Frequently asked questions

Unemployment security

  • The TE Office will determine your right to unemployment benefits after you have registered as a job seeker with the TE Office and you declare that you are applying for unemployment benefit. Studying or being an entrepreneur may affect your right to the benefit.

    See more information on

  • After you have registered as a jobseeker with the TE Office and applied for unemployment benefits, the TE Office examines your requirements for receiving the benefit as stated in the labour policy . The TE Office issues a labour policy statement either to an unemployment fund if you are a member of one or to Kela if you are not a member of an unemployment fund. You must then submit an application to the payer of the unemployment benefit.

    The party paying the unemployment benefit, i.e. the unemployment fund or Kela, ensures that the other requirements for receiving the benefit are met, such as the mandatory waiting period. You can also ask the payer of the benefit how e.g. income from part-time work affects the payment of unemployment benefits.

    Read more about applying for unemployment benefits:

  • You are not required to initially submit certificates to the TE Office. If additional documents are required, an expert at the TE Office will request them separately by letter, telephone, e-mail or text message. Required documents may include a certificate of a lay-off, diplomas, certificates of employment, employment contracts or medical certificates.

    If you need to submit documents to the TE office, we recommend using the secure messaging service.

    Secure messaging service (turvaviesti.te-toimisto.fi)

  • The labour policy statement is a statement issued by the TE Office to the party paying the unemployment benefit (unemployment fund or KELA) on your right to unemployment benefit. In some cases, you may receive a request for clarification from the TE Office, to which you must reply before a statement can be issued.

    The TE Office must issue a labour policy statement without undue delay, however within 30 days after you have submitted the clarification and its appendices. You can find out the processing time at your local office on the office's home page.

    Local TE Offices

    You can see your statements and their processing stages in the E-Services under "All e-services" > "My unemployment security information”

  • A labour policy statement issued by the TE Office cannot be appealed. Instead, you can file a complaint after receiving the decision from the payer after applying for unemployment benefits from Kela or the unemployment fund. Instructions on how to appeal will be detailed in the decision of the payer.

    If the TE Office has issued a labour policy statement without your clarifications or with incomplete information, you can submit your clarification or additional information to your previous report for reprocessing. The request for reprocessing must be made in writing and you can submit it to your

    TE Office by e-mail. Please note that the request for reprocessing does not mean the same as an appeal against the decision of the payer of the unemployment benefit.

    Labour policy statements and handling times

    If you wish to discuss a labour policy statement you have received, you can contact our telephone service.

  • The waiting period refers to a period without compensation, i.e. when you are not entitled to unemployment benefits. You can accept work also during the waiting period, and starting work does not affect the duration of the waiting period. However, you can not receive adjusted unemployment benefit during the waiting period even if you start part-time work.

  • The labour policy statement includes the date when you will no longer be entitled to unemployment benefits. You do not have to do anything if you have already restarted your job search or if you no longer need the job search to be valid. Please note that the validity of your job search is a prerequisite for receiving unemployment benefit, including the adjusted unemployment benefit. If necessary, re-register as a jobseeker.

te-updated 18.08.2023