Labour policy statements and handling times

Once you have registered as an unemployed jobseeker at the employment and economic development office and apply for unemployment benefits, the TE Office examines whether the conditions for receiving unemployment benefits are met. The TE Office gives a labour policy statement to the one who pays the benefit. It can be an unemployment fund or Kela. When the payer has received the statement, a decision is made to pay the benefit.

If the information you provided when you registered as an unemployed jobseeker is not sufficient to provide the labour policy statement, you might get a request for information. It is easiest for you to respond electronically in E-Services.

You can follow up the situation in E-Services (only in Finnish and Swedish)

There you can:

  • respond to the inquiry request
  • see given labour policy statements
  • see the status of the processing of your submitted investigations

Some of the labour policy statements are given in your local TE Office. The statement or a request for information are given within 14 days of you registering.

Some of the labour policy statements are issued centrally from the Uusimaa TE Office. These include work other than that done in an employment relationship, employment as an entrepreneur and self-employment, study, obligation of young people to apply for a place to study as an eligibility condition for the unemployment benefit, and reprehensible conduct with respect to labour policy. The statement is given within 30 days after you have submitted the documentation required or after the deadline for providing the documentation has been met. The handling time is on their website: Uusimaa TE Office (in Finnish or Swedish)

Asiantuntijalausuntojen keskimääräinen käsittelyaika on tällä hetkellä 23 kalenteripäivää (tilanne perjantaina 26.4.2024). Voit seurata asiasi käsittelyn etenemistä Oma asiointi -palvelussa. Huomioithan, että käsittely perustuu saapumisjärjestykseen eikä käsittelyä voi kiirehtiä soittamalla puhelinpalveluun tai asioimalla TE-toimistossa tai kuntakokeilussa.

Instructions for customers in local government pilots on employment 

If you are a customer of a local government pilot on employment, your municipality of residence issues a labour policy statement to the payer of the unemployment benefit if it is part of the municipality's duties under the act on local government pilot on employments. If necessary, the municipality may also submit a request for clarification, which you can easily answer in E-services. 

Jobseekers’ services during the local government pilots (tyomarkkinatori.fi)

Prepare to prove your right to unemployment benefits

Based on the information you provide when registering as an unemployed jobseeker, we issue a labour policy statement on your right to unemployment benefits.  The information you provide when you register may be sufficient to prepare the labour policy statement that we send to your unemployment fund or Kela.

If we need further clarification for the statement, we will contact you.  

  • You do not need to submit e.g. degree certificates to the TE Office unless this is specifically requested.  
  • You can review the receipt of acknowledgement you receive from E-Services to see whether a labour policy statement has been issued or if the TE Office will contact you for further clarification.

For labour policy statements, the TE Office may request, for example:

  • references from your latest employer or employment contract if you are still employed
  • a lay-off notice or a lay-off certificate if you are laid-off
  • diploma and degree certificates
  • a certificate of resignation or suspension if you have resigned from an educational institution or discontinued your studies
  • proof of the start date of the studies and the extent of the studies if you are still studying
  • possible results of applying for education if you are under 25 years of age
  • proof that you have completed military or non-military service
  • passport or take-over certificate as well as work and residence permits if you are an immigrant.

Are you dissatisfied with the labour policy statement?

The TE Office issues a labour policy statement to the unemployment fund or Kela regarding your right to unemployment benefit. This statement cannot be separately appealed.

  • If you want to know the grounds for the statement, your local TE Office or the telephone service for personal customers can help you.

The party paying the unemployment benefit cannot change the statement given by the TE Office.  

  • If you wish to appeal, you can appeal the paying party's decision. You can appeal the decision of the paying party by appealing to the Social Security Appeal Board. The party paying the unemployment benefit will attach the appeal instructions to the decision.  
  • You can appeal against the decision of the Social Security Appeal Board to the Insurance Court.

TE Office may reconsider the labour policy statement if you have new information related to the handling of the matter. You can request a reconsideration by submitting additional information. The additional statement may be, for example, a certificate missing from the original statement, another appendix, or your own free-form statement. You can submit additional information to your local TE office or to your home municipality if you are a customer of the municipal experiment.

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te-updated 26.04.2024