A-kassa’s members work in many different sectors. The basic rules of unemployment security are the same for everyone, so earnings-related allowance is applied for in the same way in the construction sector as in other sectors.
However, there are practices in the construction sector that may affect how you fill in your application, which attachments are required and the amount of allowance paid. These include short and varying employment relationships, different types of lay-off, weather impediments, percentage-based holiday compensation, and piecework and performance-based pay.
Employment relationships may be short, and you may have several employers
In the construction sector, jobs and worksites may change frequently. In your application for earnings-related allowance, report all work you have done during the application period, even if it was only a short job or a single working day. Also report all employment relationships and employers you had during the application period.
The fund receives most wage information directly from the Incomes Register. If the information is incomplete or not sufficiently itemised, we will ask you or your employer for additional information.
The fund may also need, for example:
- employment contract
- information on the termination of the employment relationship
- notice of lay-off
- conditional notice of termination
- payslips
- information on working hours
- information on the earning period of piecework or performance-based pay.
How the lay-off is implemented affects the allowance
Lay-offs are common in the construction sector. A lay-off can be implemented in several different ways, and the way it is implemented affects how earnings-related allowance is paid. This, in turn, affects the final amount of allowance paid.
A lay-off can be implemented as:
- Full-time lay-off: the employee is laid off for an entire calendar week from Monday to Sunday. Earnings-related allowance can be paid in full for full days of lay-off.
- Shortened working week: the employee works some full working days and is laid off for some full days. Earnings-related allowance can be paid in full for full days of lay-off.
- Shortened working day: the daily working hours are reduced, in which case adjusted earnings-related allowance is paid.
- Mixed lay-off: the application period includes full and shortened working days as well as full days of lay-off. Adjusted earnings-related allowance is paid.
In your application, report separately for each day when you have been working, laid off or completely unemployed. For shortened working days, also report the hours you worked.
Read more in A-kassa’s instructions on lay-offs
Weather barrier, i.e. freezing temperature, is not the same as a lay-off
Construction work may be interrupted due to weather conditions caused by freezing temperatures. Under certain conditions, you can apply for earnings-related allowance for the period of a weather barrier if your employer is not obliged to pay wages or other compensation for the period during which work is interrupted.
The provisions on weather barrier laid down in the Unemployment Security Act apply only to weather barrier days caused by freezing temperatures in the building construction and forestry sectors. In other sectors, the employer may lay off an employee if the conditions for a lay-off are met. In this case, the allowance is paid according to the normal rules on lay-offs. In both situations, the person must register as an unemployed jobseeker with the employment authority.
When applying for allowance due to a weather barrier, fill in the application for full calendar weeks from Monday to Sunday. Enter a weather barrier day separately as a weather barrier in the application.
The fund may need information from your employer on:
- the date and reason for the weather barrier
- the working hours lost due to the weather barrier
- whether wages or other compensation have been paid for the day.
Holiday compensation is often paid as a percentage
Under several collective agreements in the construction sector, payments related to annual leave are paid on a percentage basis. For example, your payslip may show construction-sector holiday compensation of 18.5%, which includes both holiday pay (or holiday compensation for annual leave that has not been taken) and the normal holiday bonus, which is half of the holiday paya.
- Holiday pay for annual leave taken is included in the wages on which the allowance is based and counts towards the employment condition.
- Holiday compensation for annual leave that has not been taken is not included in the wages on which the earnings-related allowance is based and does not count towards the employment condition.
- Holiday bonus is not included in the wages on which the allowance is based and does not count towards the employment condition
Read more in A-kassa’s instructions on holiday pay, holiday bonus and holiday compensation.
Compensation for reduced working hours and midweek holidays varies between collective agreement sectors
The construction sector consists of several collective agreement sectors, and the provisions of their collective agreements differ from one another. For example, in the building construction, painting and floor covering sectors, a separate percentage-based component of pay is paid for reductions in working hours and midweek holidays. In other collective agreement sectors, midweek holiday compensation may be paid for a specific midweek holiday.
A midweek holiday that falls during a lay-off may affect the allowance:
- If you are entitled to full pay for the midweek holiday, earnings-related allowance cannot be paid for the same day.
- If you are not entitled to pay or midweek holiday compensation, the allowance can be paid if the other conditions are met.
For more information about midweek holiday compensation in different collective agreement sectors, contact your trade union or your workplace shop steward.
Pay may consist of piecework and performance-based pay
Piecework pays, base pays, and balancing payments for piecework paid afterwards may require additional information.
When determining whether the employment condition is met, wages are generally allocated to the calendar month in which they were paid. When adjusting the allowance, wages are also generally taken into account based on when they were paid.
If a wage component paid later relates to an unusually long earning period of more than one month, the fund will determine the period to which the wages should be allocated when calculating the employment condition
Remember these points when applying for earnings-related allowance
- Register as an unemployed jobseeker no later than your first day of unemployment or lay-off, or your first weather barrier day.
- Report all working days, lay-off days and weather barrier days in your application.
- Enter the hours you have worked in the application, itemised by employer.
- Report all employment relationships and employers you had during the application period.
- Submit your notice of lay-off and information on the weather barrier.
- Check your payslip to see how holiday compensation, compensation for reduced working hours and midweek holiday compensation have been itemised.