Services for job seekers during the local government pilots

In the local government pilots on employment, some of the tasks of the TE Office concerning certain customer groups were transferred via legislation to the municipalities participating in the local government pilots. Regional pilots were launched on 1 March 2021. All local government pilots will end on 31 December 2024.

After the start of the local government pilot, some of the job seeker customers will be transferred to municipalities as customers and some will remain with the TE Office. When a customer is transferred to the local government pilot, their services will be primarily provided by their municipality of residence.  

During the pilots, employer customers will continue to be offered employer and business services by the TE Office. However, employers should take into account the impacts of the pilots on their services, for example, with regard to applying for a pay subsidy.  

You do not have to find out for yourself whether you are a customer in the local government pilot

If your registration as a customer is transferred from the TE Office to the local government pilot, you will be notified of it either by letter or electronically through the E-services of TE Services, and you will be contacted about the local pilot in your area. The TE Office may also provide the information in person.

If your registration as a customer remains at the TE Office, you will not receive any separate notification and there will be no changes to your services.

Always register as a job seeker through the E-services of TE Services, whether you are a customer in the local government pilot or at a TE Office.

When you register as a job seeker during the pilot, you will be informed in the following acknowledgment of where you are registered as a customer.

Customer groups in the local government pilot 

You are a customer of a local government pilot if you have registered as a job seeker and your municipality of residence is part of a regional local government pilot, you are either unemployed, laid-off, employed through a subsidy scheme or in a service promoting employment, and one of the following applies to you:

  • You are not entitled to an earnings-related unemployment allowance and receive a labour market subsidy or basic unemployment allowance from Kela instead.
  • Your mother tongue is other than Finnish, Swedish or Sámi, or your nationality is other than Finnish.
  • You are under 30 years of age.

If you do not know whether you are a customer of a local government pilot or a TE Office, you can check it in the E-services of TE Services. At your request, the information can also be sent to you by letter.  

Starting a job search and applying for an unemployment benefit 

Customers of the local government pilot and those of the TE Office must all register as job seekers in the E-services of TE Services. The local government pilot does not change the process for applying for an unemployment benefit from Kela or the unemployment fund. The job search must be valid when you apply for an unemployment benefit.  

Validity of the employment plan 

The employment plan you made at the TE Office also obliges you to become a customer of the local government pilot until a new plan is drawn up for you there. The plan and the tasks agreed therein can be found in the E-services of TE Services.   

Duration of your registration as a job seeker 

If you are a customer of a local government pilot, your customer relationship will remain in your municipality of residence for the entire duration of the pilot, i.e. until 31 December 2024. If you find employment in a fixed-term employment relationship during the pilot and become unemployed again, your customer relationship will remain in the local government pilot

Using services in Swedish in a monolingual municipality 

The bilingual municipalities belonging to the pilot areas are Espoo, Hanko, Helsinki, Kokkola, Porvoo, Raasepori, Turku and Vantaa. The other municipalities in the pilot areas are monolingual. In accordance with the Language Act, you have as a customer the right to use Finnish or Swedish in official matters. If the services that you receive will be transferred to a monolingual Finnish-speaking pilot municipality, but you want to receive service in Swedish, you can remain a customer of the TE Office. In this case, contact the TE Office. 

Moving to another municipality 

If you move and your municipality of residence changes, your registration as a customer will also be transferred to your new municipality of residence, if it belongs to a local government pilot area. If it does not, your registration as a customer will be transferred to the TE Office. You will be notified of where your registration as a customer will be transferred. 

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