Mobility allowance
From the unemployment fund, you can apply for mobility allowance and restructuring protection allowance in addition to earnings-related daily allowance.
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What is mobility allowance?
Mobility allowance is benefit designed to help you accept employment that involves a long commute from home. The workplace may be located in Finland or abroad.
Mobility allowance compensates for costs caused by a long commute or a move to another locality.
Sometimes, getting a specific job may require training organised far from home. Mobility allowance may be granted for such training, but not for training aimed at gaining general vocational qualifications.
Prerequisites for training commutes are the same as for work commutes. An allowance granted for training precludes a separately granted allowance based on accepting work.
The purpose of the mobility allowance is to encourage people to accept work even further away from home. The mobility allowance reimburses commuting and moving expenses if you accept a job or a training place that is a prerequisite for work, and your commute is long.
You may be eligible for mobility allowance if:
- you are entitled to an unemployment benefit immediately before the start of your employment or training
- the work you accept lasts for at least two months or the training you accept is related to a job with a minimum duration of two months
- the work is performed in an employment relationship
- at the start of your work, your daily round-trip commute, with any waiting and transfer times included, is:
- more than 3 hours a day in a full-time job
- more than 2 hours a day in a part-time job
- you have applied for the allowance no later than 3 months after the start of your employment or training.
Mobility allowance is paid to persons entitled to receive unemployment benefit
To be granted mobility allowance, you must have received unemployment benefit immediately before the start of your employment or training. Mobility allowance can also be paid if you have not been paid unemployment benefit before the start of your employment for any of the following reasons:
- you are on a period without allowance, i.e. on your suspension period
- there is a vocational training restriction for a person under the age of 25
- you have an obligation to work
- you are on your waiting period for earnings-related allowance.
Duration of the commute
In order to receive mobility allowance, your commute must be, on average, more than three hours a day in full-time employment and more than two hours a day in part-time employment.
Commute refers to the time it takes to travel from the place you live to your workplace. Please note that taking your children to daycare is not part of your commute, for instance. The estimated duration of the commute is based on public traffic routes in normal weather conditions. If you do not have a car at your disposal, travel time is calculated using public transport options, with transfer and waiting times included. The travel time is estimated based on the fastest available means of transport.
If your travel time is subsequently reduced during your employment, it will not affect your entitlement to the benefit.
Mobility allowance may also be paid if you move closer to your workplace once accepting the job, provided that your commute from your previous residence entitled you to the allowance.
Duration of employment
Your employment is required to at least two months for you to be eligible for mobility allowance. The duration of employment may also impact the duration of the mobility allowance.
Mobility allowance is equal to basic unemployment allowance: 37.21 euros per day in 2026.
The maximum allowance is approximately 800 euros per month (before tax), payable for up to two months.
Mobility allowance is taxable income.
We receive your salary tax card information directly from the Tax Administration if you have been our member from the onset of the current year.
With a salary tax card, the withholding rate for the mobility allowance is always at least 25%.
You can request a tax card revised specifically for the benefit from the Tax Administration. With a tax card for benefits, your withholding rate is adjusted to the rate indicated in the tax card.
Mobility allowance is paid for a period of 30, 45 or 60 days and for a maximum of five calendar days per week. In part-time work, mobility allowance is paid for working days. There is no waiting period for the allowance. It is paid from the first day of the employment relationship for which it is granted.
The mobility allowance is paid to you retrospectively for each payment month. The payment period starts from the first day of an employment relationship or a training. The first payment period is two weeks, after which the allowance is paid out in periods of four weeks. The mobility allowance is paid for the entire benefit period on the basis of a single application.
A decision on the payment of mobility allowance will be issued to you in connection with the first payment.
Minimum duration of employment | Allowance period | Days payable |
|---|---|---|
2 months | 30 days | 22-24 days |
3 months | 45 days | 33-35 days |
4 months or until further notice | 60 days | 44-45 days |
Mobility allowance is paid for full-time work during the allowance period for five days per week. The period is not extended even if the allowance is not paid for certain days, for example, due to entitlement to sickness allowance.
If you are working part-time, mobility allowance is paid for the actual days worked. In part-time work, working hours may amount to maximum 80% of the working time of a full-time position.
An extension of your employment relationship or a change to open-ended employment does not extend the duration of the payment period.
Mobility allowance can be paid for one employment relationship or work-related training at a time, and it is exclusively granted for a new employment relationship about to begin. For example, if you return from a full-time lay-off and continue with the same employer, you are not eligible for the allowance.
You can receive mobility allowance only if you are entitled to unemployment benefits. You are not eligible for the allowance if you switch from full-time employment to another job with no unemployment days between the two jobs. To qualify, you are required to have at least one day of unemployment between the employment relationships as a registered jobseeker eligible for unemployment benefits.
If you work part-time, or if you are in a full-time position for less than two weeks, you may be eligible for unemployment benefits. In this case, you may be eligible for mobility allowance even if you switch from one job to another with no unemployment days between the two jobs.
When is mobility allowance not granted?
Mobility allowance is not paid for a period during which you already receive one of the following benefits or compensations:
- sickness allowance
- maternity, paternity, pregnancy or parental allowance
- rehabilitation allowance
- other benefit or pension that would also prevent you from receiving earnings-related allowance
In addition, the allowance is not available to you if:
- you have been granted leave due to pregnancy, childbirth or caring for a child
- work and salary payment have been suspended due to, for instance, a lay-off or unpaid sick leave
- you receive annual leave pay for full-time employment, notice period salary, or another financial benefit based on an employment termination agreement.