Amount of the earnings-related allowance

Amount of the earnings-related allowance

The amount of your earnings-related daily allowance is based on your wages based prior to unemployment or layoff. We calculate the amount of your earnings-related daily allowance from your regular wage during the period that counts towards satisfying the employment requirement.

Your holiday bonus and holiday compensation are deducted from your taxable income. Any compensation that you may receive on the basis of the termination of your employment is not considered to be part of your regular wage and is therefore not taken into account in the calculation of the amount of your earnings-related allowance.

An amount equivalent to your pension contributions, unemployment insurance premiums and daily sickness allowances is also deducted from your pay.  The deduction is 3,76% in 2024.

If your 12-month employment requirement is met after 1 September 2024, your earnings-related allowance will be staggered. This means that the amount of your earnings-related allowance will decrease if your unemployment is prolonged.

The earnings-related allowance is paid for a maximum of 300, 400, or 500 days. You can find more information on the duration of the earnings-related allowance on the page “Length of the allowance period”.

Basic daily allowance and earnings-related component

The earnings-related allowance is made up of a basic daily allowance and an earnings-related component. The basic daily allowance is EUR 37,21 per day from in 2024. The earnings-related component is 45% of the difference between the basic daily allowance and your daily wage.

If your monthly wage exceeds a certain threshold, the earnings-related component is 20% for the amount above the threshold. The threshold is EUR 3534,95 in 2024.

Your full earnings-related allowance including child support supplements cannot exceed 90% of the daily wage on which your allowance is based. Your earnings-related allowance is always at least equal to the basic daily allowance.

Child support supplements

The child support supplement until 31 March 2024 is

  • EUR 5,84 per day for one child,
  • EUR 8,57 per day for two children and
  • EUR 11,05 per day for three or more children.

You can receive a child support supplement if you have a child under the age of 18 in your care.

For benefit days as of 1 April 2024, the right to the child supplement element of unemployment security are abolished.

Increased earnings-related allowance

You can be paid a higher earnings-related allowance if you have agreed with the TE Office to participate in a service that promotes employment. You can receive the earnings-related increment for a maximum period of 200 days.

The earnings-related increment is 55% of the difference between your daily wage and the basic daily allowance. The increment is 25% for any amount above the threshold.

Your daily allowance with the earnings-related increment added on and including child support supplements cannot exceed the daily wage on which your allowance is based.

Review period for the calculation of the amount of the earnings-related allowance

The amount of your earnings-related allowance is calculated taking into account your pay during the period that counts towards satisfying the employment requirement. The employment requirement must satisfy during a review period of 28 months.

In some circumstances, the review period can be extended by up to seven years. Examples of acceptable reasons for extending the review period include illness, institutional care, full-time study, rehabilitation, military service, alternation leave, birth of a child and care of a child up to the age of 3. You can read more about the review period under Employment requirement.

Staggering

Staggering of the earnings-related allowance means that the amount of the allowance decreases as the period of unemployment extends.

The amount is reduced for the first time when you have received the allowance for 40 days and for the second time when you have received it for 170 days. On the first step, the amount decreases to 80 percent, and on the second step, to 75 percent of your full earnings-related allowance. Your earnings-related allowance is always at least equal to the basic daily allowance.

Duration of Unemployment Level of Allowance
1–40 paid days 100%
41–170 paid days 80%
over 170 paid days 75%

Your earnings-related allowance will be recalculated when you fulfil the 12-calendar-month employment requirement again. At that point, your earnings-related allowance will return to the 100% level.

You can estimate the amount of your earnings-related allowance after the staggering using our daily allowance calculator.

Who Does the Staggering Affect?

The staggering applies to those who meet the employment requirement after 1 September 2024 and whose employment requirement is 12 months. Thus, the staggering does not affect you if:

  • The maximum period for your earnings-related allowance (300, 400, or 500 days) has started before 2 September 2024
  • Your 26-week employment requirement is met by 1 September 2024
  • Your employment requirement includes work with wage subsidies that started by 1 September 2024
  • Your employment requirement includes work or employment-promoting service arranged under an employment obligation and where the obligation arose by 1 September 2024.

In these situations, the staggering will be applied when the employment requirement is met again after 1 September 2024 and the employment requirement is 12 months.

Example 1:

Your job ended on 31 December 2023, and you have been unemployed since 1 January 2024. Your employment requirement was met on 31 December 2023, and you were granted an earnings-related allowance. You started full-time employment on 1 May 2024, so you received the earnings-related allowance until 30 April 2024. Your fixed-term employment ends on 30 September 2024.

The five-month-long job does not meet the employment requirement, and there is still time left on your maximum earnings-related allowance period. Therefore, we will continue to pay the allowance at the same rate as before you started working, and your allowance will not be staggered. Staggering will be applied only when your 12-month employment requirement is met. 

Example 2:

Your job ends on 1 September 2024, and at the same time, your 26-week employment requirement is met. You are unemployed from 2 September 2024, and you are granted an earnings-related allowance. Your allowance will not be staggered because your employment requirement was met by 1 September 2024. Staggering will be applied only when your employment requirement is met next time. 

Staggering in Practice

The earnings-related allowance is paid for a maximum of five days per week. Paid days are the days for which you have received the allowance. For example, waiting period days and sanction days are not included.

Paid days are consumed more slowly if you receive a salary from part-time or temporary work, and your earnings-related allowance is paid as adjusted.

Example 1:

Your job ends on 18 September 2024, and you are fully unemployed from 19 September 2024. You receive earnings-related allowance after the waiting period from 30 September 2024. Your full earnings-related allowance is €70 per day. 

1) Your allowance is paid in full for 40 days. It is €70 per day from 30 September 2024 to 24 November 2024.

2) Your allowance decreases to 80 percent for the next 130 days. It is €56 per day from 25 November 2024 to 25 May 2025.

3) Your allowance decreases to 75 percent when it has been paid for 170 days. It is €52.50 per day from 26 May 2025. 

Example 2:

Your job ends on 18 September 2024, and you are fully unemployed from 19 September 2024. You receive earnings-related allowance after the waiting period from 30 September 2024. Your full allowance is €70 per day. You have a fixed-term full-time job for four weeks from 21 October 2024 to 17 November 2024, after which you are again fully unemployed. 

1) Your allowance is paid in full for 40 days. It is €70 per day from 30 September 2024 to 20 October 2024 and from 18 November 2024 to 20 December 2024. For the time of full-time work over two weeks, no allowance is paid, and no days are added to the 40-day count.

2) Your allowance decreases to 80 percent for the next 130 days. It is €56 per day from 21 December 2024 to 20 June 2025.

3) Your allowance decreases to 75 percent when it has been paid for 170 days. It is €52.50 per day from 21 June 2025. 

Example 3:

Your job ends on 18 September 2024, and you are fully unemployed from 19 September 2024. You receive earnings-related allowance after the waiting period from 30 September 2024. Your full allowance is €70 per day. You receive sickness allowance from 9 December 2024 to 12 January 2025, after which you are again fully unemployed. 

1) Your allowance is paid in full for 40 days. It is €70 per day from 30 September 2024 to 24 November 2024.

2) Your allowance decreases to 80 percent for the next 130 days. It is €56 per day from 25 November 2024 to 8 December 2024 and from 13 January 2025 to 29 June 2025. No allowance is paid for the time with sickness allowance, and no days are added to the staggering days count.

3) Your allowance decreases to 75 percent when it has been paid for 170 days. It is €52.50 per day from 26 July 2025. 

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