When a self-employed person becomes unemployed

As a self-employed person, you can receive unemployment benefits if your entrepreneurial activities have ended or you no longer work in your company for another reason. If you become unemployed, you need to register as an unemployed jobseeker with the TE Office.

Unemployment benefits for the self-employed

There is one unemployment fund for self-employed persons in Finland: Yrittäjäkassa. You can join Yrittäjäkassa if your YEL income is at least equal to the so-called unemployment security lower limit. In 2024, that limit is EUR 14,803 (EUR 14,088 in 2023). It is advisable to set YEL income above the unemployment security lower limit so that YEL income does not fall below the lower limit of unemployment protection in the index incremens for future years.

If you become unemployed, your YEL income determines the size of the earnings-related allowance you receive from the fund.

If you are not a member of Yrittäjäkassa, you may be eligible for an unemployment benefit paid by Kela. The benefit you can receive from Kela is the basic unemployment allowance or the labour market subsidy.

You are entitled to the earnings-related allowance paid by Yrittäjäkassa if you are a member of the fund and you meet the work requirement. You meet the work requirement when

  1. your YEL income is at least equal to the unemployment security lower limit (EUR 14,088 in 2023 and EUR 13,573 in 2022).
  2. You have been self-employed while also being a member of Yrittäjäkassa for a minimum of 15 months during the 48 months preceding your unemployment.

Please note that your YEL contributions must have been paid in order to accrue the work requirement.

The size of your allowance depends on your YEL income. As a rule, the allowance is based on the YEL income during the 15 months preceding the unemployment.

By keeping your YEL income up to date you also take care of your unemployment security. You cannot change your YEL income retroactively. Read more about YEL income.

If you are not a member of Yrittäjäkassa, you can apply for the basic unemployment allowance from Kela. You can receive it when

  1. you meet the work requirement
  2. your YEL income is at least equal to the unemployment security lower limit.

If you do not meet the work requirement and if your YEL income is too small, you can apply to Kela for the labour market subsidy. Read more about labour market subsidy on Kela’s website (kela.fi) >

What should I do with my YEL insurance if I become unemployed?

When your work as an entrepreneur ends or remains below the YEL lower limit, terminate your YEL insurance. The lower limit changes annually (EUR 8,261.71 in 2022). Report the termination of your insurance in Ilmarinen’s online service. Log in to the service using your personal online banking credentials.

Log in to the online service >