Employment policy project support

Employment policy project support is a form of funding through which Employment and Economic Development Offices (TE Offices) may procure, in project form, services for their clients. The content of the projects may vary. The TE Office may define, in connection with each application round, for what kinds of activities or what target groups funding will be granted. The central goal must be to increase employment of unemployed job seekers.

Project support may be granted to an association, foundation, municipality or joint municipal authority.

A maximum of 100% of the total costs approved by the TE Office may be granted to an association and foundation and up to 50% of approved total costs for municipalities and joint municipal authorities. For social enterprises or other groups or organisations (excluding municipalities and joint municipal authorities) that are seeking to access the possibilities for establishing a social enterprise, funding may be granted up to a maximum of 75% of TE-approved total costs.

Income obtained from the operations may be taken into account when calculating the support. The funding may not exceed the total costs approved by the TE Office together with other discretionary government transfers paid for the same costs.

Factors affecting support level and total value include: 

  • the content of the project's activities; 
  • number of clients served through the project; and 
  • the clients' individual need for support and guidance.

The granting of project support is regulated by the Act on Public Employment and Business Service, the Government Decree on Public Employment and Business Service and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment's guidelines on application of the Act and Decree on Public Employment and Business Service.

Activities funded by employment policy project support

The activities receiving funding may include: 

  • arranging work opportunities for unemployed job seekers, 
  • Support measures to promote employment, such as small-scale training, jobseeking or job coaching type activities as well as 
  • the development of services and operating models related to the above content. 

The activities receiving support are associated with public employment services, which comply with the Act on Public Employment and Business Service. For example, pay subsidies are applied for and funded separately even if they are part of an employment project.

Activities taking place across multiple TE Office areas are also possible, in which case the funding is granted by either one or multiple TE Offices. A prerequisite is that the TE Offices, in whose areas the activities are mainly carried out, are in favour of granting support.

The TE Office may define, in connection with each application round, for what kinds of activities or what target groups funding will be granted. The application periods for funding and the emphases related to the activities supported can be found on the local TE Office websites.

  • ​​​​​​Funding may be granted for a maximum period of three years.
  • The TE Office always makes the decisions about the amount of funding to be granted for one calendar year at a time. 
  • The condition for continued funding in later years is that the activities remain in line with the funding decision. 
  • The funding beneficiary is subject to reporting obligations.

Funding cannot be granted for business activities or the promotion of business activities. However, employment policy project support may be granted to groups or organisations for the purpose of establishing a social enterprise. and to groups or organisations whose purpose is to determine the possibilities for establishing a social enterprise.

Funding cannot be granted to projects which are not connected to TE services being offered to individual customers. Employment policy project support is not granted for services being offered as public labour force services or business services.

Furthermore, funding may not be used for the provision or procurement of such services that the municipality or joint municipal authority is obligated by law to provide. Municipalities participating in local government pilots on employment carry out the statutory tasks normally assigned to the TE Office instead of the TE Office itself. Municipalities participating in local government pilots on employment may not grant employment policy project support.

Funding is not granted for investments, nor for procurement costs of movables nor for rental costs.

Application for and granting of Employment policy project support

The core criteria for project initiation and funding are: 

  • the service needs of individual TE Office customers; 
  • the unemployment structure in the TE Office operating area; and 
  • the regional guidelines on funding provision.  

The opportunities available to initiate project applications for starting new projects depend on the area's funding situation.

Using the communication channels of its choosing, the TE Office announces that the employment policy project support is open for public application. The application periods for funding and the emphases related to the activities supported can be found on the local TE Office websites.

Employment policy project support is granted by the TE Office.

The grant is applied for online using the regional administration e-service

Applications for employment policy project support are submitted online in the regional government e-service. In order to use the e-service, Suomi.fi e-Identification is required, which utilises Finnish online banking codes, a mobile certificate or a smart ID card.

A Suomi.fi authorisation is required to apply for the funding. Using mandate roles in Suomi.fi e-Authorizations ensures that the person who prepares and submits a funding application has the right to represent the group or organisation.

  • The mandate required for regional administration e-services is called “Applying for subsidies for employment, environment, business and transport”. This mandate can be found under the identifier TYPO.
  • It allows the assignee to prepare applications for discretionary government transfers and measures related to funding, submit them for processing and withdraw the application on behalf of the assignor.

No separate Suomi.fi e-Authorization is required if, according to the information in the e-service, the user has the right to sign for the company and the role assigned to a company/organisation entitles them to use the e-service.

The organisation may only act on behalf of persons who have been registered in the Finnish Trade Register, the Register of Associations or the Business Information System (BIS) as having the exclusive right of representation, and the role in question entitles it to use the e-service.

A person’s e-Authorizations are retrieved from the registers, from the BIS and from the Suomi.fi service when logging in to the e-services of the regional administration. On the e-service’s My Information page, you can see the companies/organisations on behalf of which you have a mandate for transactions.

Mandate service provided by officials

The right to grant mandates can also be granted through the mandate service provided by officials. The registration of Suomi.fi e-Authorizations is intended for organisations that are unable to authorise independently in Suomi.fi e-Authorizations. These types of organisations include municipalities, parishes and educational institutions.

An organisation representative can apply for the registration of mandates by submitting a mandate application in the Suomi.fi web service.

How to apply for funding in the e-service

  • Apply for employment policy project support online in the regional administration e-service. Log in to the e-service using Suomi.fi e-Identification.
  • Carefully fill out the application. Incomplete applications will prolong the processing time. You can also save an application in progress and continue filling it out later. The e-service instructions help you in using the service and filling out applications.
  • Attach the required attachments to the application.
  • After completing the application, submit it for processing. A notification that the application has been received will be sent to your personal service account and the email you have provided. Your application will be automatically sent to the TE Office for processing.
  • TE Office will review your funding application and ask you for additional information, if necessary. Requests for further information will be sent to the e-service and your e-mail address. Submit the requested supplements by the given deadline or negotiate an extension with the TE Office.
  • All information and documents concerning the processing of your matter, including the funding decision, will be sent to your personal service account once the matter has been concluded. You can save the decisions and other documents you have received on your own computer.
  • Instructions for filling out the application and attaching attachments
  • Regional administration e-services (suomi.fi)
  • More information about regional administration e-services (ahtp.fi)

​Applying for payment

The Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment (ELY Centre) is responsible for paying employment policy project support. Applications for advance payments and payments in accordance with the funding decision are submitted online in the regional administration e-service. Payments for 2020 decisions are made using the previous form procedure.

How to apply for an advance funding payment and payment in the e-service

  • Apply for an advance funding payment and payment in accordance with the funding decision.
  • Fill out and submit the payment application in the Payments tab of the Regional administration e-service.
  • Attach the required attachments to the application.

For more information on applying for a funding payment, visit the Development and Administration Centre's website.

te-updated 19.10.2022