SY: Gov’t proposal on combination insurance step in right direction but complex

The Government submitted a proposal on combination insurance to parliament on 27 August. Suomen Yrittäjät, the Finnish SME association, has been calling for this for a long time.

“It is important for unemployment cover to extend in future to different combinations of employment and self-employment,” says Harri Hellstén, Labour Market Affairs Manager at Suomen Yrittäjät.

At present, earnings-related unemployment cover can only be accrued as either an employee or a self-employed person – not both at the same time.

“Suomen Yrittäjät already made a proposal years ago for abolishing the separate work requirements for the self-employed and employees in favour of a single work requirement that would take into account work carried out in both roles,” Hellstén continues.

The Government is now proposing a model which would establish a new work requirement alongside the existing ones for employees and the self-employed. This new requirement could include work performed both as an employee and as a self-employed person.

Under the work requirement, wage income earned as an employee and insurance income from self-employment would both be counted. The work requirement for combination insurance would be met when a person has, over a 28-month review period, accumulated a total of at least 12 work-requirement months from these income sources.

A work-requirement month would be formed if the combined total of insured income during a calendar month were at least €930 at 2025 levels.

“This is of course a step in the right direction, which is why we support it. In our view, however, the chosen model adds complexity to the system. It is also far from certain that there will be providers or take-up for the new form of insurance.”

“There is good reason to monitor closely how the new model begins to function and, if necessary, to return fairly quickly to amending the legislation should the proposed model fail to work as intended,” Hellstén says.

Are you a Suomen Yrittäjät member yet? Read more about member benefits and advantages!