The work of musicians and other creative professionals is often wide-ranging, and their working schedules and remuneration structures often differ from those in conventional salaried employment. Work can consist of individual performances, fixed-term productions, rehearsal periods, and salaries paid in various ways. These unique characteristics affect how earnings-related allowance is determined. Therefore, creative professionals should pay close attention to their employment declarations and salary details when applying for earnings-related allowance. Even more importantly, they need to distinguish whether the work is performed under an employment contract or not, as only work under an employment contract counts towards the employment condition.
Entitlement to earnings-related allowance requires fulfilling both the membership and the employment condition. The employment condition can only be accrued from work performed under an employment contract, for which the employer has paid statutory social contributions and during which the employee has been a member of an unemployment fund. For example, working under a grant or work paid as non-wage compensations for work does not count towards the employment condition, even though said income may affect the daily allowance in the form of adjusted income.
Non-wage compensations for work, income from social media or payments based on mandate agreements, performer agreements (e.g., participating as a contestant in a TV production) or influencer agreements are also considered adjusted income for the application period.
Date of salary payment affects the employment condition
The employment condition generally accrues based on the month in which the salary is paid. If the work was conducted in October but salary for it was only paid in November, the employment condition accrues for November.
A full month of employment condition accrues when at least 930 euros of salary is paid for the month. So-called ‘half’ employment condition months can also accrue if the salary for the month is below the 930 euros but at least 465 euros.
In creative fields, salaries may be paid for unusual salary periods. For example, if salary for two months’ work is paid within a single month, it is allocated to two separate months when declared.
Reporting employment relationships for on-call work is flexible
Musicians’ work can be sporadic and involve multiple employers. All current employment relationships must be declared on the application, but there is no need to make a separate declaration for each individual engagement.
The unemployment fund receives the salary and employment information primarily from the Incomes Register. Applicants can speed up the processing of their application by supplementing salary details with earning periods, i.e. information on when the work was actually performed. The unemployment fund may also request additional employment information if the data received via the Incomes Register is incomplete.
Working hours are reported for each day
Hours for working days and paid absence days, such as annual leave or sickness days, must be reported for each day on the application. Filling in the hours on the application is mandatory. Working day length is reported by using the number of hours for which salary is paid.
For example, for a single day of on-call work, eight hours are declared on the application if salary is paid for eight hours – even if the actual work took less time.
The qualifying period may be determined differently
The qualifying period for earnings-related allowance is seven unemployed weekdays. However, for creative professionals, there are specific considerations for calculating the qualifying period.
For creative professionals on monthly salary, the qualifying period is assessed based on the agreed work time percentage stated in the employment contract. If no work time percentage is stated in the employment contract, no qualifying period can be applied to working days.
If a musician takes a two-hour job but receives a full day’s salary for the work, the qualifying period does not accrue for that specific working day.
For those on hourly salary, the actual working hours confirmed by the employer are taken into account. If the hourly salary is unknown, or the employment relationship is not paid by the hour, the qualifying period cannot be applied for that day.
Attachments speed up the application process
An earnings-related allowance application will be processed faster if the required attachments are submitted right away with the application. Musicians may be requested to provide, for example, a rehearsal and performance calendar or details on individual gigs and rehearsals.
Payslips should be submitted, especially if the information in the Incomes Register is incomplete or if the salary does not indicate the portion of holiday compensation, for instance.
Copyright royalties do not affect earnings-related allowance, so their settlement statements do not need to be submitted to the unemployment fund.
Apply for daily allowance regularly
Earnings-related allowance must be applied for within three months from the date for which the benefit is sought. Applications should be sent regularly on a monthly basis, even if all salaries for working days within the application period have not yet been paid. This is because your salary affects the payable daily allowance only during the application period in which the salary is actually paid.
A carefully completed application with all the required attachments helps speed up processing and reduce the need for further clarification.