Lay-offs

A lay-off means the temporary suspension of work and payment of wages based on a decision made or initiated by the employer. However, the employment relationship otherwise remains in force.

A laid off employee is either suspended from work entirely or has shortened working hours. Lay-offs can be full-time or part-time. Being laid off full-time means you no longer have any work obligations. When you are laid off part-time, your daily or weekly working hours are shortened.

If you are laid off, register as a job seeker in the ‘E-services' section of Job Market Finland no later than the first day of your lay-off period. You can register before your lay-off period or shortened work hours begin. You will receive an unemployment benefit for the duration of your lay-off if you have registered as a job seeker and the other requirements for receiving benefits are met. The TE Office or the local government pilot will arrange an initial interview for you, if possible, within five working days of the start of your job search.

You can be laid off from your job indefinitely or for a fixed period. If you are laid off for a fixed period of no more than three months, you will likely not need personal service from the TE Office or the local government pilot. However, you are still free to contact the TE Office or the local government pilot if you want personal service.

If your lay-off has lasted more than three months, the TE Office or the local government pilot will arrange a job search discussion with you. Your job search obligation begins after a job search discussion has been organized for you and you have been laid off for three months.

The discussion will not be held if your lay-off is about to end within a month of when the job search discussion is to be held.

If you have been laid off part-time, the same principles apply to you as for part-time job seekers, but your obligation to look for work only begins three months after the first job search discussion.

Obligation to seek work of laid off persons

If you are laid off entirely, your employment plan will include a three-month review period after the start of the job search obligation, during which you will have to apply for four job opportunities. This means that if you are completely laid off, you will have to apply for four job opportunities within the month, because a person who is completely laid off is considered unemployed from the perspective of unemployment security.

If you have been laid off part-time, your employment plan will include one three-month review period after the start of the job search obligation, during which you must apply for one job opportunity. In the case of part-time lay-off, you must therefore apply for one job during the three-month period.

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