The Paper Workers’ Unemployment Fund will merge with A-kassa on 1 January 2025. This will cause a break in benefit payments and an eService outage at the turn of the year to allow for system updates. It will also lead to temporary changes in benefit payment schedules and service hours.
eServices unavailable from 20 December 2024 to 1 January 2025
The eService system will be updated due to the merger, causing a service outage. The eService will be unavailable during the outage. The eService will close at midday on Friday 20 December 2024 and reopen by Thursday 2 January 2025. Please submit applications before the outage if possible.
Suspension in benefit payments
Our payment system will also be updated at the turn of the year. We will be unable to process applications or pay benefits during the update. The last benefit payment of the year will be made on Friday 20 December 20234. Benefits paid on that date will reach members’ accounts on 23 December 2024.
Our customer service will be closed from 20 December 2024 and reopen on 2 January 2025
Due to the system outages, our customer service will close on Friday 20 December 2024 and reopen on Thursday 2 January 2025, when service will be available from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. We will return to our normal opening hours on Friday 3 January 2025.
Contact forms will be unavailable from 20 December 2024 to 1 January 2025
The forms on our website are connected to our payment system, so they will be unavailable during the update.
Withholding tax and tax cards
In January 2025, tax will be withheld according to the tax information of the tax card that will come into effect on January 1, 2025. Your benefits will be subject to a withholding tax rate of at least 25 per cent under a tax card for earned income unless you submit a revised tax card for the benefit. The tax accrued will be reset at the turn of the year.
In general, we receive new withholding tax information from the Tax Administration from 1 January 2025, so if you have a tax card issued for earned income, you do not need to submit it to the fund.
We also receive new revised tax cards ordered for benefits electronically if you order them using the Tax Administration’s MyTax service and address them to the Open Unemployment Fund. If you order a tax card in MyTax, the details are sent to us automatically within two working days.
Changes to unemployment security taking effect on 1 January 2025
Supplementary amount will be removed
Currently, the supplementary amount is payable with earnings-related allowance if the unemployed person participates in a service promoting employment. The supplementary amount is available for a maximum of 200 days. To be entitled to the benefit, your employment plan with the TE Office or the municipality participating in the local government pilot must include an agreement to participate in a service promoting employment. In 2024, the supplementary amount is 5.29 euros per day. The supplementary amount will be removed completely on January 1, 2025.
The supplementary amount is removed on January 1, 2025. If an employment-promoting service commences by December 31, 2024, the supplementary amount can be paid for the period succeeding the effective date of the legislative amendment. Payments can continue until the end of the provision of the service or for 200 days, whichever occurs earlier. If the service is split into separate periods and these periods do not succeed each other without interruption, the supplementary amount or the increased earnings-related component is not paid for any service period that starts on or after January 1, 2025.
The legislative amendment does not impact the expense allowance paid for participating in employment-promoting services.
A-kassa’s membership fee remains unchanged
A-kassa’s membership fee will not change in 2025 – it will remain EUR 8 per month.
