Govt to pay labour market support for entrepreneurs in Jan-Feb

The government has decided to reintroduce labour market support for the entrepreneurs for a temporary period of January and February.

The Government submitted a proposal to Parliament on Thursday to extend the temporary amendment to the law with the view to entitle the entrepreneurs to get labour market support on more flexible terms during the coronavirus pandemic, said an official press release.

As a rule, a person who has been self-employed on a full-time basis is entitled to unemployment benefit once the business activities have ceased completely. During the coronavirus pandemic, entrepreneurs have been temporarily entitled to labour market support if their full-time work has ended or their income has decreased due to the pandemic.

The restrictive measures introduced following the worsening coronavirus situation have again made it more difficult for entrepreneurs to pursue their trade. For this reason, the government proposed that the Unemployment Security Act be amended temporarily, similarly as before.

Due to the urgent nature of the proposal, no consultation round has been organised on it. However, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment sent a request for comments to the bodies implementing the unemployment security system, key labour market organisations and the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities.

The temporary act would be in effect until the end of February.

According to the amendment, labour market support could be paid for the period of January–February. In order to be eligible for labour market support, the entrepreneur must have registered as a jobseeker at the TE Office, among other things.

Because the amendment will be applied retroactively, it would be possible to deviate from this requirement until 15 February.

The first similar temporary amendment to the Unemployment Security Act entered into force on 8 April 2020, and the amendment has been extended several times due to the pandemic. The most recent amendment was in force until 30 November 2021.