Entrepreneur's unemployment security

Entrepreneur! Take care of your unemployment benefits by ensuring you have the right unemployment fund membership.

In the Unemployment Insurance Act, entrepreneurs are considered to be both “actual” entrepreneurs who own the entire company in addition to working in the company, and, with certain restrictions, also part-owners who work in the company.

If you meet the definition of an entrepreneur under the Unemployment Insurance Act and are employed as an entrepreneur on a full-time basis, you must insure yourself against unemployment with the Yrittäjäkassa/Entrepreneur Fund.

If necessary, you can contact the Tradenomi unemployment insurance counseling.

Unemployment security counseling:
Mon-Thu klo 9-16, Fri 10-16
unemployment@tradenomi.fi
tel. 020 155 8800

Unemployment Fund Membership as an Entrepreneur

The following entrepreneurs can become members of the unemployment fund. Self-employed and insured under YEL or MYEL (excluding grantees under MYEL) with a confirmed annual income of at least 14,088 euros (in 2023) and part-owners who work in a company and whose TyEL-insured salary income exceeds the above limit

To become a member of the Entrepreneur Funds you must apply separately. You can still be a member of Tradenomi even after joining the Entrepreneur Funds. Learn more

Please note that meeting the definition of an entrepreneur does not necessarily mean that the business activity is full-time and does not always require joining the unemployment fund. If you operate a business in addition to full-time employment and employment is also your main source of income, it is advisable to be a member of an employee fund (KOKO-Fund for Professionals of Business and Technology members).

More information about the membership requirements of the unemployment fund and the definition of an entrepreneur under the Unemployment Insurance Act.

Learn more about the Unemployment Fund >>

Right to earnings allowance for full-time and part-time entrepreneurs

The employment requirement for entrepreneurs is met when membership in the Entrepreneur Fund and simultaneous employment as an entrepreneur have lasted for at least 15 months, with pension insurance income being at least the aforementioned minimum amount.

An entrepreneur who has met the employment requirement is entitled to unemployment benefit if they become unemployed. The amount of the unemployment benefit is determined for a YEL-insured entrepreneur based on the annual earnings of the YEL insurance and the insurance level chosen for the Unemployment Fund, and for a TyEL-insured employee shareholder based on the salary income and the insurance level chosen for the Unemployment Fund.

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Employees who are also self-employed accumulate the employment requirement for unemployment benefit only from their paid employment. If paid employment ends and the business activity can be considered secondary in the sense of unemployment insurance law (the business activity has been carried out in addition to paid employment for at least 6 months before the end of paid employment), there may be a right to unemployment benefit even if the business activity continues. In this case, the amount of unemployment benefit is determined solely on the basis of salary income and the income from secondary business activities during the period of unemployment is adjusted, i.e., it reduces the payable day rate.

 

Follow-up protection when switching from employee to entrepreneur

 

Employees who become entrepreneurs also have the possibility to retain their right to earnings allowance without interruption under certain conditions:

The employment requirement accumulated as an employee remains valid for 18 months after the start of full-time business activity, provided that either membership of the Unemployment Fund or membership of the employee fund (KOKO-fund) is maintained.

After 18 months from the start of full-time business activity, the employment requirement accumulated as an employee expires. In order to maintain the uninterrupted right to unemployment benefits, membership of the Unemployment Fund must be transferred within three months of the start of full-time business activity, so that the employment requirement for entrepreneurs (15 months) has time to accumulate before this.

An entrepreneur who remains a member of the employee fund for more than three months will have a period of time between the expiry of the employment requirement for employees and the completion of the employment requirement for entrepreneurs, during which there is no right to unemployment benefits. In this case, the entrepreneur who becomes unemployed is within the scope of the unemployment benefits paid by Kela, which significantly reduces the amount of unemployment benefit compared to unemployment benefit.

If the business activity has to be terminated within the first 18 months and the entrepreneur becomes unemployed, there is still a right to unemployment benefit based on the employment requirement accumulated as an employee, if the employment requirement for entrepreneurs has not yet had time to accumulate fully. In this case, the day rate is paid by either the entrepreneur fund or the employee fund, depending on which fund's membership is in force at the time of becoming unemployed. The amount of the day rate is the same in both cases.

To maintain the follow-up protection, it is also possible to remain a member of an employee fund for the first 18 months after starting full-time business activity. However, it is only recommended to remain a member of an employee fund if the membership requirements of the Entrepreneur Fund are not met or if for some other reason it is not possible to join the Unemployment Fund. A better option for a full-time entrepreneur is to join the Entrepreneur Fund, as this also allows you to accumulate new employment requirements.

An entrepreneur who becomes an employee is also entitled to follow-up protection based on the employment requirements accumulated as an entrepreneur.

Learn more about unemployment benefits for entrepreneurs on the Entrepreneur Fund website >>

Additional information about the Tradenomi entrepreneur membership and entrepreneurship services

Are you an entrepreneur, but not yet a member of the Professionals of Business and Technology?

Learn more about the Professionals of Business and Technology entrepreneur membership.