Unemployment fund will soon begin using Incomes Register data

What will change?

Unemployment funds will start receiving earnings payment data as of 1 of January 2020. From the beginning of next year we will gradually start using the Incomes Register data along with pay certificates. You will find more information later on our web page of the more precise effect of Incomes Register on applying benefits.

In future, we will only request the information that we do not receive from Incomes Register. If you are applying for a benefit, you do not need to attach all income data to your application, as the unemployment fund will receive the data directly from the Incomes Register.

Even in the future, not all data will be available in the Incomes Register

For many people, the Incomes Register will make it easier to file certain applications / obtain a decision, but it is possible that you will still be requested to provide wage and employment information, for instance. This is due to either your employer not having reported data to the Incomes Register or the Incomes Register data not being sufficient for processing your application. Data on wages paid after 1 January 2019 is stored in the Incomes Register.

Employers may report data to the Incomes Register either in a less detailed or itemized manner. The less detailed reporting method means that wages are reported only as a total amount, but the employer may also itemize parts of the pay in more detail. In addition to this, the employer may report voluntary data on, for example, the earnings periods of the wages.

If the employer has reported the earnings payment data to the Incomes Register in an itemized manner and also reported voluntary data, it is more likely that the unemployment fund can obtain the data needed for processing the application directly from the Incomes Register. In such a case, you do not need to separately provide wage or employment information.

What is the Incomes Register?

The Incomes Register is a national online database. It contains comprehensive data on the wages, pensions and benefits paid to citizens. Employers and other payers report the income data to the Incomes Register in real time after each payment date. As of 1 January 2019, the Incomes Register contains data on wages paid and other earned income. As of 2021, data on any pensions and benefits paid will also be reported to the Incomes Register.

In addition to the unemployment funds, Incomes Register data is utilized by the Social Insurance Institution (Kela), the Finnish Tax Administration, and Statistics Finland, for example. The Incomes Register grants public authorities and other data users access only to the data to which they are entitled and which they need. The data contained in the Incomes Register will be stored and processed in a high-security environment.

Read more: the Income Register website incomesregister.fi