Membership and employment condition
You can receive earnings-related daily allowance when you meet the labour policy requirements as well as the membership and employment conditions of the unemployment fund.
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Membership and employment condition
You can receive earnings-related daily allowance when you meet the labour policy requirements as well as the membership and employment conditions of the unemployment fund.
One of the conditions for receiving the daily allowance is fulfilling the membership condition. It is fulfilled when you have been a member of A-kassa for at least 12 months, or one year, from the date you joined the fund.
It is therefore recommended that you join A-kassa as soon as possible. Any wage-earner in an employment relationship and under the age of 68 may join the fund. A-kassa is open to all wage-earners, regardless of their industry, sector, profession or education. Join the fund here.
You may join the fund at any time; the actual date you join the fund does not need to be the first day of a calendar month.
Have you switched from one fund to another?
If you have previously been a member of another unemployment fund and join A-kassa within one month of the end of your membership in the previous fund:
- Your period of membership in the previous fund counts towards your A-kassa membership condition.
- Your previously accrued employment condition is also transferred to A-kassa.
You joined A-kassa on January 15, 2025. You fulfil your 12-month membership condition on January 14, 2026.
You join B-kassa on January 1, 2025, and resign on October 30, 2025. You join A-kassa on November 29, 2025, and become unemployed on December 31, 2025. There is no accrual towards your membership condition for the 29 days between October 31 and November 28, 2025. Your membership condition will not be fulfilled until January 30, 2026, which is therefore the earliest date on which you can be entitled to the daily allowance. (However, all salaries paid to you in October and November can be counted towards your employment condition, even if your membership is not valid for the full month.)
You resign from your previous fund on August 15 and join A-kassa on September 20. You failed to transfer your membership to the new fund within one month, resulting in the loss of both your membership condition and your employment condition. You are required to fulfil both conditions again
If a member is expelled from a fund, they lose any membership and employment periods accumulated during their membership. If the expelled person rejoins the same or another fund, the accrual of membership condition and employment condition start over.
To be eligible for earnings-related allowance, you must be employed during your membership period. This requirement is called the employment condition, and it is the most important prerequisite for receiving daily allowance. A minimum of 12 employment condition months must be accumulated.
Your employment condition only accrues while you are a member of an unemployment fund. The employment condition accrues based on salary paid for employment.
The employment condition is usually fulfilled when you have been paid a sufficient salary over the course of 12 calendar months while being a member of a fund.
Various types of employment, including full-time, part-time and on-call work, count toward the employment condition.
Employment condition accrues based on amount of salary paid
- The accrual of the employment condition is reviewed per calendar month, e.g. in January, February, and March.
- The employment condition must be fully met during a 28-month reference period (LINKKI).
- Starting September 2, 2024, the employment condition accrues based on salary paid for work performed. Unlike before September 2, 2024, the number of hours worked no longer affects the accrual of the employment condition.
- The month in which the work is performed and the month in which the salary is paid do not need to be the same. The payment month typically determines the accrual of the employment condition.
- The salary is considered as gross pay, i.e. before tax deductions. However, holiday bonus and holiday compensation are not taken into account.
If you are paid the following salary amounts during a calendar month:
- Less than 465 euros – no accrual towards employment condition.
- Between 465 and 929.99 euros – you accrue one half of a month towards your employment condition. Two halves of a month form one full employment condition month. Half employment condition months do not need to accrue in consecutive months, but they must accrue within a 28-month review period.
- 930 euros or more – you accrue one full calendar month towards your employment condition.
- Income for a calendar month may consist of salaries paid on one or more paydays. The salaries may be paid for one job or for two or more employment relationships. (Please note that for pay-subsidised work, salaries are taken into account in a specific way.)
- Salary income is taken into account in reverse chronological order, starting from the most recent salary period.
- You can fulfil your 12-month employment condition based on, for example, a period of eleven full months and two half-months of employment.
- Employment you accrued as a member of your prior fund is transferred over to the new fund, provided that you joined the new fund within one month of the end of your membership in the previous fund.
For your paid employment to count towards the employment condition, it must also fulfil the following conditions:
- You are employed under an employment contract or public service relationship.
- You work in Finland, you work as a posted worker, or you work in an EU or EEA country or Switzerland.
- You receive salary for your work as stipulated in the applicable collective agreement, or at least 1,463 euros per month for full-time work (in 2026).
- The salary is subject to insurance, meaning that the statutory social security, pension and unemployment insurance contributions, as well as taxes, have been paid on the salary.
As described, employment condition months are earned based on salary payments, and usually it does not matter when the work was performed or how long the employment relationship lasted.
You are in fixed-term employment for the entire month of February. The salary you earned from your work (1,800 euros for the period from February 1 to February 28, 2025) is paid on March 15, 2025. You accrue one month towards your employment condition for March. You do not accrue a month towards your employment condition for February, because you had no paydays in February.
You have a fixed-term employment relationship for four weeks between February 17 and March 16, 2025. The salary for the entire employment relationship (1,600 euros) is paid on March 31, 2025. You accrue one month towards your employment condition for March. You do not accrue a month towards your employment condition for February, because you had no paydays in February. The period of work has no impact on the employment condition months.
You work part-time for four weeks between February 10 and March 9, 2025. Salary is paid every two weeks. You have one payday in February and one in March. Salary earned for the first two weeks (from February 10 to February 23, 2025), 500 euros, is paid on February 28, 2025. Salary earned for the latter weeks (from February 24 to March 9, 2025), another 500 euros, is paid on March 14, 2025. You accrue one half of an employment condition month for February and one half of an employment condition month for March.
There are some cases where the time period of work – i.e. the salary earning period – affects the accrual of the employment condition rather than the date of payment. The salary earning period is relevant only if:
- the salary or
- bonuses paid are for a longer period of time, or
- salary payment has been delayed due to the employer.
1) Deviation from the customary salary period
In most cases, a customary salary period is one month or less. The employer deviates from the customary salary period and, over the course of one calendar month, pays salary for an earning period that exceeds one month.
The salary is distributed over a period of several months to correspond to the earning period. The salary accrues the employment condition for the salary payment month and for as many calendar months, both preceding and following the payment month, as the salary earnings are based on.
Example: Salary earned for a period exceeding one month (from October 1, 2025 to November 30, 2025) is paid on November 30, 2025. The salary is allocated accordingly, accruing the employment condition for both October and November 2025.
2) Performance-based salary paid at one time for a period exceeding one month (e.g. performance reward, bonus, commission)
Example: A performance reward earned between January 1, 2025 and December 31, 2025, is paid on January 15, 2026. The reward is allocated accordingly across the months within the earning period rather than to the payment month only.
3) Delayed salary payment
If your salary is delayed due to a reason attributable to the employer or your salary is paid via wage security due to employer insolvency, the salary is allocated to the calendar month during which it should have originally been paid.
Example: You work from January 15, 2025 to January 31, 2025. In a regular pay cycle, the salary (950 euros) would be paid on February 15, 2025. However, your employer is insolvent, forcing you to apply for payment via wage security. The missing salary is paid to you as wage security only on October 31, 2025. For the purpose of the employment condition, this salary is allocated to February 2025.
The following are not counted towards the employment condition:
- salary you have received for work performed during a partial sickness allowance period
- reduced salary paid to you for a period of illness (for example, two-thirds salary)
If you become unemployed after you have been on:
- partial nursing leave;
- partial disability pension;
- part-time pension;
the amount of your earnings-related allowance is calculated based on the salary you received before your nursing leave or pension began. This is conditional upon you fulfilling the employment condition as well as the membership condition of the unemployment fund before the leave or pension starts.
If you fully meet the 12-month employment condition after the end of your pension or leave, the earnings-related allowance will be calculated based on the salaries earned during the period following the pension or leave.
Starting from September 2, 2024, pay-subsidised work counts towards the employment condition only if the pay subsidy has been granted for employing:
- a person with reduced working capacity, or
- a long-term unemployed person aged over 60.
In other situations, pay-subsidised work does not count towards the employment condition.
The first 10 months of pay-subsidised work do not count towards the employment condition. The employment condition only begins to accrue from the 11th month onwards, with 75% of the pay-subsidised work taken into account. The remaining 25% of the work extends the 28-month review period.
In practice, a person over 60 or a person with reduced working capacity must be engaged in pay-subsidised work for at least 26 months, or 2 years and 2 months, to fully meet the 12-month employment condition.
EXAMPLE 1:
The duration of the pay-subsidised work is 26 months, covering a period from January 1, 2025 to February 28, 2027. Salary is paid once a month during the month the work is performed, and the monthly salary is always at least 930 euros.
There is no accrual towards the employment condition during the first 10 months, i.e. the period between January 1, 2025 and October 31, 2025.
Accrual towards the employment begins with the 11th month, covering a period from November 1, 2025 to February 28, 2027. Of this 16-month working period, 75% counts towards the employment condition, equalling 12 months (16 x 0.75 = 12). The employment condition is fulfilled on February 28, 2027.
(The periods that do not count towards the employment condition, i.e. the first 10 months and the 25% share that equates to 4 months, extend the reference period.)
If you work and receive salary income seasonally, we calculate your earnings-related allowance based on your annual income.
Work and the earned salary income are considered seasonal if the work can only be performed at a specific time of the year:
- due to natural conditions or some other similar reason, and
- the amount of work and the earned salary income are, for this reason, considerably higher than usual.
In calculating annual income, we consider income from the 12 months that immediately precede your unemployment, using the payment-based allocation. In addition to earned income, all other personal income comparable to salary is taken into account. This includes, for example, certain social benefits, compensation for loss of earnings, and other forms of support. Unlike in the determining of salary based on established salary, holiday bonus or annual leave compensation are not deducted when your annual income is determined.
Reference period is the 28-month time frame preceding unemployment, i.e. two years and four months. The reference period is generally calculated backwards from the date on which you register as an unemployed jobseeker.
The work you perform during the reference period counts towards your employment condition. The employment condition must be fully met within the reference period. Because the accrual of the employment condition is based on the salaries paid for work performed, you must accumulate the 12 paid months required for the employment condition within the 28-month reference period.
Your employment condition does not need to be accumulated with the same employer or for consecutive months. The reference period can therefore also include months during which there are no salary payments and no accrual towards the employment condition.
Extending the reference period
The reference period may be extended by a maximum of 7 years, provided that you have an acceptable reason for being absent from the job market. An acceptable reason extends the reference period by its duration. The maximum duration of the reference period is nine years and four months, however, it may not extend beyond the fund membership.
Acceptable reasons for extending the reference period include periods during which you have been:
- studying full-time
- working on a grant
- on pregnancy or parental leave due to the birth of a child
- caring for a child under the age of three
- ill
- in rehabilitation
- in the army, non-military service or refresher training
- on job alternation leave
- serving a prison sentence
Your employment ends on June 30, 2025. Your first day of unemployment is July 1, 2025. The 28-month reference period is the time immediately before unemployment, between March 1, 2023 and June 30, 2025.
If you are on a six-month parental allowance period, your reference period is extended accordingly, from 28 to 34 months. The period of parental leave is not included in the reference period; instead, this period is disregarded. Therefore, the reference period extends by six months from the time before the parental leave.
The employment condition is fulfilled at the turn of the month
Your employment condition accrues based on salary payments. Calendar months during which you are paid a sufficient salary count towards the employment condition.
As a rule, the employment condition is fulfilled at the end of the calendar month during which you receive the final salary payment that counts towards the 12-month employment condition.
Accrual towards a new employment condition starts at the beginning of the next calendar month.
Example: The employment condition is fulfilled at the end of the month
A minimum of 930 euros in salary is paid on October 15, 2025. October will count as the 12th employment condition month. The employment condition is fulfilled on October 31, 2025. Accrual towards a new employment condition begins on November 1, 2025.
Entitlement to earnings-related allowance begins during the 12th month
Although the employment condition is only fulfilled at the end of the month, setting the waiting period and payment of the earnings-related allowance may already begin during the calendar month that counts as the 12th employment condition month. This requires, however, that your employment ends or your lay-off begins during the 12th employment condition month and that you register as an unemployed jobseeker.
Example: Entitlement to earnings-related allowance begins during the 12th month
You are fully unemployed starting December 15, 2025 and register as a jobseeker on the same date. You have accrued 11 months towards your employment condition by the end of November (on November 30, 2025). Your salary is always paid during the month in which the work is performed, meaning that December’s salary is paid in December. You receive a salary of at least 930 euros in December, making December the 12th month counted towards your employment condition. Your employment condition is fulfilled on December 31, 2025. Accrual towards a new employment condition begins on January 1, 2026. However, setting the waiting period and payment of the earnings-related allowance may begin as early as December 15, 2025.
Note: If you receive holiday compensation for unused leave at the end of a long-term, full-time employment, this holiday compensation may postpone the waiting period and payment of the earnings-related allowance.
In continuous part-time work, a new waiting period and entitlement to the earnings-related allowance begin at the turn of the month
If you are already a recipient of earnings-related allowance and you work part-time (continuous part-time work, shortened daily working hours or a shortened work week), the employment condition is always fulfilled at the end of the calendar month that counts as the 12th employment condition month. In this case, the new waiting period is set at the start of the next calendar month.
Example: Fulfilling the employment condition in continuous part-time work
You work part-time and receive earnings-related allowance for the duration of your employment. You receive a salary of at least 930 euros in October. Based on salary payments, October is the 12th month that counts towards your employment condition. The previously set daily allowance is paid until the end of October, and the new daily allowance, employment condition and waiting period all commence at the beginning of November.
Once the amount of your daily allowance has been calculated and you have registered as an applicant for daily allowance, salary payments received from, for example, on-call or part-time work, begin to accumulate towards a new employment condition. Salary paid for full-time employment lasting over two weeks also counts towards a new employment condition, even if you are not entitled to the daily allowance for the duration of such employment.
If your monthly income is:
- less than 465 euros, you will not accrue any time towards your new employment condition.
- 465–929 euros, you accrue one half of a month towards you employment condition. Two halves of an employment condition month equal one full employment condition month.
- at least 930 euros, you accrue a full calendar month towards your new employment condition.
Your unemployment fund keeps track of the accrual of your new employment condition. If necessary, you should as an applicant also keep track of any employment condition months earned, because the eService does not yet support displaying data on the accrual of your employment condition.
You fulfil the employment condition again if you accumulate at least 12 calendar months that fulfil the employment condition within a 28-month reference period. In this case, we will recalculate the amount of your daily allowance.
We perform a new calculation even if you still have days remaining in your maximum payment period for your previous earnings-related allowance. In the new calculation, we take into account the salaries you have received during the period that fulfils the employment condition.
When you fulfil the employment condition again,
- we recalculate the amount of your daily allowance
- we set a new waiting period
- we reset the days accumulated towards your maximum payment period for your earnings-related allowance.
Some members are still subject to the so-called old legislation. If you have not received a salary of at least 465 euros per month for work performed after September 1, 2024, you are still subject to the old 26-week employment condition.
The old employment condition is accrued on the basis of calendar weeks during which paid working hours total at least 18 (including, for instance, paid holidays, absences due to illness and periods of notice). In the creative and performing arts industries, earning a salary of at least 325.35 euros per week is required. The old legislation stipulates that the employment condition must be met within a 28-month reference period.
The 12-month employment condition under the new legislation, effective from September 2, 2024, can potentially be fulfilled in August 2025 at the earliest.
If you do not fully fulfil the 12-month employment condition under the new legislation, we convert your employment condition weeks accrued under the old legislation to correspond to the new employment condition months. Weeks are converted into months by dividing the number of weeks by four.
Employment condition weeks as employment condition months:
- 1–2 employment condition weeks equal one half of an employment condition month.
(Rounding rule: 0.25 months rounds up to 0.5 months) - 3–4 employment condition weeks equal one full employment condition month.
(Rounding rule: 0.75 months rounds up to 1 full month)
Example: Converting weeks into months
You had accrued 17 employment condition weeks under the old legislation by September 1, 2024. The weeks are divided by four. Therefore, 17 divided by 4 = 4.25 months, which is rounded up to correspond to 4.5 employment condition months. The accrued 17 employment condition weeks therefore equal 4.5 employment condition months.