International circumstances

Last updated 09.01.2024

Unemployment security and international employment form a complex whole. When you move from one country to another, this affects how we can pay you unemployment security.

Working abroad and unemployment security

Working abroad may affect your right to receive unemployment security from Finland.

When you work abroad, you are generally covered by unemployment security in the country where you work. 

When working abroad, you are covered by Finnish unemployment insurance only in the following situations:

• You are a posted worker from Finland.
• You work for the State of Finland in a Finnish mission abroad, either as a member of posted personnel or as a person hired locally to whom Finnish legislation was applied immediately before the employment relationship began.
• You work as a civil servant for the Finnish state.
• You work in the Finnish Armed Forces or in non-military service abroad.
• You work as a salaried employee for the EU and, at the time of signing your employment contract, have chosen to continue to be covered by Finnish unemployment security when working abroad.
• You work on board a vessel flying the flag of an EU/EEA country or Switzerland and live in Finland, where your employer is also domiciled and from where your wages are paid.
• You work on a Finnish vessel in an employment relationship in accordance with the Finnish Seafarers’ Act.
• You work on board a foreign merchant vessel used for foreign traffic and you have additional maritime insurance in accordance with the Unemployment Security Act.
• You are part of a flight crew based in Finland.
• You live in Finland and work in two or more countries so that a significant part of your work (25% or more) takes place in Finland. This group includes, for example, travelling staff of a transport company (lorry drivers).
• You live in Finland and work for several employers, at least two of which have their domicile or place of business in a different Member State and none of the employers’ domicile or place of business are located in your country of residence in Finland.
• You live in Finland and are in paid employment in two or more EU/EEA countries or Switzerland on behalf of an employer domiciled outside the EU.

Right to unemployment security

If you become completely unemployed after your employment relationship ends, you are covered by the unemployment security of your country of residence. Your country of residence is usually the country in whose territory you live. However, if you no longer return to your country of residence, you can apply for unemployment allowance in the country where you last worked. 

A requirement for receiving unemployment security is usually that you are available for the labour market in the country where you are claiming unemployment benefits.

Your entitlement to daily allowance is determined in different ways depending on whether or not European Union social security legislation is applied to your employment. All countries in which the European Union’s social security legislation does not apply are referred to as third countries. The European Union’s social security legislation applies in EU and EEA countries and Switzerland. The main European regulations applicable are:

• Regulation on the coordination of social security systems (883/2004)
• and the Implementing Regulation specifying it (987/2009)

EU countries are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark (including the Faroe Islands and Greenland), Estonia, Finland, France (including Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion and French Guyana), Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal (including the Azores and Madeira), Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain (including the Canary Islands).

EEA countries are: Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

Switzerland applies the EU’s social security legislation on the basis of separate treaties.

The United Kingdom exited the EU on 1 February 2020. Until the end of 2020, the legislation in force at the time of withdrawal applied. Since then, the Partnership Agreement has been applied: 

• Persons who have moved from the UK to Finland or from Finland to the UK during the transition period of the Withdrawal Agreement by 31 December 2020 at the latest will remain within the scope of the Withdrawal Agreement and may also transfer periods of employment and insurance after the transition period and join an unemployment fund after returning from the UK despite the fact that the latter is a third country. A person can search for jobs even after the Withdrawal Agreement if they are covered by the Withdrawal Agreement.
• The status of persons who are not covered by the Withdrawal Agreement and move after 1 January 2021 with regard to unemployment security is determined according to the Partnership Agreement.
• Under the Partnership Agreement, people can transfer their periods of employment and insurance when moving between the EU and the UK. Transferring periods of employment and insurance between the UK and the EU is provided for in EU law, so that exceptionally a person can join an unemployment fund when arriving from the UK, a third country, even when unemployed, from 1 January 2021.
• A person covered by the Partnership Agreement cannot travel to an EU/EEA to seek jobs as of 1 January 2021.  However, according to Finnish law, an unemployed jobseeker can reside in any country and still be entitled to unemployment benefits as long as the job search is valid. The person is required to accept work and training and to return to Finland if work is offered.

Looking for a job in an EU/EEA country or Switzerland

If you are completely unemployed, you can travel to another EU/EEA country or Switzerland to look for work for three months while applying for earnings-related daily allowance from us. 

If you are unemployed and you are looking for work in another EU/EEA country or Switzerland, you can continue to apply for daily allowance from us. We can pay earnings-related daily allowance during your job search if:

• you have been an unemployed jobseeker in Finland for at least four weeks before your departure
• you have requested and received a PD U2 document from us
• you have registered as a jobseeker in the country where you are looking for work within seven days after you ceased to be available for the labour market in Finland

You can obtain the PD U2 document from us. The document indicates the period for which we can pay daily allowance while you look for work abroad and the date by which you must register as a jobseeker in the country where you are looking for work.

How long can I receive earnings-related daily allowance to look for work?

We can pay you earnings-related daily allowance to support your job search abroad for a maximum of three months.

However, applying for a job does not extend the maximum payment period of earnings-related daily allowance. In other words, if your maximum payment period is reached while abroad, the payment will end even if the three-month period in the job search has not yet passed.

The three-month job search period may also consist of several shorter periods. Before the start of the first period, you must be an unemployed jobseeker in Finland for at least 4 weeks. This requirement does not apply in between shorter periods. This means that you can make shorter job-seeking trips abroad more often than once every four weeks. However, remember to ask us for a new PD U2 document for each new job-seeking period and register as a jobseeker in the country where you are applying within seven days of your arrival.

Employment

If your job search is successful and you find work in the country where you are looking for work, please let us know. If you find full-time work, you no longer need to apply for earnings-related daily allowance from us.

However, you will still be covered by Finnish unemployment security throughout the three-month job search. This means that if you get a part-time job, you can apply for adjusted earnings-related daily allowance  from us until the end of your job search period. If you do not return to Finland, you will then be covered by the unemployment security system of your country of employment. 

Returning to Finland

If you cannot find suitable work and return to Finland within three months, you can continue applying for earnings-related daily allowance from us.

Returning to Finland means that you actually return and register as a jobseeker within the deadline. Check the deadline on the PD U2 document you received. If you do not register as a jobseeker within the deadline, you will lose your right to earnings-related daily allowance. In this case, we can resume paying the daily allowance only after you have studied or worked for four weeks after returning to Finland.

If you have found work and return to Finland later, you are entitled to earnings-related daily allowance if you meet all the general requirements for receiving the allowance. Under certain conditions, we may take into account the work you have done in another EU/EEA country towards meeting your working condition (työssäoloehto) in Finland.

Working in third countries

Work performed outside EU/EEA countries and Switzerland cannot be counted towards the working condition in Finland.

Your work in third countries is counted towards the working condition only if the work in question is performed as a posted worker for a Finnish employer.

When you return to Finland, you are entitled to earnings-related daily allowance from a Finnish unemployment fund if:

• you have retained your membership in a Finnish unemployment fund for the duration of your employment
• you live in Finland and meet all the requirements for the payment of earnings-related daily allowance

A posted worker employed with the State of Finland at a diplomatic mission abroad is always insured in Finland. The unemployment insurance of locally hired staff also remains in Finland if the person was covered by Finnish unemployment insurance immediately before the start of their employment relationship.

Other stay abroad

Living abroad without an acceptable reason listed in the Unemployment Security Act is always treated as an absence from the Finnish labour market without an acceptable reason. If you have been absent from the labour market for more than six months without an acceptable reason, you are not entitled to unemployment allowance until you have met the working condition in full again.

This means that, for example, in a situation where spouses move abroad together and only one spouse finds employment, the spouse who moved with them may no longer be entitled to earnings-related daily allowance after returning to Finland. If the spouse has an acceptable personal reason for the absence from the labour market, such as caring for a child under 3 years of age or studies, we do not require that the working condition is met again. However, in order to maintain the validity of the working condition, the spouse must pay our fund’s membership fee also for the period of the above mentioned acceptable reason.

A requirement for receiving unemployment security is usually that you are available for the labour market in the country where you are claiming unemployment benefits. However, you do not need to stay in Finland continuously. As a jobseeker, you can travel abroad without losing your right to earnings-related daily allowance. The requirement is that you are looking for work in Finland also while travelling abroad and that you are at all times ready to accept work in Finland.

Posted workers from Finland

Workers posted from Finland continue to be covered by Finnish social security and unemployment insurance when working abroad.

You are covered by Finnish social security and unemployment insurance when working abroad if your Finnish employer posts you to work in another country but the unemployment insurance contributions and unemployment fund membership fees are still paid to Finland.

In such cases, we will take into account the work abroad in the working condition (työssäoloehto) as if it were work done in Finland. However, the condition for taking into account the work is that you have maintained your membership with us. In addition, work and wages are taken into account to the extent that unemployment insurance contributions and taxes continue to be paid in Finland.

When returning from EU/EEA countries, Switzerland, the US, Canada (including Quebec), Israel, Chile or Australia, we will request an A1 certificate for you from the Finnish Centre for Pensions. The Finnish Centre for Pensions decides whether you are covered by Finnish social security during your posting abroad. We need the certificate in order to verify that the work counts towards your working condition.

When returning from countries other than those listed above, we will ask the Social Insurance Institution of Finland Kela to issue a statement confirming that you have been covered by residence-based social security in Finland for the duration of your work abroad.

Working in an EU/EEA country or Switzerland

Your right to unemployment security is determined on the basis of the EU’s social security legislation. The most important EU regulations that concern your right to unemployment security are:

• Regulation on the coordination of social security systems (883/2004)
• and the Implementing Regulation specifying it (987/2009)

In addition to EU countries, the regulations are also followed in Switzerland and the EEA countries Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

Country of work principle

As a general rule, your work is always insured against unemployment in the country where you work. Most EU/EEA countries have general unemployment insurance, in which case you are automatically insured for unemployment in that country based on your employment.

Sweden, Finland and Denmark have a voluntary unemployment insurance system run by unemployment funds. In these countries, you must apply to become a member of an unemployment fund in order to be covered by unemployment security. You should join a Swedish or Danish unemployment fund as soon as you start working in those countries.

Exceptions to the country of work principle

In certain exceptional situations, your work is not insured in the country where you work. In the following situations, your unemployment insurance is not transferred with you to the country of work

1. If you workas a civil servant for the Finnish state, you will continue to be covered by Finnish unemployment security even when working abroad. This is because civil servants are always subject to the law of the country under which they are employed.
2. If you leave to work for the EU, you can choose whether to be covered by unemployment security in your new country of employment when your employment contract is signed. This option can only be exercised once. The Finnish Centre for Pensions must be notified that such an agreement has been signed. A person who has exercised their right of choice in favour of Finland is also covered by Finnish unemployment security while working.
3. If you are a posted worker from Finland, you are still covered by Finnish unemployment security.
4. If you work on board a vessel under the flag of an EU/EEA country or Switzerland and live in the country where your employer is domiciled and from where your wages are paid, you are covered by the unemployment security of your country of residence.
5. If you live in a country other than the country where you last worked, you are only covered by the unemployment security of your country of work if you are only partially or occasionally unemployed (such as working part-time or laid off). If you become completely unemployed after your employment relationship ends, you are covered by the unemployment security of your country of residence. In this case, you can also register as a jobseeker in your country of work, but your country of residence is responsible for paying your unemployment allowance. However, if you no longer return to your country of residence, you can apply for unemployment allowance in the country where you last worked. Your country of residence is the country in whose territory you live.
6. If you live in Finland and work in two or more countries, you will continue to be covered by Finnish unemployment security if a significant part of the work (25 per cent or more) takes place in Finland. This group includes, for example, travelling staff (flight crew and lorry drivers) of a transport company.
7. Even if a significant part of your activities is not done in your country of residence in Finland, you are covered by Finnish unemployment security if you work for several employers, at least two of which are domiciled or domiciled in another Member State and none of the employers’ domicile is located in your country of residence in Finland.
8. You are also covered by unemployment security in your country of residence, Finland, if you are in paid employment in two or more EU/EEA countries or Switzerland on behalf of an employer domiciled outside the EU. Even in such cases, you are not required to carry out a significant part of your activities in your country of residence, Finland.
9. Flight crew personnel are covered by the unemployment security of the country where their home station is located.

Exceptions to unemployment security

The waiting period may have already expired in another country. For this reason, you must let us know of any daily allowance and waiting period paid or applied in another country if you apply for earnings-related daily allowance from us. Remember to report these to us.

Impact of working in another EU/EEA country or Switzerland on meeting the working condition

When you return to Finland after working abroad, insurance and employment periods accrued in another EU/EEA country or Switzerland can, under certain conditions, be counted towards your working condition (työssäoloehto) in Finland. We can count your work abroad towards meeting the working condition in Finland under the following circumstances.

• In order for the work to be eligible for the Finnish earnings-related security system, you must have been a member of an unemployment fund in the other country, provided that said country has a voluntary unemployment fund system. Sweden and Denmark have a similar voluntary unemployment fund system as Finland. As a rule, work done in Sweden and Denmark can only be taken into account if you have been a member of a local voluntary unemployment fund while working in the country and paid the voluntary unemployment fund’s membership fees.
• In order for the periods of work to be eligible for unemployment security, you must also have joined a Finnish unemployment fund within one month of the end of your unemployment insurance in the country of employment (deadline for transferring unemployment insurance). For workers returning from a Nordic country, this deadline is eight weeks.
• It is also required that you submit a PD U1 form to a Finnish unemployment fund. You must request the form from the authorities of the country where you worked. We cannot consider any other kind of proof of employment (certificate of employment/payroll certificate) as adequate.
• In order for the work to be eligible, you must have worked in Finland for four weeks in a job that meets the working condition immediately before your unemployment (employment requirement). The work does not have to be continuous. However, the work done abroad that is counted towards the working condition and the four-week employment requirement must fit within the 28-month review period.
  • Four weeks of employment are not required if you are:
    • entirely without work and have not lived in the most recent country of work; or
    • a returning employee from another Nordic country and are subject to the right to return; or
    • a posted worker

A returning employee from another Nordic country

When you return to Finland from a Nordic country, you are subject to the right to return if you have been covered by Finnish unemployment security legislation during the five years preceding your return. In other words, you have worked in Finland or received unemployment benefits from Finland.

In the case of a returning employee from another Nordic country, work can be counted towards the working condition without the four-week employment requirement. For persons returning from another Nordic country, we apply a longer deadline of eight weeks for the transfer of your unemployment insurance to Finland.

Salary or wages used to calculate daily allowance

As a rule, wages are always determined on the basis of earned income from Finland, regardless of whether periods of work done in another EU/EEA country or Switzerland are counted towards the working condition.

If you have lived in a country other than the country where you last worked, we will exceptionally calculate the amount of your earnings-related daily allowance based on your earned income in the country where you last worked. However, if you have last worked in Finland, we will calculate your earnings-related daily allowance based on your earned income in Finland.

Impact of social benefits paid by another EU/EEA country or Switzerland

As a rule, benefits or income paid by another EU/EEA country or Switzerland have the same effect as similar benefits and income paid in Finland. Generally, social security benefits are treated in the same way as similar benefits in Finland and prevent the payment of daily allowance or reduce the amount of the allowance.

There is an exception to this general rule. Disability pensions paid under the legislation of another country are always considered a benefit that is deducted from the amount of daily allowance. When paid from Finland, a pension paid on the basis of a total disability prevents the payment of earnings-related daily allowance.

Working in an international organisation

Working for international organisations in which Finnish state is a member extends the review period of the working condition (työssäoloehto).

In other words, this work extends the 28-month review period during which the working condition of 26 calendar weeks must be met. The review period may be extended by up to seven years.

Such organisations include the UN and its subsidiary organisations ILO, UNESCO and UNICEF, as well as other intergovernmental organisations such as the EU, OECD, NATO, WTO, World Bank, Nordic Council of Ministers and Nordic Council.

On the other hand, working for the International Red Cross, for example, does not extend the review period of the working condition. The Red Cross is not an intergovernmental organisation.

Serving in the UN peacekeeping forces can be counted towards your working condition in Finland.