Newsletter April 25, 2024
Child increase and exempt amount abolished
From the beginning of April, we started to apply a change in the law that will eliminate the child increase and the exempt amount. For most of you, the impact of this change will be felt when in May we pay your April earnings-related allowance.
If you have dependent children, you have been receiving a child increase to your earnings-related allowance up to now. From April onwards, due to a change in the law, we will no longer be able to pay a child increase. So when you apply for the April daily allowance, the amount we pay you will be lower because it does not include the child increase.
The abolition of the child increase will reduce the amount of daily allowance you will have to pay by between 130 € and 240 € per month, depending on the number of children.
If you work part-time and have applied for an adjusted daily allowance, you may have heard of the exempt amount. The income exempt amount is the amount you can earn without affecting the amount of income support you receive. The exempt amount will also end in April.
The amount of the exempt amount has been 300 € per month. The main rule is that every euro after the exempt amount reduces the daily allowance by 50 cents. When the exemption is withdrawn, each euro reduces the daily allowance by 50 cents. Whereas previously an income of 300 € did not reduce the earnings-related allowance at all, it will now reduce it by 150 €. The effect may also be less in certain situations.
These are the reasons why you lose your earnings-related allowance
There are many reasons why you can lose your daily allowance, and a recent change in the law has added one more. From the beginning of the year, you could not receive the daily allowance for the period of time that the holiday compensation was paid as wages at the end of the employment relationship corresponds to. As a result, the YTK Unemployment Fund has already issued more than 1000 negative decisions in 2024.
What are the most common reasons for rejecting an application?
Mid-week holidays are coming up
April and May applications are subject to public holidays. You don’t have to worry about these if you are completely unemployed or laid off. If you work part-time, public holidays may affect you. So remember to mention them in your application. Mid-week holidays also affect the movement of benefits in banks, so they may also affect the payment schedule.
You do not have to assess or decide for yourself how the mid-week holiday compensation will affect your daily allowance. All you need to do is to declare the holiday compensation in your application.
If you receive a holiday compensation, or if the holiday does not reduce your pay, enter “at work” in the field for the holiday on the application form and enter the number of hours worked corresponding to the holiday compensation.
Please also indicate in the additional information that it was a mid-week holiday. This will allow us to check what the correct solution is.
We will normally pay the daily allowance on your account after two banking days. However, mid-week holidays are not bank days, so they slow down the flow of money somewhat.
Member pulse: Age is perceived as the biggest barrier to employment
In a recent Member Pulse survey, we asked you, our members, what is the biggest barrier to employment. The question was answered by unemployed and part-time respondents.
The perception of age as a barrier to employment is growing among those aged 45 and over, with a majority of those aged 55-64 already citing age as a barrier to employment. On the other hand, people under 35 years of age hardly perceive their age as a barrier to employment.
On the other hand, education still pays off in the labour market. Jobseekers with a primary or secondary education are the ones who perceive their education as a barrier to employment. Fewer of those with tertiary education cited education as a barrier to employment.
The results were obtained from a recent Members’ Pulse survey, to which nearly 23 000 YTK members responded. Respondents came from all sectors of industry from all over Finland. Thank you to each and every respondent!
We are here for you
“I’ve been unemployed myself, so I know what it’s like to wait for the money to arrive. I try to give our members as much guidance as possible, because I know how important it is when unemployment hits,” says Tiina Rauhakylä, a benefits administrator at the YTK.
Personalised guidance and job search training – make sure you have these available!
As a YTK fund member, you can also become a member of YTK Worklife, which gives you access to a wide range of working life services in addition to the unemployment fund services. For just 24 € a year, you can get the following benefits:
- Support and tools for finding a new job
- Legal help with employment problems
- Insurance for work and leisure
- Discount on hotels and wellness services
- Other everyday savings
YTK Worklife membership includes online coaching in Job Search, where you will receive personal guidance from a career coach. The professional’s tips will help you write your CV and job application, identify your skills or prepare for a job interview.
You can also learn useful lessons from Eduhouse’s online training library. As a member of YTK Worklife, all content is free of charge. Check out these, for example:
- Tips for an effective job search – brand new updated content of the popular training!
- ChatGPT as a tool for jobseekers
Note! Remember to start by registering as a user of the online training library if you have not already done so. Read more.