Discretionary expense allowance

Employment authority may grant you discretionary expense allowance when you participate in a service that supports your employment as agreed in your employment plan or a plan replacing it. You can receive compensation from the employment authority if you incur inevitable costs for participating in a service and you do not receive unemployment security from Kela or an unemployment fund.

Expense allowance can be paid for your participation in

• labour market training
• work try-out
• training try-out
• career coaching
• job search coaching
• independent study as an integration client.

Expense allowance is usually nine euros per day. You can receive expense allowance for up to five days a week and only for those days when you participate in the agreed service. Expense allowance is not paid for holidays or absences, for example.

The expense allowance is 18 euros a day if the service is provided outside your travel-to-work area. The expense allowance is also 18 euros if the service is provided within your travel-to-work area but outside your municipality of residence and you incur accommodation expenses.

To whom and on what terms

If you are not entitled to unemployment security, discuss the possibility of receiving discretionary expense allowance with the employment authority in your area. If you receive unemployment security, Kela or the unemployment fund will grant the expense allowance in connection with the payment of your unemployment security, and you do not have to apply for it separately.

Compensation can be paid retroactively for more than one month only for a particularly compelling reason. Expense allowance can be paid only for the period specified in the decision.

The expense allowance can be paid to a Finnish or foreign bank account and also to a prepaid card issued by a reception centre, if necessary. Notify your reception centre if you will receive an expense allowance.

Do the following

Once you have participated in a service that promotes employment, apply for an expense allowance from the employment authority in your area within one month.

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 are submitting an application for several months online, fill in a separate application for each month.

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

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