Working pays – also with an earnings-related allowance
Sometimes people say it is not worth going to work when you are unemployed. Working while receiving an earnings-related allowance will cause your maximum payment period to elapse more slowly and increase your income.
You can also accrue additional working weeks towards the working condition, so the maximum payment period starts anew. This means you can receive an earnings-related allowance for longer.
Working hours and earnings affect the amount of the daily allowance
You can apply for an adjusted earnings-related allowance if you do gig work or part-time work. Your working time can be up to 80% of the maximum working time in the sector. Your part-time employment must be at the employer’s initiative. In other words, you cannot choose to switch from full-time to part-time work and receive an earnings-related allowance unless your previous employment contract is terminated. Earned income also affects the amount of the earnings-related allowance. The impact of earned income and working hours is visible in the daily allowance according to when your wage or salary is paid. For example, if you work 50 hours in April and you are paid for these hours in May, you will receive the full daily allowance in April. Your income affects the amount of the daily allowance only when the wage or salary has been paid. In other words, the hours you worked
will reduce the daily allowance for May.
An adjusted daily allowance also has a protected portion. You can earn up to the protected portion
and still receive the full daily allowance. If you exceed the protected portion, about half the excess income has the effect of lowering the daily allowance. The protected portion in a one-month application period is EUR 300.
Applying for an adjusted daily allowance is easy
Send your earnings-related allowance application to the fund via Nettikassa, and enter your working hours and working days for each employer on the application. State when your wage or salary is paid and attach your part-time employment contract. The unemployment fund receives income data from the Incomes Register, but sometimes we may ask you to send your payslips to the fund. In such a case, send your payslip with the application that covers the payday. Remember to register as an unemployed jobseeker with the TE Office.