Grants and unemployment security

Notify TE Office about your grant

If you are a registered jobseeker before the start of the grant period, remember to inform the TE Office about the change in your situation. You should report the change as soon as you receive the grant decision, but no later than before you start your grant work.

You can contact the TE Office by sending a contact request via the “Oma asiointi” online service at www.tyomarkkinatori.fi or by calling customer service on 0295 025 500.

Depending on your situation, the TE Office shall request clarification when you start your grant work, when the possible protection period ends, or when you transition from the status of grant recipient to an unemployed jobseeker. A clarification request is normal practice when your situation changes. You can also discontinue your job search for the duration of your full-time grant work. In that case, the TE Office will request clarification about your grant work only after your grant period and if you return as a jobseeker.

Grant recipients are self-employed

As a grant recipient, you are self-employed in terms of the Unemployment Security Act. Self-employment is covered in Chapter 2 of the Unemployment Security Act.

You can also find more information about the impact of the grant on your unemployment security at www.tyomarkkinatori.fi.

Request for clarification after the grant period

If you return as a jobseeker after the grant period, the TE Office will open a clarification request related to unemployment security. The purpose of the clarification request is to ascertain whether you are an unemployed jobseeker as defined in the Unemployment Security Act and are therefore entitled to a benefit, or whether it is considered that you are still self-employed. Based on your written clarification, you will receive a statement based on the Unemployment Security Act about your right to unemployment security. (Unemployment Security Act, Chapter 2, Sections 5 and 9).

The grant decision is usually requested as an attachment to the clarification. If the decision does not indicate the exact working period of the grant, the TE Office may ask you for additional information. In that case, contact Taike's customer service and request a certificate of the working period. In the e-mail, you should also state the diary number of the decision beginning with TKT/ so that customer service has sufficient information to write the certificate.

Four-month protection period

As a self-employed person, you may be entitled to a four-month protection period. During the protection period, you may receive unemployment security at the same time as the grant if the other conditions for receiving it are met. For example, you must fulfil the job search obligation agreed in the employment plan, be ready to accept a full-time job, and keep your job application valid.

Your grant may have an impact on the amount of unemployment security you receive during the protection period. You can get more information about this from your benefit payer, either Kela or the unemployment fund.

After the protection period, the TE Office will assess whether you are employed full time or part time with a request for clarification related to unemployment security. The clarification request is opened after four months of work, even if your grant work continues longer or is shorter than four months. For example, if you begin your grant work on 1 January, the protection period is determined from 1 January to 30 April, and a clarification request related to unemployment security will be opened on 1 May (Unemployment Security Act, Chapter 2, Section 5a). You can get more information from unemployment security by calling 0295 020 701 or from your own TE Office.

If you have already used the protection period earlier, the right to the protection period will only be restored after the working condition has been met. You can get information from your unemployment fund about the fulfilment of the working condition.

These guidelines were prepared on 9 June 2023. The Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike) is not responsible for subsequent changes made by the TE Office that may deviate from these guidelines.