Adjusted daily allowance
You can apply for adjusted daily allowance if you are working part-time or doing occasional work.
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Adjusted daily allowance
You can apply for adjusted daily allowance if you are working part-time or doing occasional work.
See the applying guide for more detailed instructions on applying for earnings-related allowance.
Part-time work is a kind of work that is done in an employment relationship, where the working time agreed in the employment contract is no more than 80 % of the maximum working time of a full-time employee applicable in the field. Occasional work is a kind of work that is done in a full-time employment relationship lasting no more than two weeks (14 days).
When an employer turns the job into a part-time employment, the employer unilaterally changes the employment relationship to permanent part-time for production and financial reasons. This process shall be carried out in accordance with the term of notice.
You are eligible for an adjusted earnings-related allowance if you receive income and:
- You are employed part-time and your working hours are no more than 80% of full-time hours. However, this does not apply if you have voluntarily reduced your working hours
- your daily working time has been reduced due to a temporary lay-off
- you have received full-time work of up to two weeks
- you are employed via business activities or part-time at your own job
- you are employed full-time via business activities for up to two weeks
- Started a business while unemployed (for up to four months).
The adjusted daily allowance will be paid as the same amount for each eligible working day of the application period. The daily allowance will be paid for both unemployed days and the days worked.
The amount of adjusted daily allowance is affected by the full amount of your earnings-related allowance and the income from part-time work and other work subject to the adjustment.
The income you receive during unemployment will affect your earnings-related allowance when the income is actually paid to you. This is called a payment-based adjustment of the daily allowance.
Remember to keep your job search active at Job Market Finland at all times while you apply for an adjusted earnings-related allowance. This means that the job search must also be active while you work.
You can calculate an indicative estimate of the amount of the adjusted daily allowance using the daily allowance calculator.
The amount of adjusted daily allowance is affected by the amount of your earnings-related allowance and the income from part-time work and other occasional work.
If earned income is paid for an earning period longer than one month and this differs from the usual salary payment period, the earned income is divided to affect the month of payment and the same number of subsequent months as the what earning of the income is based on. If the adjustment period is four calendar weeks, the income is divided into four-week adjustment periods according to their income-earning.
Example:
On 3 July, you have been paid €1,500 salary for part-time work you have done in April, May and June. Because the income has been earned during three months, it is divided in earnings-related allowance adjustment to affect the month of payment and the subsequent two months – July, August and Septembe; €1,500 / 3 months = 500 euros per month.
Recalculation of the daily allowance
When you meet the 12-month work requirement again after the start of your earnings-related allowance period, we will recalculate the amount of your daily allowance.
You cannot receive more than the amount of your full earnings-related daily allowance.
The total salary you receive for work and the adjusted daily allowance may not exceed the salary on which the daily allowance is based.
- If the total income exceeds the wages on which the daily allowance is based, the daily allowance is paid to the extent that the total income is equal to the wages on which the daily allowance is based.
You can calculate an indicative estimate of the amount of the adjusted daily allowance using the daily allowance calculator.
The amount of the full daily allowance and the adjusted daily allowance affects how the maximum period of time is accrued, when the adjusted daily allowance is paid.
You can receive an adjusted daily allowance if your working hours do not exceed 80 % of the working time in full-time employment:
- The hours worked in part-time or full-time employment lasting no more than two weeks during the application period are compared with the hours of full-time employment. Depending on the pay cycle, the hours paid are compared with the working hours of full-time employment of four calendar weeks or calendar months.
- The actual working hours when working a shortened working day due to a lay-off are compared with the hours of full-time employment per calendar week.
- The hours worked in entrepreneurship are irrelevant and such hours do not need to be reported.
Working hours are taken into account based on the time of payment of wages.
Example You start working part-time in July. Your salary will be paid to you on 14 August 2026. The working time of a full-time employee in the sector is 40 hours per week. 80% of the maximum working time in the sector is 137.60 hours in a calendar month. You worked 140 hours in July, meaning you have exceeded your working hours. Your August application for the period from 1–31 August 2026 will be rejected based on the hours worked in July. For the July application, you will be paid a full daily allowance if you have not received any wage income during July.
If the adjusted income has been earned during an earning period longer than one month and it is divided to affect several months, the working time is also divided to affect the month of payment and the same number of subsequent months as the earning period of the income. If the adjustment period is four calendar weeks, the working time considered in the adjustment is divided into four-week adjustment periods according to their income-earning.
Example:
On 3 July, you have been paid salary for a total of 100h of part-time work you have done in April, May and June. Because the income has been earned during three months, the working time, i.e., the number of paid working hours, is divided in earnings-related allowance adjustment to affect the month of payment and the subsequent two months – July, August and September. 100h= 3×33.3 hours per month.
If the working time taken into account in adjustment exceeds 80% of the full working hours of the sector, adjusted daily allowance cannot be paid.
If your weekly working time is reduced due to a temporary lay-off, you will receive a full daily allowance for the unemployed days. If your weekly working times is reduced due to a temporary lay-off and you receive income from part-time work, full-time work of up to two weeks, or business activities, you will be paid an adjusted daily allowance.
The following sources of income are taken into account when calculating the amount of an adjusted earnings-related daily allowance:
- basic wages or salary and associated allowances and reimbursements, such as evening work bonuses, overtime pay, standby and on-call allowances as well as any taxable fringe or employee benefits
- holiday pay and holiday bonuses
- pay for annual leave earned through part-time work
- pay for the notice period, where the unemployment benefits claim is not rejected on the basis of the claimant’s being entitled to pay for the notice period
- performance-based payments, such as commissions, bonuses and profit sharing
- endowment insurance premiums paid for by the employer
- taxable portion of voluntary pension insurance premiums paid for by the employer
- taxable portion of scholarships and grants paid for by the employer
- royalties based on intellectual property rights, with the exception of copyrights
- compensation payments to shop stewards and occupational safety and health representatives as well as individuals involved in collective bargaining
- payments in lieu of wages or salary
- wages or salary payments guaranteed by the pay security system, where these payments would, had they been made by the employer, constitute earnings that are taken into account in the adjustment process
- gratuities
- earnings from self-employment, with the exception of
- net income from forestry within the meaning of the Agricultural Income Tax Act
- earnings component of dividend income
- earnings component of disguised dividends
- cash compensation withdrawn from a working time account
- dividends based on labour input within the meaning of the Income Tax Act
- other comparable income
The adjusted daily allowance accrues more slowly the maximum time of earning-related daily allowance of 300–500 days than the days of full daily allowance.
When you receive an adjusted daily allowance, the calculator accumulates days according to the amount paid. When the adjusted daily allowance has been paid corresponding to the full amount of the full daily allowance, one day is accumulated on the calculator.
Example:
If your full daily allowance is 40 euros per day and your adjusted daily allowance is 33.70 euros per day, the maximum time calculator will accrue days from a four-calendar-week application (20 days x 33.70 euros): 40.00 = 16.85, that is, 17 days. When calculating the maximum payment period, the amount paid as an adjusted daily allowance is converted into full earnings-related allowance days.