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Freedom251 › Blog › employment law

What to do if you’re affected by a layoff in Finland: benefits, notice and job search

By Freedom251 Team · · 8 min read

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If you are temporarily laid off (lomautus) in Finland, register as an unemployed jobseeker through Job Market Finland no later than your first day without work, then apply to your unemployment fund or Kela. If your employment has been terminated, check the longer dismissal notice rules and whether you qualify for age-55 transition security. The sequence matters: registration, the correct benefit application, accurate work reports and compliance with employment-service instructions determine whether payments can start and continue.

This guide separates temporary lay-offs from dismissals, explains the notice periods and benefit routes, and gives a practical checklist for full-time, partial and mixed work situations.

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First establish what happened: lomautus or dismissal?

Finnish law treats a temporary lay-off and a dismissal as different events. A lomautus temporarily suspends work and wage payment while the employment relationship remains in force. It may stop work completely or reduce your daily or weekly hours. A dismissal ends the employment after the applicable notice period.

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Question Temporary lay-off (lomautus) Dismissal for economic or production reasons
Does the employment relationship continue? Yes. Work and pay are suspended or reduced for the lay-off period. No. Employment ends after the notice period.
Can you work elsewhere? Yes, you may work for another employer during the lay-off. Usually you continue your duties during the notice period unless released from work.
Main notice rule Usually seven days, unless a collective agreement changes it; local government and wellbeing services counties have a one-month rule in the cited Suomi.fi guidance. Employer default periods range from 14 days to six months, based on length of service, unless your contract or collective agreement provides another period.
Benefit starting point Register by the first day of the lay-off (you can register earlier). Register by the first day you are unemployed after employment ends.

Read the written employer notice carefully. It should show whether the arrangement is a complete or partial lay-off, its expected duration and the date it starts. If the document says your employment is ending, use the dismissal rules rather than assuming it is a lay-off.

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Do these actions first

  1. Register as an unemployed jobseeker. Use Job Market Finland for the employment services of your municipality of residence. Register in advance if you know the lay-off date, but no later than the first day of unemployment or temporary lay-off. Registration is not a benefit application, and benefits generally cannot be paid for days before you registered.
  2. Apply to one correct payer. If you belong to an unemployment fund and meet its work requirement, apply to the fund for earnings-related unemployment allowance. If you are not entitled to a fund allowance, apply to Kela for the general social security benefit (yleistuki) if you meet Kela’s conditions. You cannot receive unemployment benefit from Kela and an unemployment fund for the same period.
  3. Save every document. Keep the lay-off or dismissal notice, employment contract, pay statements, work schedules, records of hours worked and messages from employment services. These documents help establish the start date, partial-work pattern and applicable notice period.
  4. Follow the employment plan. Employment services will assess your situation and agree an employment plan. Complete the tasks and meet the deadlines in that plan, and report changes such as work, studies, illness or a return to work.
  5. Submit required status reports. If Kela pays the general social security benefit, report your unemployment and work in OmaKela as instructed. After the initial period, reports normally continue every four weeks.

Temporary lay-off notice, duration and your rights

Default notice before a lay-off

Suomi.fi’s 2026 guidance states that an employee generally receives seven days’ notice before a temporary lay-off. A collective agreement may set another period. The same guidance gives one month’s notice for employees of wellbeing services counties and local government. Check the collective agreement covering your job and any term in your employment contract before relying on the seven-day default.

The employer normally gives the notice in person. If personal delivery is not possible, it may be sent by post or electronically. Ask for the notice in writing if the information was given only verbally; you need the exact start date and scope when registering and applying for benefits.

Full and partial lay-offs

A full-time lay-off stops work and wage payment for the stated period. A partial lay-off can reduce the number of hours on each working day or the number of working days in a week. A temporary reduction in work can support a lay-off of up to 90 days in the circumstances described by Suomi.fi. Longer lay-offs may be possible where the conditions would otherwise support redundancy, subject to the circumstances in that guidance.

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Do not describe a partial lay-off as complete unemployment in your applications. Record the days and hours you actually worked and the gross wages paid. Kela adjusts the general social security benefit using income and work patterns, so a partial salary does not automatically leave the benefit unchanged.

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Working for another employer

You may accept work from another employer during a lay-off. Tell the unemployment fund or Kela and employment services about the work, including dates, hours and pay. The payer will apply the rules for work performed while unemployed; withholding the information can delay or reduce a payment and may create a repayment claim.

Ending your own employment during a lay-off

During a lay-off, an employee may terminate the employment immediately. A special compensation rule applies after an uninterrupted lay-off of at least 200 calendar days: if you terminate then, you are entitled to compensation corresponding to the employer’s notice-period wages, including holiday compensation, that would have applied if the employer had terminated the contract. Confirm the uninterrupted period and calculation before taking this step, because ending the contract changes your employment and benefit position.

If the employer dismissed you for redundancy

A redundancy dismissal requires more than a short-term drop in work. Suomi.fi describes the relevant economic or production grounds as diminished profitability or reorganised production or work where the employer cannot provide the previous work, other suitable work or retraining. The reduction in work must be substantial and permanent.

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The employer must offer available alternative work in the relevant enterprise, or in another enterprise where it controls staffing, as described in the official guidance. You are entitled to know the grounds for the dismissal and to a hearing before termination. You may bring an assistant or counsel to that hearing. Unless released from duties, your employment contract normally continues and you work during the notice period.

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If the employer skips the hearing, gives an unclear reason, fails to consider alternative work or labels a permanent reduction as a temporary lay-off, obtain advice from your union, an employee representative or an employment-law professional promptly. The correct classification affects both your last working day and benefit start date.

Default employer notice periods

These are the statutory default periods listed by Suomi.fi. A collective agreement or individual employment contract may specify a different period, so check those documents first.

Length of continuous employment Default employer notice
No longer than one year 14 days
More than one year and up to four years 1 month
More than four and up to eight years 2 months
More than eight and up to twelve years 4 months
More than twelve years 6 months

These dismissal periods are not the seven-day temporary lay-off notice. Use the period that matches the event stated in your employer’s decision and the agreement governing your employment.

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Unemployment benefits: which route applies?

Earnings-related allowance from an unemployment fund

If you are a fund member and satisfy the fund’s work requirement, apply to the fund rather than Kela. The fund decides entitlement and amount using your membership, work history and earnings. Submit the employer’s lay-off or dismissal notice and the work and wage information the fund requests.

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Kela’s general social security benefit

If you are not entitled to an unemployment fund allowance, Kela may pay the general social security benefit (yleistuki) if you satisfy its conditions. Kela’s current guidance states that this benefit has a seven-working-day waiting period. Use Kela’s current application instructions because work history, income, official employment-service statements and other personal facts affect the decision.

Registration with employment services does not start Kela payments automatically. Complete Kela’s application after registering and keep submitting the requested unemployment status reports. Kela normally requires reports every four weeks after the initial report period.

How partial work affects payment

For a partial lay-off, reduced hours, reduced workdays or a mixture of work and unemployment, report each workday, the hours worked and gross wages. Kela’s instructions distinguish these patterns when adjusting the benefit. The unemployment fund also needs accurate work and pay data. Keep your payslips and a personal calendar so your report matches the employer’s records.

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Registration and job-search obligations while laid off

Job Market Finland says a laid-off employee’s job-search obligation begins after a job-search discussion has been arranged and the lay-off has lasted three months. Until then, you still need to follow the instructions given by employment services and respond to appointments or requests for information. The individual employment plan controls what you must do in your case.

  • Check your Job Market Finland messages and appointment dates frequently.
  • Complete agreed applications, training or other job-search tasks by their deadlines.
  • Report when work starts, hours change, the lay-off ends, you begin studies, you become ill or another circumstance affects availability for work.
  • Tell both employment services and the benefit payer about a change; notifying only one does not necessarily update the other.

Failure to complete an agreed task or to provide a required report can interrupt eligibility. If illness, caring duties or another obstacle prevents you meeting a deadline, contact employment services before the deadline and follow the instructions they give.

Transition security for people aged 55 or over

Extended transition security may be available after a qualifying dismissal, not merely because you are temporarily laid off. The City of Helsinki service information published through Suomi.fi lists these conditions on the dismissal date:

  • You are at least 55 years old.
  • Your employment ended for production or financial reasons on or after 1 January 2023.
  • You worked for the same employer for at least five years, with interruptions of no more than 30 days.
  • You registered as an unemployed jobseeker within 60 days of dismissal.

The package described in that service includes a transition security allowance, transition security training and extended employment leave. Because the registration deadline is measured from dismissal, register immediately even if you are still checking other conditions. Confirm the current application steps with your regional employment authority and the relevant benefit payer; an age of 55 alone does not establish entitlement.

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A practical decision checklist

  1. Read the employer’s document: mark “lay-off” or “termination,” the start and end dates, whether hours are reduced, and the stated grounds.
  2. Check the governing rules: compare your employment contract and collective agreement with the seven-day lay-off rule or the dismissal notice table.
  3. Register on time: complete Job Market Finland registration before or on the first day you are unemployed or laid off.
  4. Choose the payer: send an earnings-related application to your unemployment fund if eligible; otherwise apply to Kela for yleistuki. Do not send overlapping claims to both for the same period.
  5. Track activity: maintain a calendar of workdays, hours, gross pay, appointments and employment-plan tasks.
  6. Escalate uncertainty: seek advice promptly if the employer refuses a hearing, gives no written reason, misstates your service length, or your lay-off approaches 200 uninterrupted calendar days.

The decisive facts are your classification (lay-off or dismissal), full-time or partial status, fund membership, work history, contract and collective-agreement terms, and the instructions issued by employment services and the benefit payer. Official guidance can outline the rules, but only the competent authority or fund can determine your individual entitlement.

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employment lawFinlandJob Market FinlandKelaLayofflomautusunemployment benefits

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