Has your business suffered because of Covid? Apply for business owners’ labour market support

Kela, the social security institution of Finland, is advising business owners on how to apply for labour market support in the period between January and March this year. Because of the Covid pandemic, business owners no longer have to go through a waiting period at the start of unemployment. This is a temporary measure.

As a business owner, you can apply for and receive labour market support for the period of 1 January–28 February 2022 if your business has suffered because of the Covid pandemic. Between 1 January and 15 February, you can also receive labour market support for the time preceding your application, even if you were not a jobseeker registered with TE Services during that time.

After 15 February, you can only receive the support if you are a registered jobseeker. TE Services provide more detailed instructions on how you, as a business owner, can register as a jobseeker.

The terms of the business owners’ labour market support are the same as earlier in the pandemic. Kela can pay the support if one of the following conditions is met:

• You no longer work full-time in your business.

• Your income as a business owner is less than €1,103.92/month because of the pandemic.

You do not need to wind down your business to receive the support. If you receive other income while receiving the support, you can report it to Kela yourself.

Kela will open a dedicated online application for the support for business owners in the online OmaKela service.

Further information:

• Temporary unemployment benefits for self-employed persons
• Unemployment benefit in the coronavirus situation
• TE-palvelut.fi

Unemployment benefit right from the start of unemployment

There is usually a five-day waiting period at the start of unemployment when the benefit is not paid. This waiting period is suspended between 1 January and 28 February, so you can receive unemployment benefit from the very first day you are unemployed.

If you received a decision from before this new law came into place and that decision mentioned a waiting period, your benefit will also be paid for that waiting period. You will receive a new decision in the post from Kela when the law enters into force. You can also easily check your decisions in the online OmaKela service. You do not need to contact Kela because of this change.