allowance, such as the working condition and membership condition.

If you do not live permanently in Finland, you are not entitled to earnings-related daily allowance, even if you are completely unemployed.

We can pay you earnings-related daily allowance for the period of layoff even if you do not live permanently in Finland. The prerequisite is that you meet the above-mentioned conditions for receiving daily allowance.

If you become unemployed or are laid off, always remember to register as an unemployed jobseeker with the employment authorities no later than or immediately on your first day of unemployment. Without registering with the authorities, we cannot pay you earnings-related daily allowance.

I am in Finland on a work-based residence permit. I terminated my employment myself. Can I receive earnings-related daily allowance as a member of YTK?

The employment authority will examine the labor policy requirements for the payment of earnings-related daily allowance. With a B permit, you may be entitled to earnings-related daily allowance. However, you must be a permanent resident of Finland and meet the conditions for receiving earnings-related daily allowance, such as the working and membership conditions.

Resigning from your job usually affects your right to receive earnings-related daily allowance. You can find more information about labor policy sanctions, or so-called suspension periods, in our information bank.

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

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

• 300 days if your work history is no more than 3 years,

• 400 days if your work history is more than 3 years, or

• 500 days if you are 58 years old when you meet the working condition and have worked for at least five years during the previous 20 years.

In addition to work done in Finland, work done in EU/EEA countries and Switzerland is also included in your employment history.

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

I am in Finland on a work-based residence permit. How quickly do I have to find a new job if I become completely unemployed?

If you are in Finland on a work-based residence permit and your employment relationship ends prematurely, you have three or six months to find a new job.

As a rule, the time limit is three months. The following categories of persons have six months to find new employment

• specialists (including EU Blue Card holders) 

• all persons who have had a work-based residence permit in Finland for more than two years

• senior and middle management

• posted intra-corporate transferees and management.

So, if you become unemployed, you can look for a new job that you are allowed to do while your residence permit is valid. If you find a new job but your current permit does not allow you to work in your new position, i.e., your new job is in a different field than your original work-based residence permit (and it is not a field with a national labor shortage), you must apply for a new residence permit for your new job.

The three/six-month rule does not apply to, for example, permanent residence permits, family member permits, EU citizens, international students, or researchers.

What happens if I am completely unemployed and cannot find a new job within three or six months?

If you cannot find new work and have no other grounds for staying in the country, your residence permit will be revoked. When your residence permit and right to work expire, you will also lose your right to earnings-related daily allowance.

Does the three- or six-month rule also apply to layoffs?

No, the rule only applies to situations where a person is completely unemployed. If you are laid off, i.e., your employment relationship has not been terminated but the layoff is temporary, your residence permit will remain valid during the layoff period.

If my residence permit is revoked, will my entitlement to earnings-related daily allowance end, even if I am a member of YTK?

Yes, when your residence permit and right to work expire, you will no longer be entitled to earnings-related daily allowance.

When does entitlement to earnings-related daily allowance end, and on what grounds?

Your application for earnings-related daily allowance will be rejected on the basis of the statement received by the unemployment fund from the employment authority.

The employment authority will examine your work/residence permits if you are a third-country national and become unemployed. The authority can only issue a labor policy statement for the period during which the permits are valid. After that, the employment authority will examine whether the permits have been renewed or whether the permit application is still pending. Based on this, the authority will issue its statement to the fund.

You can register as a jobseeker if you have a valid residence permit and the right to work. Whether your residence permit is temporary, continuous, or permanent is irrelevant in practice. The main thing is that your residence permit and right to work are valid. The difference lies in the benefits to which each permit entitles you. With a temporary residence permit (B permit), you are entitled to earnings-related daily allowance if you live permanently in Finland and meet the conditions for earnings-related daily allowance.