Consultation round begins on new tool to improve employment conditions of long-term unemployed people

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment is requesting comments on a proposal to create a new task for the employment authorities. The draft proposal will be circulated for comments from 11 May to 12 June 2026. It partly implements the entry of the Programme of Prime Minister Orpo’s Government concerning rehabilitative work. The aim is to launch activities for persons who have been unemployed for a long time or are otherwise in a weak labour market position in order to improve their employability.

The Government’s proposal would expand the duties of the employment authorities to allow them to grant support to associations and foundations for projects targeted at long-term unemployed people with the purpose of enhancing the general conditions of their job search and employment. This would be a new employment service task for the employment authorities.

The proposal’s objective is to increase the opportunities of the long-term unemployed to find work. More specifically, the aim is that the majority of the unemployed people participating in the support activities would advance towards employment in the open labour market.

The proposal calls the support ‘employment policy support’. According to the proposed regulation, the support would be discretionary and would give the employment authorities sufficient discretion in granting the support. The support would be granted through a public call for applications where the employment authorities would define in more detail the objectives, duration and target group of the project and e.g. the criteria for reimbursing the project costs. As a result of the project implementation, the network of bodies promoting employment would expand to include organisations and strengthen the operating conditions of the third sector in promoting employment.

Jobseekers would be obligated to take part in the activities funded by employment policy support. A refusal to do so, or interrupting the participation could result in the jobseeker losing their right to unemployment benefit for a fixed period or being imposed a duty to work. Taking part in the activities would count towards the duty to work. It would also contribute to the period young people without education must work or be involved in certain services in order for their benefit restrictions to end.

Inquiries:
Teresa Salminen, Special Adviser (questions to the Minister of Employment), Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 295 047 318 
Hanna Liski-Wallentowitz, Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 295 047 131

Email addresses are in the format [email protected]