Topic

Suspension period

Last updated 12.12.2023

If you neglect to look for work or otherwise act contrary to your employment, the employment authority may set you period of non-compensation, i.e. a suspension period. With some exceptions, we cannot pay you earnings-related daily allowance during the suspension period.

The suspension period or other sanction depends on how and in what situation you are considered to have neglected your obligations as an unemployed jobseeker.

The task of the employment authority is to assess your activities from the perspective of employment. They are responsible for imposing possible sanctions. If you need any further advice in these matters, do no hesitate to contact the TE Services.

We are happy to answer all your questions regarding the payment of earnings-related daily allowance.

Resignation and dismissal

If you resign without a valid reason or otherwise cause the termination of the employment relationship, you are not entitled to unemployment benefit for 45 days after the end of the employment relationship.

If the work would have lasted no more than five days, you are not entitled to unemployment benefit for 30 days after the end of the employment relationship.

If your employment contract has been terminated for a personal reason and you have demonstrably challenged the termination or termination of the employment contract within three months of the end of the employment relationship, the employment authority cannot assess that you yourself have caused the termination of the employment relationship. Then you will not be imposed a suspension period, provided that the challenges is not manifestly unfounded. The case will be reassessed once the dispute has been resolved. If at this point the employment authority considers that the termination of the employment relationship was due to conduct that is considered objectionable, you may be imposed a suspension period.

Valid reason for resigning from work

The above-mentioned days of non-compensation, or suspension period, will not be imposed if you had a valid reason for resigning from work. You had a valid reason to resign

if your employer breaches or neglects its obligations arising from the employment contract or law that have a material effect on the employment relationship to the extent that you cannot reasonably be expected to continue the contractual relationship even for the duration of the notice period
when the work cannot be considered suitable taking into account your work ability
if no work has been available during the 12 calendar weeks immediately prior to the resignation so that the work could be included in your cycle of employment requirement, and regular work has not been agreed in the employment contract (zero-hour contract)
if your working hours exceed 80% of the working hours of a full-time employee, but the wages paid for the work are less than 1 399 € per month

In addition, you have the right to resign from work without losing your right to unemployment benefit for any other reason equally valid to those mentioned above.

Resigning from work because of the length of commute

You also have a valid reason for resigning from your job

within three months of the start of the employment relationship, if your daily commute exceeds an average of three hours in full-time employment or two hours on average in part-time work
in order to move within one week of resignation to another location where your spouse has a permanent job or business that ensures subsistence, if the average duration of your daily commute after the move exceeds three hours in full-time employment or two hours in part-time work
if the location where your work is performed changes during the employment relationship, if the daily commute to the new place of work exceeds an average of three hours in full-time work or two hours on average in part-time work

Refusal of job offers

You are not entitled to unemployment benefit for a period of 45 days after 30 days from the date of your refusal to work if, while unemployed, you have refused a job individually offered to you or a job for which you have been selected while unemployed.

If the work would have lasted no more than two weeks, you are not entitled to unemployment benefit for 30 days.

If you have caused the employment relationship not to have been established through your own conduct, you are considered to have refused work.

A suspension period will not be issued if you have had a valid reason to refuse work.

If you refuse the job you are applying for, the employment authority requires, in addition to a valid reason, that you were not aware of the existence of such a reason when you applied for work.

Unless there are grounds for a different assessment, the employment service will consider you to have refused to work on the date on which the employment service becomes aware of your refusal. The suspension period for refusal will begin 30 days after that day.

Valid reason for refusal of a job offer

You can refuse work without losing your unemployment benefit if you have a valid reason. In other words, you do not have to accept work on manifestly unreasonable terms at the risk of losing your unemployment benefit.

You have a valid reason to refuse a job offer if

the work cannot be considered suitable for you considering your work ability
the work is contrary to your religious or conscientious beliefs
you are not allowed a reasonable amount of time to arrange childcare or other care for a dependent, or
You will not be allowed a reasonable period of time to remove access difficulties and other similar restrictions

You have a valid reason to refuse a job offer if

no wages are paid in accordance with the collective agreement or, if there is no collective agreement in the field, the salary for full-time work is less than 1 399 € per month
The salary paid for the work is entirely based on commission, or if the salary is partly based on commission, the fixed part of the salary for full-time work is less than 1 399 € per month
the wages paid for part-time work and any unemployment benefit paid to you after deducting commuting costs and other costs caused by accepting work will be lower than the unemployment benefit otherwise paid to you
After deducting possible commuting costs and other costs caused by accepting work, the wages paid to you for the work assigned to you will be lower than the wages paid to you for other work and any unemployment benefit paid
The work requires tasks that are obviously indecent or contrary to good practice
the work involves an obvious threat of violence
there is harassment or other inappropriate treatment at work that causes harm or danger to your health; or
work is subject to strike, lockout or blockade

You have a valid reason for refusing a job offered to you also on the basis of a long commute if

The average duration of your daily commute would exceed three hours in full-time employment
The average duration of your daily commute would exceed two hours in part-time work
the work is abroad

However, foreign countries are not a valid reason if the job offered is in a country where you are looking for work and where you will be paid unemployment benefit on the basis of an international regulation binding on Finland during your stay.

Protection of professional skills

Within three months of registering as an unemployed jobseeker or later completing your full-time studies, you have a valid reason to refuse a job that does not correspond to your professional skills based on your education and work experience.

The three-month protection period related to occupational skills protection starts from the beginning when you have met the employment requirement required for unemployment allowance again and the maximum period of unemployment allowance starts from the beginning.

You also have a valid reason to resign from a job that you could have refused on the grounds of professional protection within three months of the start of the employment relationship.

Procedure relating to job search and employment services

The basic principle is that you must always act in accordance with the guidance of the employment authority. The first failure to comply with obligations does not lead to sanctions; however, on a second failure to comply within one year will lead to sanctions.

You are not entitled to unemployment benefit for seven days after failure to comply or other conduct if you are unemployed or in wage-subsidised employment for the second time in 12 months without a valid reason

you fail to attend an initial interview or job-seeking discussion organised by the employment authority
you fail to attend a service needs assessment related to integration
you refuse to draw up or revise an employment plan or a plan replacing it, or by some other procedure you cause the plan not to be drawn up or revised
you refuse to assess the need for services related to integration or otherwise cause the assessment of service needs not to be carried out
you do not seek employment as required by the employment plan or a plan replacing it, or by your own conduct you cause the job search not to lead to employment;
you do not apply for a job offered by the employment authority or the job search is unsuccessful due to your deliberate conduct
you refuse job search coaching, career coaching, labour market training, training trials or work try-outs offered to you, or you cause the above-mentioned services not to be arranged for you by your own actions
you interrupt or have to interrupt job search coaching, career coaching, labour market training, training trials or work trials for personal reasons
you refuse a job search or employment support service provided by an employment authority or service provider as agreed in the employment plan or a plan replacing it, or the delivery of the service is not possible due to your own conduct
you interrupt or have to interrupt the service agreed in the employment plan or a plan replacing it for personal reasons
you refuse a work ability examination or assessment necessary to assess your need for services, or you the delivery of such a service become impossible due to your own conduct, or
you fail to comply with what has been agreed in the multi-professional employment plan on improving the general conditions for job seeking and employment

If, without a valid reason, you show any of the above conduct twice as often within 12 months, the sanctions will be increased. If within 12 months you show any of the above conduct

for the third time, you are not entitled to unemployment benefit for 14 days after the sanctioned conduct
for the fourth time or more, you are lose entitlement to unemployment benefit until further notice before the right to benefit is again restored in accordance with the employment requirements

Your right to unemployment benefit is restored after the conduct that led to the imposition of the employment requirement, when you are for at least 12 calendar weeks in total

in employment that is included in the employment requirement
participating in services promoting employment other than self-motivated studies supported by unemployment benefit
studying full-time, or
working part-time as an entrepreneur or self-employed

The right to unemployment benefit is also restored after the conduct that led to the imposition of the employment requirements if you rectify your conduct within three months of the initial interview with the employment authority. However, the employment requirement is always valid for at least 14 days.

The right to unemployment benefit is restored at the latest when at least five years have passed from the beginning of the work requirement.

Valid reason not to attend the initial interview

You have a valid reason for not appearing at an initial interview organised by the employment authority, a job-seeking discussion, a supplementary job-seeking discussion, an assessment of service needs related to integration, and an event for drawing up and reviewing a plan replacing the employment plan if

The non-attendance is due to illness or accident or for a reason beyond your control
there is another acceptable reason for non-attendance; or
you have given an acceptable reason for the impediment in advance to the employment authority

Valid reason for non-compliance with the employment plan

You have a valid reason for not complying with the employment plan and its replacement plan to the extent that

the obligation to seek employment included in the plan does not correspond to the statutory provisions
the obligation to seek employment would have been included in the employment plan or a plan replacing it in a different way if the actual working hours had been taken into account when setting the obligation
you have been employed continuously and full-time in non-wage-subsidised work for at least two weeks during the review period of the obligation to seek work, or
due to your incapacity for work, you have not been able to fulfil the obligation to seek work included in the plan

Valid reason for not applying for a job offered by the employment authority

You have a valid reason not to apply for a job offered by the employment authority when the reason corresponds to the above-mentioned accepted reasons for resignation and refusal. In addition to these, you have a valid reason not to apply for a job offered by the employment authority when

you work part-time for at least two weeks
if you have already applied for job opportunities in the manner required of you during the review period and you have notified the employment authorities of the fulfilment of the obligation to seek work before making a job offer
accepting an offered job would, for reasons beyond your control, lead to the interruption of labour market training or self-motivated studies supported by unemployment benefit

Valid reason for refusal of service and discontinuing attending a service

You have a valid reason to refuse the service of the employment authority and to discontinue attending a service if:

the service is not suitable for you considering your health or work and functional capacity
your daily commute to the place where the service is provided will exceed an average of three hours
the service organiser materially neglects its responsibility for the occupational safety of the service participant or the service cannot be arranged safely for some other reason
the service organiser materially fails to comply with the legislation concerning the organisation of the service or the terms of the service agreement
The service differs materially from what was agreed in the employment plan or a plan replacing it

You have a valid reason for refusing labour market training and discontinuing the training if the work in the field in question is not suitable for you considering your health and work ability, or the livelihood of you and your dependants is not reasonably secure during the training. Your livelihood and that of your dependants is reasonably secure if you are entitled to benefits at the level of unemployment benefit.

If you have applied for rectification or appealed against a decision to suspend the service and the request for rectification or appeal is not considered manifestly unfounded, it cannot be considered that you have had to interrupt the service through your own fault before the final decision in the matter has been issued.

Cost of participating in the service

Valid for the period 2 May 2022–30 June 2025 only.

You have a valid reason for not complying with an employment plan or a plan replacing it if participation in a service other than a service promoting employment has been agreed upon in the plan. You have a valid reason for refusing to participate in a service other than a service promoting employment and discontinuing such service if you incur unavoidable costs for participating in the service and you are not granted reimbursement of expenses or other similar compensation.