Development of jobseeker’s service process and employment services

An initial interview was held with the jobseeker within five working days after the start of the job search.

During the three months following the initial interview, five supplementary job search discussions were arranged with the jobseeker, usually every two weeks.

Three months after the initial interview, and subsequently every three months, a job search discussion was arranged with the jobseeker.

An initial interview will be held with the jobseeker within 10 working days after the start of the job search.

Instead of the current rigid service process, supplementary job search discussions will only be organised with the jobseeker if they are considered necessary based on the individual service needs.

The reform lightens the statutory service process of employment services so that the limited resources of the employment authority can be used more appropriately and in a more customer-oriented manner. 

The initial interview and personal interaction with the jobseeker will become the core parts of the process. Officials will be given more discretion and they will be obligated to promote individualised employment services.

The reform contributes towards the Government’s general objective to streamline and simplify social security.

Previously, part-time employees had to apply for one job opportunity in three months.

The obligation of part-time employees to look for work has changed so that they will, as a rule, have the same job search obligation as other unemployed jobseekers. In practice, this means that they will have to apply for four job opportunities per month, unless the obligation to look for work was reduced or waived altogether.

The obligation of part-time employees to seek work can be waived if accepting other work at the same time is not possible considering their ability to work. In other words, more consideration than currently can be given to the work ability of the jobseeker.

In some cases, the employment authority indicates to the jobseeker certain jobs that they should apply for. Previously, the obligation to apply for such jobs began six months after the initial interview.

The new rules tighten the obligation to apply for jobs indicated by the employment authority. In future, the obligation begins immediately at the start of unemployment.

The job applicant profile is a service offered by Job Market Finland to private customers, who can create and publish job applicant profiles of themselves. The service can help private customers find jobs that match their skills.

The job applicant profile contains information on the person’s education and training, work experience, other skills and preferred work, for example. It may also include a free-form presentation of the person and links to other services outside the platform.

Any person logged on the service platform can create a job applicant profile without the need to register as a jobseeker. Creating and publishing a job applicant profile is entirely voluntary at the moment.

Employers registered at Job Market Finland can search and view job applicant profiles published there. They can also contact interesting job applicants through the service platform. 

The jobseeker is obligated to create and publish an anonymous job applicant profile. In addition, jobseekers should keep their job applicant profile published for the duration of the job search.

However, failure to comply with this obligation does not result in the termination of job search or in an unemployment security sanction.

Jobseekers will have 15 working days from the start of their job search to create and publish a job applicant profile on the service platform (Job Market Finland). If a jobseeker fails to publish their job applicant profile within the time limit, the employment authority will publish their job applicant profile.

A jobseeker will not be obligated to publish a job applicant profile and the employment authority will not publish one if one of the following exceptions are met: 

1. Jobseeker is not required to apply for work;
2. Jobseeker is in full-time employment, studies full-time or is a full-time entrepreneur;
3. Based on an assessment by the employment authority, the jobseeker cannot independently utilise the service platform to find employment. This would be the case if the jobseeker’s language, reading or writing skills were deemed to be insufficient for the use of the service platform or if the jobseeker had some other impediment related to their work ability or functional capacity, for example.
4. Based on an assessment by the employment authority, publishing a job applicant profile would be unreasonable due to some other reason related to the jobseeker. This would be the case, if the jobseeker does not use IT equipment at all, for example.

The job applicant profile of a jobseeker should contain information relevant for the job search and employment, such as work experience, education, other skills and preferred work.

In order to maintain the anonymity of the profile, the jobseeker may include information on their work experience without specifying the employer, and instead provide just the sector or industry and the duration of employment.

The job applicant profile may also include a free-form presentation of the jobseeker and links to other platforms, such as LinkedIn. However, adding these will mean the profile would no longer be anonymous and therefore including such information will not be necessary in the profile.

As a rule, the employment authority will create and publish an anonymous job applicant profile of the jobseeker.

A profile of the jobseeker published by the employment authority may only contain the following information:

1. Relevant work experience without information identifying the employer;
2. Relevant education, without information specifying the education provider;
3. Information on valid qualifications and licences, without information specifying the issuer;
4. Work preferences, area of job search and language skills; and
5. Information published by the jobseeker themself in the job applicant profile or information the jobseeker has requested to be published.

Persons who have not registered as jobseekers may create and publish a job applicant profile voluntarily and decide on the information in their profile, as before.

The information in the profile may be the same as the information in the current profile.

Private job placement agencies registered on the service platform will be able to search and view published job applicant profiles. However, they cannot search and view profiles that have not been published.

In other words, private job placement agencies will have the same rights to search and view published job applicant profiles as employers previously had. In addition, private job placement agencies may contact jobseekers through the service platform.

With the help of the published job applicant profiles, private job placement agencies may obtain information on unemployed jobseekers for recruitment or employment service purposes.

The reform aims to improve the employment of jobseekers and the matching of employers, job placement agencies and jobseekers in the open labour market.

Employers and job placement agencies registered on the service platform may search and view published job applicant profiles, while the employment authority will have the right to do that for their own customers.

Job applicant profiles will not be open to public view.

Employers and private job placement agencies registered on the service platform can contact jobseekers through the platform.

Jobseekers will be contacted by email.

Employers and private job placement agencies cannot see the jobseeker’s email address.

In order to receive unemployment benefits, jobseekers must actively seek work and participate in services that promote employment. Jobseekers will lose their right to unemployment benefit for a fixed period or until further notice if they themselves are the cause for unemployment or prolonged unemployment. The latter may be the case, for example, if the jobseeker refuses to participate in the services of the employment authority as agreed in the employment plan.

For example: During the job search discussion, the employment authority and the jobseeker have noted that updating the jobseeker’s professional skills would improve their chances of finding employment. The job search plan includes an obligation to apply for four jobs during a month. In addition, the plan includes an agreement to apply for a specific labour market training for updating skills.

The jobseeker applies for jobs and notifies the employment authority about this in the online service. In this respect, the jobseeker has fulfilled the obligation. However, the jobseeker fails to apply for labour market training, and does not have a valid reason for doing so under the Unemployment Security Act. Because the jobseeker does not have any previous neglects, an unpaid time period will be imposed on the jobseeker, during which no benefits will be paid.

Acting in a manner considered reprehensible in terms of labour market policy, i.e. failure to apply for work or participate in employment services, could result in periods when no benefits are paid to the jobseeker, i.e. unpaid time periods and duty to work.

The unpaid time period means a loss of unemployment benefit for a fixed period. The term in Finnish legislation is “korvaukseton määräaika.”

The duty to work, on the other hand, means that the right to unemployment benefit is lost until further notice. The right to claim benefits will be restored after the jobseeker has worked for at least six weeks or participated in certain services.

No unemployment security sanctions would be imposed on the jobseeker if they had a valid reason for their actions in terms of labour policy. Provisions on valid reasons are laid down in the Unemployment Security Act.

The sanctions will not prevent a jobseeker from claiming unemployment benefits while they are participating in employment-promoting services listed in the Unemployment Security Act.

The aim of the reform is to clarify and simplify the sanctions and to make the job search of jobseekers and their participation in employment-promoting services more efficient.

Previously, it was common that failures to follow the rules did not result in any unemployment security sanctions. In practice, this meant that jobseekers neglected their obligation to participate in meetings with the employment authority that are part of the service process or to apply for jobs as agreed in the employment plan in an appropriate manner.

The reform is part of the measures of the Government of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo to introduce incentives and obligations into the social security system.

The aim is to clarify the unemployment security sanctions and to make the job search of jobseekers and their participation in employment-promoting services more efficient.

Replacing the current four-stage system with a two-stage system will clarify the unemployment security sanctions. The threat of losing the unemployment benefit more quickly is estimated to provide an incentive not to neglect the obligations, which in turn will make job search and participation in services more efficient.

The staggered sanctions has been changed so that jobseekers will lose their right to unemployment benefit already after their first failure related to the service process, job search or participation in services. In these situations, the right to benefits will be lost for seven calendar days. The change emphasises the jobseeker’s own responsibility to actively seek employment and participate in the available services.

Instead of the four-stage system which will remain in force until 28 February 2026 in accordance with the previous provisions of the Unemployment Security Act, the sanctions system will consist of two stages. For the second failure to apply for work or participate in employment services, jobseekers will be imposed a duty to work for six calendar weeks. In practice, this means that jobseekers who continued to act in a manner considered reprehensible in terms of labour market policy will lose their right to unemployment benefits more quickly than before.

At the same time, however, the jobseekers who had lost their right to benefits will be able to reclaim the right more easily than before, as the duration of the duty to work will be reduced by half (from 12 calendar weeks to 6 calendar weeks).

Jobseekers will lose their right to unemployment benefit for a fixed period or be imposed a duty to work if they neglect their obligations. In other words, jobseekers will not lose their right to unemployment benefit if they have properly applied for employment opportunities but have not been selected for them.

The legislation on unemployment security sanctions has been in force for quite a while, and the provisions have been amended several times. The previous four-stage sanctions system, which will be valid until 28 February 2026, entered into force in May 2022. Prior to that, the first failure to meet the obligations resulted in a period of at least 15 days, at least 30 days, or 60 days during which benefits were not paid. The second failure within a six-month review period led to a duty to work of 12 calendar weeks.

As concerns the sanctions, the new provisions will therefore be significantly more lenient compared with the provisions that were in force until the beginning of May 2022, even if the jobseeker will lose their right to unemployment benefit for a fixed period already after the first failure.

However, in assessing the severity of the sanctions, the services available to jobseekers at a given time must be considered and, e.g. the extent to which the employment authority indicates to jobseekers to apply for certain jobs, because applying for such jobs is a condition for claiming unemployment benefit.

The legislative amendments are mainly scheduled to enter into force on 1 January 2026.

However, the amendments to job applicant profiles are set to enter into force on 1 September 2026.

In connection with the entry into force of the act on general social security benefit (on 1 May 2026), the organisation of the service process for jobseekers will also change. During a prolonged job search, jobseekers will have meetings that are part of the service process and take place, as a rule, in person at an office of the employment authority. These meetings will focus on establishing the reasons for prolonged unemployment and referring jobseekers to the necessary services.

As of 1 May 2026, the changes to the unemployment security sanctions that will enter into force on 1 March 2026, will also apply to recipients of general social security benefit.

If a jobseeker loses their right to unemployment benefit for a fixed period or a duty to work is imposed on the jobseeker, from 1 February 2026 the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela) will consider lowering the basic amount of social assistance.