Plan

In vocational guidance and career planning, you discuss the choice of profession, professional development, placement in the world of work and lifelong learning confidentially with a counsellor.

A licensed psychologist may also, with your consent, use psychological assessment methods to examine professional and career options, competence, suitability and work and functional capacity.

To whom and on what terms

In order to receive vocational guidance and career planning, you do not need to be registered as a jobseeker.

Do the following

Contact the employment authority in your area and ask if you can get vocational guidance and career planning.

The Job Market Finland's regional pages contain contact information provided by employment officials.

Career coaching might suit you if you have no vocational training, consider changing fields, are returning to employment or consider entrepreneurship.

Career coaching provides you with information, counselling and support that help you get a clearer idea of your choice of profession and career alternatives, applying for education and developing transferable skills. Coaching helps you find your strengths and a new direction for your career.

To whom and on what terms

You can participate in career coaching if

• you have registered as a jobseeker
• the employment authority estimates that career coaching is the best way to support your employment
• coaching is agreed upon in your employment plan.

Do the following

Contact the employment authority in your area and ask if you can get career coaching.

The Job Market Finland's regional pages contain contact information provided by employment officials.

Job seeking is a skill that can be learned. Job search coaching provides you with support and guidance for independent job search.

In job search coaching, you will learn to use different job-search channels and assess different job options from the perspective of your job-seeking and competence.

To whom and on what terms

You can apply for in job search coaching if

• you have registered as a jobseeker
• the employment authority estimates that you need job search coaching
• training is agreed upon in your employment plan.

The employment authority decides who is selected for job search coaching.

Do the following

Contact the employment authority in your area and ask if you can get job search coaching.

The Job Market Finland's regional pages contain contact information provided by employment officials.

Work coaching is a suitable service for you if you need personal support for applying for work or starting work or if you have been unemployed for a long time. 

Work coaching is tailored to your needs. A coach will help you find a job or apprenticeship, conclude an employment contract and establish an employment relationship. 

To whom and on what terms

You can participate in work coaching if

• you have registered as a jobseeker
• the employment authority estimates that job coaching is the best way to support your employment
• coaching is agreed upon in your employment plan.

Do the following

Contact the employment authority in your area and ask if you can get work coaching.

The Job Market Finland's regional pages contain contact information provided by employment officials.

A work try-out may be suitable for you if you are considering your own field or want to find out whether a field is suitable for you. A work try-out is also an option if you have been outside of employment for a long period. During the work try-out, you will participate in general work at the workplace. A work try-out is not an employment relationship, and it does not create expenses for the employer.

Agree on the duration and working hours of the work try-out together with the employment authority in your area and the employer. The maximum duration of a work try-out is six months. 

During the work try-out, you will receive the same unemployment security as if you were unemployed.

If the costs of participating in the work try-out are incurred, you can receive expense allowance for the days of participation. If you do not receive expense allowance from the payer of the unemployment benefit, that is, an unemployment fund or Kela, the employment authority can pay a discretionary expense allowance.

To whom and on what terms

You can participate in a work try-out if

• you have registered as a jobseeker
• the work try-out has been agreed upon in your employment plan
• the employment authority estimates that a work try-out is the best way to support your employment.

In your employment plan, you agree with the employment authority on whether you will find a work try-out place yourself or whether you need help finding a place.

A work try-out may be organised by a company, entrepreneur, municipality, joint municipal authority, other corporation, foundation or government agency or institution. A private individual may not act as the organiser of a work try-out. You cannot go to a work try-out at a workplace for which you are already employed.

Do the following

Contact the employment authority in your area and ask if you can participate in a work try-out.

The Job Market Finland's regional pages contain contact information provided by employment officials.

Labour market training develops your professional skills and promotes your employment. Labour market training is training organised by the employment authority. The employment authority and the training provider plan the training together. Employers can also participate in the organisation of labour market training.

Labour market training may be:

• training that increases professional competence and capabilities
• training to increase entrepreneurial skills
• integration training.

Labour market training is free of charge, so you won’t need to pay participation or examination fees. However, card and licence training may be subject to a fee.

If you are unemployed, you are entitled to the same unemployment security during labour market training that you get when you are unemployed. 

If you incur costs from participating in the training, you can receive an expense allowance for the days of participation. If you do not receive the allowance from the provider of your unemployment benefit, that is, the unemployment fund or Kela, you can apply for a discretionary expense allowance from the employment authority in your area.

To whom and on what terms

In order to receive vocational guidance and career planning, you do not need to be registered as a jobseeker.

Do the following

You can find which labour market training is currently available in the Trainings and services online service.

How do I apply for training?

Apply for labour market training in the Job Market Finland’s e-service

If you are unable to apply online, you apply by filling in the form “Application for labour market training”.

Before submitting your application, carefully read the admission criteria of the training programme you are interested in.

If you are an unemployed jobseeker, you can apply for reimbursement of travel and accommodation expenses from the employment authority when you travel for an admission event or aptitude test for labour market training, or visit the educational institution before starting labour market training if your disability or illness requires familiarisation with the accessibility and suitability of the educational institution.

You can get support for using the E-service from the Job Market Finland's E-services advice.

Jointly acquired training is labour market training that the employment authority can organise together with the employer, the commissioner of the person intending to become an entrepreneur or the company transferring its business rights so that they participate in the funding of the training.

As an employer, you can organise labour market training to increase the professional competence and capabilities of current or future personnel. You can arrange jointly acquired training when the training is targeted at employees in your service or temporary agency workers, persons hired for your service or persons laid off or dismissed from your service.

Jointly acquired training may also be aimed at you as an entrepreneur when you are starting a business.

To whom and on what terms

The employment authority will investigate whether the prerequisites for the training are met and whether there is a need for training.

If the training is targeted at persons to be employed by the employer, the employer’s contribution to the total price of the training without value added tax is 30 per cent and the employment authority’s contribution 70 per cent. 

If the training is targeted at persons laid off or dismissed from the employer’s service, the employer’s contribution to the total price of the training without value added tax is 20 per cent and the employment authority’s contribution 80 per cent.

If the jointly acquired training is intended for employees or temporary agency workers employed by the employer or temporary agency workers whose purpose is to continue working for the employer, the employer’s contribution to the total price of the training without value added tax is 30–50 per cent. The contributions from the total price of the training, excluding VAT, are determined on the basis of the number of employees employed by the employer and the employer’s annual turnover or balance sheet.

Jointly acquired training is not to be used for the financing of regular orientation and personnel training for which the employer is the cost bearer or of training that employers must organise in order to comply with the national training standards.

If you intend to become an entrepreneur, you can organise jointly acquired training to increase your entrepreneurial capabilities if you have few commissioners as an entrepreneur or if you intend to acquire entrepreneurship rights from another company. 

Do the following

Contact the employment authority of your area and submit a proposal for jointly acquired training.

The handler of your proposal will contact you to assess training needs and draw up a preliminary training plan.

The Job Market Finland's regional pages contain contact information provided by employment officials.

A pay subsidy is a benefit intended to promote the employment of unemployed jobseekers that an employment authority can grant to an employer to cover pay costs. The purpose of work supported by pay subsidy is to promote the employment of unemployed job seekers in the open labour market and to improve their professional competence. Pay subsidy also helps people with reduced work ability and those aged 60 or over who have been unemployed for an extended period to find work and participate in the world of work. The subsidy is granted and paid to the employer, but its granting is always based on the unemployed jobseeker’s service need.

A pay subsidy may be granted for

• open-ended full-time employment
• fixed-term full-time employment
• apprenticeship training
• part-time employment if the granter of the subsidy feels that it is appropriate and that it promotes the jobseeker’s possibilities to find employment.

The employment authority assesses whether the subsidy is the most appropriate means of promoting the employment of the unemployed jobseeker and decides separately the duration and amount of each support period. The unemployed jobseeker’s employment plan or pay subsidy card includes a mention of the pay subsidy.

The length of the pay subsidy period depends on the duration of the person’s unemployment and the impact a possibly reduced work ability might have on their work performance. Depending on the duration of the unemployment preceding the pay subsidy, the subsidy would be granted for five or ten months. The subsidy is granted for the duration of the employment relationship at most. The subsidy may be granted for hiring a long-term unemployed person aged 60 or over for a maximum of 24 months at a time.

In most cases, the amount of the pay subsidy is 50% of the salary costs incurred by the person hired with the subsidy. The amount of support granted for hiring a person with reduced work ability is 70% of their pay. The amount of support for an association, foundation or registered religious community may be 100% of the pay. The amount of subsidy granted is between 1,260 and 2,020 euros per month, depending on the grounds for granting. The pay covered with the subsidy is the pay subject to withholding tax that is paid to the employee on the basis of working hours or the performance of a contract.

To whom and on what terms

A company, municipality, joint municipal authority or wellbeing services county or other entity, such as an association, foundation, registered religious community or parish can apply for pay subsidies.

The subsidy cannot be granted for an employment relationship that started before the decision to grant the subsidy was made. An exception to this is the granting of a new pay subsidy period when the new period begins immediately after the previous one ends.

As an employer, you undertake to pay the employee who has been hired with the subsidy at least the salary specified in the collective agreement applicable to the employment relationship or the normal and reasonable salary if there is no applicable collective agreement. Pay subsidy shall not be granted if the pay of the person to be hired with the subsidy would be determined solely on the basis of their work performance.

The subsidy cannot be granted if:

• the subsidy distorts competition vis-à-vis others offering the same products or services
• the employer has essentially neglected their obligation to pay wages or obligations to pay taxes or statutory payments
• the organisation you represent is a company in trouble as referred to in the General Block Exemption Regulation of EU State Aid or if the European Commission has issued a negative Recovery Order against it, which declares the subsidy as illegal or unsuitable for the internal market.

It is possible to receive support regardless of dismissals or lay-offs when the number of employees in an employment relationship at the time of applying for the pay subsidy is at least equal to the number of employees at the time of dismissal or lay-off. The subsidy may not impair the position of your other employees.

If the person hired with the subsidy is transferred to another employer during the pay subsidy period due to the transfer of a business, merger or division of an entity or the merger of entities, pay subsidy may be granted to the employer receiving the employee for the remaining period of the pay subsidy period granted to the transferring employer. The receiving employer must submit an application for pay subsidy to the employment authority within one month since person hired with pay subsidy has transferred to the employment of the recipient or the receiving organisation.

Do the following

Apply for subsidy well in advance before the start of employment. The employment relationship can only start after a decision on the subsidy has been made. 

If you are applying for a pay subsidy extension, submit the extension application before the start of the new subsidy period. The employment relationship must continue immediately after the previous subsidy period ends.

The granted subsidy is paid retrospectively so that the pay periods ended during one calendar month are included in the pay period. You can apply for a payment of the subsidy for several payment periods. However, the subsidy is paid by each payment period.
 
Submit a payment application to the employment authority within three months of the end of the calendar month during which the last payment period of the subsidy period ends. The subsidy period is the period defined in the decision as the duration of the subsidy.

Apply for subsidy and its payment in the e-service

Apply for subsidy and its payment using an electronic form in the e-service. Log into the e-service with your personal banking IDs, a mobile certificate or a certificate card.

Complete the application in the service and attach the required documents. The service’s internal instructions will help you fill in the application. In the e-service, you can submit an application, respond to requests for supplementary information concerning the application, supplement your application and receive decisions concerning your case.

In the e-service, the application can be submitted by an authorised person. Persons without separate authorisation can act on behalf of an organisation if they have an existing mandate for transactions or a right based on register data. The e-service checks the person’s right to use e-services when logging in.

The mandate theme used for the subsidy is called Applying for pay subsidy.

In addition to the mandate, organisations need a business ID to use the e-services.

You can get advice on using the E-service and how to authorise from the Enterprise Finland Advisory Service.

The Job Market Finland's regional pages contain contact information provided by employment officials.

The employment subsidy is a benefit intended to promote the employment of unemployed jobseekers aged 55 or over that an employment authority can grant to an employer to cover pay costs. The purpose of the subsidy is to promote the employment of those aged 55 or over by improving their professional skills or entrepreneurial skills. The subsidy is granted and paid to the employer, but its granting is always based on the unemployed jobseeker’s service need.

The employment subsidy requires that the unemployed jobseeker hired for the employment relationship has reached the age of 55 and has been unemployed for at least 24 months in the 28 months immediately preceding the granting of the subsidy.

An employment subsidy may be granted for a employment contract valid until further notice or a fixed-term employment contract. The person hired with the subsidy must work for the recipient for at least 25 hours a week. If the regular working hours in the sector are less than 37.5 hours per week, the working hours must be at least 65 per cent of the regular working hours in the sector.

The unemployed jobseeker’s employment plan or pay subsidy card includes a mention of the subsidy.

The amount of employment subsidy is 70 per cent of the wage costs. The aid may be granted for a period of 10 months but not longer than the duration of the employment relationship. The maximum amount of employment subsidy paid is €1,770 per month. The pay covered with the subsidy is the pay subject to withholding tax that is paid to the employee on the basis of working hours or the performance of a contract.

To whom and on what terms

A company, municipality, joint municipal authority or wellbeing services county or other entity, such as an association, foundation, registered religious community or parish can apply for employment subsidies.

The subsidy cannot be granted for an employment relationship that started before the decision to grant the subsidy was made.

As an employer, you undertake to pay the employee who has been hired with the subsidy at least the salary specified in the collective agreement applicable to the employment relationship or the normal and reasonable salary if there is no applicable collective agreement. The subsidy shall not be granted if the pay of the person to be hired with the subsidy would be determined solely on the basis of their work performance.

The subsidy cannot be granted if:

• the subsidy distorts competition vis-à-vis others offering the same products or services
• the employer has essentially neglected their obligation to pay wages or obligations to pay taxes or statutory payments
• the organisation you represent is a company in trouble as referred to in the General Block Exemption Regulation of EU State Aid or if the European Commission has issued a negative Recovery Order against it, which declares the subsidy as illegal or unsuitable for the internal market.

It is possible to receive support regardless of dismissals or lay-offs when the number of employees in an employment relationship at the time of applying for the subsidy is at least equal to the number of employees at the time of dismissal or lay-off. The subsidy may not impair the position of your other employees.

Do the following

Apply for subsidy well in advance before the start of employment. The employment relationship can only start after a decision on the subsidy has been made.

The granted subsidy is paid retrospectively so that the pay periods ended during one calendar month are included in the pay period. You can apply for a payment of the subsidy for several payment periods. However, the subsidy is paid by each payment period.
 
Submit a payment application to the employment authority within three months of the end of the calendar month during which the last payment period of the subsidy period ends. The subsidy period is the period defined in the decision as the duration of the subsidy.

Apply for subsidy and its payment in the e-service

Apply for subsidy and its payment using an electronic form in the e-service. Log into the e-service with your personal banking IDs, a mobile certificate or a certificate card.

Complete the application in the service and attach the required documents. The service’s internal instructions will help you fill in the application. In the e-service, you can submit an application, respond to requests for supplementary information concerning the application, supplement your application and receive decisions concerning your case.

In the e-service, the application can be submitted by an authorised person. Persons without separate authorisation can act on behalf of an organisation if they have an existing mandate for transactions or a right based on register data. The e-service checks the person’s right to use e-services when logging in.

The mandate theme used for the subsidy is called Applying for pay subsidy.

You can get advice on using the E-service and how to authorise from the Enterprise Finland Advisory Service.

You can apply for compensation for travel and accommodation costs if you are an unemployed jobseeker and

• you applying for a job
• you apply for labour market training, coaching or trial
• you participate in an expert evaluation organised by the employment authority.

You can apply for compensation for return trips made in Finland for a job interview if the work lasts at least two weeks and the average working hours are at least 18 hours. Compensation may also be granted for a job interview trip to another Member State of the European Union or to a country belonging to the European Economic Area.

To receive compensation, you must be an unemployed jobseeker. Costs may be reimbursed if:

• you participate in an admission event or aptitude test for labour market training
• you will familiarise yourself with the educational institution providing labour market training before the training begins so that you can check the accessibility and other suitability of the institution for your studies due to a disability or illness
• you visit the employment authority so that your visit is considered necessary and you need transport services due to a disability or illness
• you participate in an expert evaluation organised by the employment authority.

The basis for reimbursement of travel expenses is the distance in kilometres multiplied by €0.21. The part of the travel expenses exceeding €12 shall be reimbursed up to a maximum of €200.

Compensation is granted for accommodation expenses based on the costs incurred, up to a maximum of €80 per day.

To whom and on what terms

You can be reimbursed for travel costs if the employment authority considers the reimbursement of costs appropriate for the availability of labour and the employment of the unemployed. 

Compensation for travel expenses incurred from visiting the employment authority may be granted to an unemployed individual client who, due to a disability or illness, needs transport service in order to be able to visit the employment authority. A precondition for compensating travel costs is that a personal visit to the employment authority is necessary.

Travel and accommodation expenses for attending a job interview or a service can be reimbursed only if you are unemployed and registered as a jobseeker with the employment services in your area.

The length of the trip is calculated so that the journey begins from your actual place of residence. 

You can be reimbursed for overnight stays if, due to traffic conditions, staying overnight has been necessary and costs have been incurred.

Do the following

Apply for reimbursement of travel and accommodation costs from the employment authority within one month of the end of the trip. The employment authority may pay the compensation in full or in part in advance. 
 
If you are applying for the reimbursement of travel expenses, you do not need to attach receipts to your application. If you were staying overnight on the way, attach a receipt for the overnight stay costs to your application.

Apply for the allowance primarily using an electronic form in the e-service. Log into the service with your personal banking IDs, a mobile certificate or a certificate card. Complete the application in the service and attach the required documents. The service’s internal instructions will help you fill in the application. In the e-service, you can submit an application, respond to requests for supplementary information concerning the application, supplement your application and receive decisions concerning your case.

If you cannot use the e-service, apply for compensation using the printable form. Submit the form to the employment authority.

If you have been granted compensation for travel or accommodation expenses in full or in part in advance, submit the supporting documents for the costs incurred to the authority that made the decision within one month of the end of the trip.

If you have applied for compensation in the e-service, you can supplement the information needed for payment in the e-service if necessary.

The Job Market Finland's regional pages contain contact information provided by employment officials.