Unemployment security statements and processing times

After you have registered as an unemployed job seeker with employment services and applied for unemployment security, the employment official will determine your eligibility for receiving it. The employment official will then issue a labour policy statement to the payer of your unemployment security within 7 days. Once the payer of your unemployment security has received the statement, they will decide on the payment of your unemployment security. Depending on your situation, the unemployment security will be paid by either an unemployment fund or Kela.

In some situations, however, the employment official may be unable to make a decision on whether you are eligible for unemployment security. Your eligibility for unemployment security can be affected by other factors, such as work performed outside an employment relationship, working as an entrepreneur or self-employed tradesperson, studies, the obligation of young people to apply for a study place as a prerequisite for receiving unemployment security, or acting in an improper manner in terms of labour policy. In these situations, the employment official will ask you to clarify the matter, and the easiest way to submit your report is through the E-services at Job Market Finland. The clarification request is then forwarded to the Development and Administration Centre for ELY Centres (KEHA Centre). The KEHA Centre will issue a labour policy statement no later than 30 days after you have submitted your report and its appendices, or once the deadline for submitting the report has passed. You can monitor the progress of the processing of your matter in the 'E-services' section of Job Market Finland.

Currently, the average processing time for expert opinions issued by the KEHA Centre is 22 calendar days (status on Friday, 3 January 2025).