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Appeal procedure

Sometimes the decision we make may seem wrong or misguided to you. In that case, you can ask us to review the matter and appeal the decision. Lodging an appeal is free of charge.

The appeal procedure provides you with legal protection and, at the same time, serves as an important tool in developing laws and their application.

What shall I do if I am dissatisfied with a decision?

If you are dissatisfied with a decision, you may lodge an appeal against it. You can find instructions on how to lodge an appeal on this page. Appeal instructions are also enclosed with the decision.

Before lodging an appealing, read the decision through carefully one more time. We have presented detailed reasoning in the decision to allow you to assess its correctness.

If you still think that the decision is misguided, contact us. We can then check the case and review the reasoning together. Sometimes there may be a manifest error in the decision that we can amend right away. If we cannot amend the decision, we will advise you to lodge an appeal.

When you lodge an appeal, we will review the decision again. If we cannot amend the decision according to your request, we will write a statement on the decision and refer the matter to the Social Security Appeal Board for review. At this stage, you will have the opportunity to examine our statement, following which you can supplement or revise your appeal document.

Instructions for appeal

Always prepare the appeal document in writing and submit it to us. The easiest and fastest way to lodge an appeal is to submit it via OmaYTK. There is no separate appeal form in our electronic service. That’s okay, a free-form message is sufficient.

The appeal message should at least include the following:

  • First, tell us which decision you are appealing against. The easiest way to do this is to use the decision number found in the decision.  
  • Tell us what you are dissatisfied with and how you would like to have the decision amended. Substantiate your claim. 
  • Be sure to include the documents in support of your claims.
  • If you lodge your appeal in OmaYTK, indicate the names of the attachments in the appeal message. This will keep us informed that the incoming attachments and the appeal message are related to one another.
  • You can send us attachments in the OmaYTK service under “Send attachment”

If we cannot amend the decision in the manner you prefer, we will write a statement and refer the matter to the Social Security Appeal Board. At the same time, we will send you a hearing letter accompanied by the statement we have written. Be sure to read the statement carefully. You can supplement your appeal in this connection if applicable. Supplementing is useful if, for example, you think that we have misunderstood your claim or ignored certain points.

Social Security Appeal Board

The Social Security Appeal Board is the first appeal instance in cases related to unemployment security.

If we cannot amend the decision in the manner you prefer, we will refer the matter to the Social Security Appeal Board. The Board will review the case and issue a decision.

If your appeal is successful, we can amend the challenged decision in accordance with the Board’s decision. If your appeal is dismissed, the challenged decision will remain in force.

Insurance Court

The Insurance Court is the highest appeal instance in matters related to unemployment security.

If the Board dismisses your appeal, the challenged decision will remain in force. If you want the case to be investigated further, you can appeal the Board’s decision to the Insurance Court.

Do as above, i.e. prepare an appeal document and send it to us. If we cannot amend the decision, we will forward your appeal to the Insurance Court.

The decision of the Insurance Court is final. It is not open to appeal.

Sometimes, although rarely, it may also happen that we feel that the decision of the Appeal Board is not consistent with the established practice. In that case, we can also appeal the Board’s decision to the Insurance Court. This, of course, will prolong your appeal process, and we are reluctant to do so. Sometimes, however, we may do this, because in matters open to interpretation, Insurance Court rulings are important in view of equal treatment. Insurance Court rulings are the final word on how the law currently in force should be applied. 

Time limit

It is important that you lodge your appeal within the given time limit. The time limit for lodging an appeal is 30 days from the date on which you were served with the decision. If your appeal is delayed, neither the Appeal Board nor the Insurance Court will admit your case for consideration without a weighty reason.

The 30-day time limit begins to run after you have been served with the decision. Saturdays and Sundays are included in the calculation of the time limits. If the deadline falls on a public holiday or weekend, the appeal must be submitted no later than the next working day.

The date of service is the day when you open the decision in OmaYTK. If you do not open the decision in OmaYTK, we will post the decision to you. In this case, the date of service of the decision is the seventh day after posting. The counting starts from the day following the date of posting. The posting date is indicated in the decision.

Example 1

You open the decision in OmaYTK on 2 December. The date of service is 2 December.

Example 2

You do not open the decision in OmaYTK. We will post the decision on 3 December. The first day after posting is 4 December. The seventh day is 10 December. The date of service is 10 December.

Premature appeal

If you lodge an appeal before you have received a decision from us, your appeal will be premature. The Appeal Board and the Insurance Court will not admit premature appeals for consideration.

Delayed appeal

If you submit your appeal document to us after the expiry of the 30-day time limit, it will be late. Neither the Appeal Board nor the Insurance Court will admit late appeals for consideration without a weighty reason.

Review of decision

If the appeal period has already expired, you may still ask us to review the decision. In that case, we will either give you a decision on inadmissibility or issue a completely new decision. You can then lodge an appeal either against the inadmissibility decision or the new decision.

Appeal against the statement of an employment authority

The employment authority will decide on the labour policy requirements related to earnings-related daily allowance and issue labour market policy statements thereon.

You may sometimes be dissatisfied with a statement you receive. In this case, you can request the employment authority to review the statement. However, you cannot directly appeal against a statement given by the employment authority. If you wish to appeal against a statement, you must lodge an appeal against the earnings-related daily allowance decision that is based on the statement concerned.
   
A statement given by the employment authority cannot be directly appealed against, as the statement alone has no effect. The statement only has effect when you apply for daily allowance and we issue a decision based on the statement.

We will review your appeal following the standard procedure. If the decision being challenged is based on a labour policy statement, we will request the employment authority to review the statement. If the statement can be amended in the manner you prefer, we will receive a new statement from the employment authority, based on which we can also amend the decision that is based on it. If the statement cannot be amended, we will forward your appeal to the appellate body as described above.

Help the employment authority

When you register as a jobseeker, provide the employment authority with as detailed information as possible about your situation. Conversely, notify the employment authority without delay if there are any changes to your situation.  

In some cases, the employment authority may ask you for additional information in order to clarify whether the labour policy requirements are met. Always respond to such requests for additional information without delay. In many cases, a statement preventing the payment of earnings-related daily allowance is due to the applicant’s failure to respond to the request for additional information. 

How does the appeal procedure proceed?

When we receive your appeal document, we will review the decision. If we can amend the decision in accordance with your requirements, we will notify you and make all the amendments immediately.

If we cannot amend the decision in the manner you prefer, we will write a statement on the case and send it, complete with attachments, to the Social Security Appeal Board. We will also send the documents to you to provide you with an opportunity to familiarise yourself with the grounds for the decision and the documents on which the decision was based.

Along with the documents, we will also send you a hearing letter. Once you have familiarised yourself with our statement, you can present your own view on the case to the Board. At the same time, you can, for example, point out if you think that an essential document has been ignored in the handling of the case. Send your reply to the hearing letter directly to the Appeal Board. The address of the Board can be found in the hearing letter. Also, be sure to adhere to the time limit given for the hearing.

The Appeal Board will examine the case and issue a decision. If the Board dismisses your appeal, the original decision will remain in force. If the Board accepts your claim, it will reverse our decision and order the case to be reconsidered. In that case, we will consider the case again, after which you will receive a new decision.

If you do not agree with the Board’s decision, you can appeal it to the Insurance Court. Instructions for appeal can be found in the Board’s decision. The case will proceed in the same way as described above regarding the Board. The decision of the Insurance Court is not open to appeal.

Our processing time in appeal cases is around 2 to 3 weeks. However, the time spent for the appeal procedure as a whole depends to a large extent on the processing time at the appellate body. The processing time may vary from a few months to up to as much as one year.

Complaint

The appeal procedure pertains to decisions issued by us. However, if you suspect that we have not adhered to the law or otherwise complied with our obligations, you can lodge a complaint on the case with the Parliamentary Ombudsman or the Chancellor of Justice.

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