YTK Unemployment Fund rules

1 §

Name, domicile, area of operation and purpose of the unemployment fund

The name of the unemployment fund is YTK Työttömyyskassa (hereinafter referred to as YTK), YTK Arbetslöshetskassa in Swedish. The domicile of YTK is the city of Loimaa.

YTK’s area of operation is the entire country.

YTK is a mutually liable organisation whose purpose is to provide its members with income security within the meaning of the Unemployment Insurance Act and other statutory benefits falling within the scope of the Unemployment Insurance Funds, in accordance with the legislation in force at the time. In accordance with Article 1(2) of the Unemployment Fund Act, YTK may support the employment of its members by providing job placement, information, advice and guidance services, expert assessments, coaching and other similar services.

2 §

The terms of the membership

Any wage-earner covered by the Unemployment Insurance Act who has not reached the age of 68 and otherwise meets the conditions laid down in the rules of the YTK is eligible for membership.

A wage-earner is defined as an employee whose livelihood must be considered to be based on wage income from work performed for another party.

A member of the YTK may not be a member of another unemployment fund at the same time.

An application for membership of the YTK must be made in writing to the unemployment fund. Membership is approved by the Director of the Fund or by a person authorised by the board.

Membership of the YTK shall commence on the date from which the person has paid his/her membership fee, but not earlier than the date on which he/she has applied in writing for membership of the YTK Fund.

3 §

Resignation from YTK

If a member wishes to resign from YTK, they must make a written notice of resignation to the fund. If the member wants a refund for the membership fees for the rest of the year, they must provide their bank account number to which the membership fee will be refunded.

The membership fee shall not be refunded if 1) the refunded fee is a maximum of 10 euros, 2) the member does not provide a bank account number to which the money would be refunded, or 3) YTK has a legal claim from the member which will be set off by the membership fee.

If the member has paid less of a membership fee than is due by the resignation date, they will be dismissed from the fund due to the unpaid membership fees, despite the resignation notice.

Membership of the unemployment fund will end at latest on the last day of the calendar month when the member turns 68 years.

4 §

Dismissal from YTK

The Director of YTK may, after hearing the member, issue a reprimand or warning or expel him or her from membership of the Fund,

1. who has given false or misleading information when becoming a member

2. who has fraudulently misrepresented or concealed any fact affecting the receipt or amount of a daily allowance or other benefit paid by the Fund, and

3. who refuses to comply with the rules of the Fund

A member who fails to pay the membership fee by the due date of the invoice may be expelled from membership of the YTK as from the date on which the membership fee is due. The decision to expel a member is taken by the Director.

A member of the YTK who has become an entrepreneur may retain his or her membership of the YTK for a maximum period of 18 months from the date on which he or she starts his or her business activity, after which he or she will be excluded from membership of the YTK.

The dismissal decision will be given by the fund director.

5 §

Rejoining

If a member joins an unemployment fund within a month from resigning from a different unemployment fund, their period of employment and membership period from the previous unemployment fund will be calculated for their benefit according to the unemployment fund legislation and unemployment security legislation.

If a member who has been dismissed from an unemployment fund is readmitted to membership, their previous period of employment and membership and any previous membership fees shall not be credited to them.

6 §

Membership fees

The membership fee is annually approved by the Financial Supervisory Authority.

The YTK Fund may charge a reasonable surcharge on the membership fee invoiced by paper invoice, as determined by the Board of Directors of the YTK Fund.

In addition to the membership fee provided for in Article 6(1) of the Rules, a person employed on board a merchant vessel engaged in international traffic is obliged to pay the supplementary maritime insurance contribution proposed by the Board of the Unemployment Insurance Fund and approved by the Financial Supervisory Authority.

The membership fee is tied to the membership period. The membership fee is calculated from the annual fee based on what portion of the year the member has been a member. If the membership begins during the ongoing annual period, the membership fee will equal the amount from that moment to the end of the year. If the membership ends during the ongoing payment period, the member will be reimbursed for the portion of the annual fee for the time that they are no longer a member of YTK, unless the limits from section 3 prevent payment of the reimbursement. When the annual payment is calculated for the membership period, exact calendar days are used. The reimbursed membership fee is not paid with interest.

The membership payment is invoiced annually within the period that the director of YTK has determined.

YTK has the right to collect unpaid membership fees from unemployment benefits or other benefits that YTK pays. At the member’s request, YTK can also use benefits to collect a membership fee that has been invoiced, but is not yet due.

A resigned or dismissed member does not have claim to payments they have paid to YTK which cover the cost of the period before resignation or dismissal.

7 §

Exemption from membership fees

A member cannot be exempt from membership fees.

8 §

Benefits

YTK grants an earnings-related allowance based on the unemployment security legislation in force at the time. YTK also grants other benefits that are to be paid by an unemployment fund for the members who are entitled to them according to the legislation in force at the time.

9 §

Use of the highest decision-making power in the unemployment fund

The highest decision-making power in YTK is the meeting of the membership of the fund. The time and place of the meeting is decided by YTK’s board. The meeting of the membership of the fund can be a general fund meeting or an additional meeting. In the fund member meeting, each member that is present has one vote. If the votes are a tie, the vote will be determined by lottery, but in other matters the decision will be the one that the meeting’s chairman has agreed to.

10 §

The fund’s annual general meeting

The fund’s annual general meeting must be held by the end of October. Requirements for the general meeting of the fund are that

1. the board’s annual report from the previous period of activity must be presented as well as a statement from auditors

2. the financial statements from the previous year must be approved

3. decisions must be made on the measures that arise from the management and accounts

4. a decision must be made to grant freedom of responsibility to those that are answerable for the accounts

5. the remuneration for the administrative bodies and auditors must be determined

6. there must be an election for the chairman of the board when the chairman resigns

7. there must be an election for the board members and deputy members who resign

8. there must be an election for the auditor. The auditor must be a KHT auditor or KHT community as mentioned in section 2, subsection 2 of the Auditing Act or a HTM auditor or HTM community as mentioned in the same act in section 2, subsection 3. If the auditor is a community, there is no need to choose deputies for the auditors. The auditor’s term continues until there is a new election.

9. the basis for the membership fee must be determined

10. other matters mentioned in the invitation to the meeting must be addressed.

Other matters than those mentioned above cannot be ultimately decided in the meeting.

11 §

Additional meeting

An additional meeting must be held

1. when the fund’s board sees that it is necessary

2. when the Financial Supervisory Authority or auditors or the audit they have completed gives reason to do so or they demand it or

3. when at least one tenth of the members demand so in writing to address a certain matter.

If the fund’s board without legal reason refuses to arrange a meeting for the fund’s membership, the Financial Supervisory Authority must send out the invitation. The invitation for the meeting must list the matters to be addressed. Other matters than those that have been mentioned in the invitation cannot be ultimately decided in the meeting.

If the membership of the fund decreases to under 8,000, an additional meeting must immediately be arranged to decide if the fund’s operations will be continued or not, and which measures must be taken in order to either increase the membership numbers or dissolve the fund.

12 §

YTK’s board

YTK’s board is made up of a chairman and four (4) members and four (4) deputy members. A minimum of 2/3 board members must be members of YTK and if a person fits the membership requirements of YTK, they can only be chosen as a board member if they are a member of YTK.  

 The term of office for the chairman, board members and deputy members is three calendar years.

Annually one or two board members or deputy members must resign. The maximum number of terms for a board member is four (4) full terms. The maximum number of terms for a chairman is two (2) full terms.

The board annually chooses a vice-chairman from the board.

The board can appoint committees to assist the board’s tasks. The board separately decides on the tasks for the committees it has appointed.

13 §  

Activities of the board

The board convenes at the invitation of the chairman or in their absence, at the invitation of the vice-chairman.

The board is competent to make decisions when the chairman or vice-chairman and a minimum of half the board members are present or participating remotely. The board’s decision will be the opinion that the majority has supported. If the votes are tied, the vote will be determined by lottery, but in other matters the winning decision will be the one that the meeting’s chair has agreed to.

Minutes for the board meetings must be taken and these must be approved at latest during the following board meeting.

14 §  

Duties of the board

The duties of the board include

1. ensuring that YTK’s matters are managed in accordance with the law, YTK’s rules and the decisions and guidelines from the fund member meeting,

2. approving continuation plans as well as written guidelines for the fund’s internal monitoring, risk management systems, organisation of internal audits, remuneration and outsourcing operations,

3. approving investment guidelines, drawing up an annual investment plan and making decisions about investing YTK’s assets profitably and securely,

4. deciding on principles to be followed in the payment of benefits,

5. admitting and dismissing the director of the fund as well as admitting and dismissing other members of the management based on the proposal of the director,

6. deciding on the fund director’s terms of contract and tasks as well as the terms of contract and tasks of other members of management based on the proposal of the director,

7. naming a deputy for the director of the fund,

8. assembling the member meeting and preparing the matters to be discussed in the meeting,

9. giving a written statement of proposals which the auditors or fund members wish to be discussed in the member meeting,

10. preparing the financial statements and annual report as well as submitting them to the auditor at least a month before the fund meeting where the financial statements are to be approved,

11. preparing a proposal for the annual report for measures to be taken on surplus or deficit of the fund,

12. preparing an operating plan and budget for the following year,

13. submitting an annual proposal to the Financial Supervisory Authority for the amount of the membership fee,

14. annually submitting an application to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health for the financing shares described in the unemployment fund act,

15. authorising the right to sign for the fund if necessary,

16. representing the fund and using the right to speak for the fund before the courts and other authorities and,

17. deciding on taking loans mentioned in section 18,

18. deciding on other matters, unless otherwise stated in laws, regulations or these rules.

15 §  

Director of the fund and tasks

YTK’s responsible agent is the director of the fund. This person may be called the CEO. The tasks of the director of the fund include

1. directing and supervising the payment of benefits and other practical operations of the unemployment fund,

2. preparing the matters to be discussed in board meetings and implementing decisions of the board,

3. making sure that decisions made by the board are executed,

4. managing matters relating to financial management and other operations,

5. accepting new members,

6. issuing a notice or warning to a member or dismissing them in cases mentioned in section 4,

7. dismissing members for failure to pay their membership fee,

8. representing the fund in addition to the board and using the right to speak for the fund before the courts and other authorities, if the board has authorised them to do so,

9. performing all other tasks that the board assigns to them or which are assigned by the rules.

16 §  

Right to sign for YTK

The right to sign for YTK is given to the chairman of the board or the director of the fund or another person authorised by the board, two together.

The director of the fund may decide on the signing rights needed for giving decisions, applications of removal and processing benefits mentioned in section 1 subsection, 3 of the rules.

A decision of the unemployment fund can be signed electronically.

17 §  

Meeting invitations and notifications to members

Meeting invitations and other notifications meant for members about YTK will be published in one or more magazines which are distributed to members or members will be informed in another way prescribed by the board at least three weeks before the relevant deadline.

The board’s annual report and financial statements as well as the auditors’ report including statements must be available for members to see in YTK’s office for at least two weeks before the fund’s general meeting.

18 §  

Taking out loans

YTK’s board has the right to take both short-term and long-term loans and revolving credit facilities to enable the payment of the benefits which are assigned to the unemployment fund. The board can also decide to open a credit account to manage the unemployment fund’s liquidity as well as use financing agreements or leasing agreements for fixed asset acquisitions.

19 §

Financial statements

The financial year of the unemployment fund is a calendar year.

The board shall prepare the financial documents, including the income statement, balance sheet, notes and annual report within three months of the end of the financial year.

20 §   

Investment activities​​​​​​​​​​​​​

The assets of the investment activities shall be invested in a productive and secure way to ensure the liquidity of YTK. The guidelines and annual plan for YTK’s investment activities are approved by YTK’s board.

YTK’s investment activities are guided by legislation, regulations and instructions from the supervisory authority as well as YTK’s rules.

21 §

Supervision of the unemployment fund

The supervisory authority for the unemployment fund is the Financial Supervisory Authority.

22 §

Changing the rules of the fund

If the unemployment security act or regulation or the unemployment fund act or regulation or other legislation connected to the field of the unemployment fund is changed, the board of YTK has the right to make corresponding amendments to these rules.

For these rules to be changed in cases other than those mentioned in subsection 1, or for the fund to be dissolved in a case other than that mentioned in section 14, subsection 2, it is required that the matter has been decided in a fund member meeting with a majority of a minimum of two thirds of the votes.