The Finnish Food Workers’ Unemployment Fund will merge with A-kassa on 1 January 2024. 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 22 December 2023 to 1 January 2024
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 22 December 2023 and reopen by Tuesday 2 January 2024. 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 22 December 2023. Benefits paid on that date will reach members’ accounts on 27 December 2023.
Our customer service will be closed from 22 December 2023 and reopen on 2 January 2024
Due to the system outages, our customer service will close at midday on Friday 22 December 2023 and reopen on Tuesday 2 January 2024, when service will be available from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. We will return to our normal opening hours on Wednesday 3 January 2024.
Contact forms will be unavailable from 22 December 2023 to 1 January 2024
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 2024, tax will be withheld according to the withholding tax information for December 2023. 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 February 2024, 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 2024
Extension of the waiting period to seven days
The waiting period is the time before unemployment benefits can be paid. The waiting period was previously five working days, rising to seven days at the start of 2024.
Transitional provision: Applicable if the waiting period starts on 1 January 2024 or later.
Periodisation of holiday compensation
The periodisation of holiday compensation affects when the payment of an earnings-related unemployment allowance can begin after the end of employment. Annual holidays not taken before the end of the employment relationship will postpone the start of the earnings-related unemployment allowance by as many days as the holiday compensation corresponds to.
Transitional provision: Applies to annual holiday compensation based on an employment relationship ending on or after 1 January 2024.
Freezing of index-linked increases
Freezing of index-linked increases means that benefits will not rise in line with consumer prices, with some exceptions.
A-kassa’s membership fee remains unchanged
A-kassa’s membership fee will not change in 2024 – it will remain EUR 8 per month.
