Extending temporary Covid-19 unemployment flexibilities
Act amending section 4 of the Act on Temporary Exceptions to the Unemployment Security Act Due to the Covid-19 Epidemic
Temporary Covid-19 flexibilities in unemployment security will continue until the end of 2020. An unemployed person working part-time can still earn more than usual without it reducing their unemployment benefit, and benefits can be paid in advance during backlogs.
- Status
- Passed
- Submitted
- 8 Oct 2020
- Latest event
- 26 Oct 2020
- Votes
- 0
- Speeches
- 2
- Confirmed
- 29 Oct 2020
- Statute
- 725/2020
- Source
- eduskunta.fi ↗
What is proposed
The validity of the temporary derogations from unemployment security enacted due to the coronavirus epidemic will be extended until 31 December 2020. The measures to be continued are the increased exempt amount for adjusted unemployment benefit (500 euros a month or 465 euros in four weeks), the advance payment procedure for unemployment benefits without a decision for up to 6 months, simplified income adjustment procedures, and the two-hour commute condition for the mobility allowance in full-time work.
What it means
The change affects recipients of unemployment benefits, those doing part-time work or secondary self-employment, and benefit payers, namely Kela (the Social Insurance Institution) and unemployment funds. It safeguards applicants' livelihoods and encourages taking up short-term or part-time work until the end of 2020. Extending the derogations is estimated to increase benefit expenditure by around 12.2 million euros, of which the state's share is 6.7 million euros, the Employment Fund's share is 3.8 million euros, and the municipalities' share is 1.3 million euros.
How Parliament voted
The bill passed without a vote – no MP proposed rejecting or amending it in plenary.
Debate in the chamber
MPs' plenary speeches verbatim from the parliamentary record. Open a debate to read what was said about the bill and by whom. Speeches are shown in their original language.
2 speeches · 2 speakers · 1 debate
Keskustelu päättyi. Asia lähetettiin sosiaali- ja terveysvaliokuntaan.
Stages of consideration
The bill's path from the preliminary debate to the decision, as recorded by Parliament.
- 8 Oct 2020Eduskuntakäsittelyn vireilletulo · Sosiaali- ja terveysministeriö
- 14 Oct 2020Lähetekeskustelu · Täysistunto
- 15 Oct 2020Valiokunnan mietintö tai lausunto · sosiaali- ja terveysvaliokunta
- 15 Oct 2020Ensimmäinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 21 Oct 2020Toinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 22 Oct 2020Eduskunnan vastaus ja kirjelmä
Decisions by law proposal1
- 1Laki väliaikaisista poikkeuksista työttömyysturvalakiin covid-19-epidemian vuoksi annetun lain 4 §:n muuttamisestaHyväksytty · 725/2020 · 29 Oct 2020
Proposed law text
The law proposals in the bill as the Government presented them. The final act may differ after committee consideration.
The law text is shown in Finnish or Swedish from Parliament's official documents; it is not translated into English.
Laki väliaikaisista poikkeuksista työttömyysturvalakiin covid-19-epidemian vuoksi annetun lain 4 §:n muuttamisesta
Eduskunnan päätöksen mukaisesti muutetaan väliaikaisista poikkeuksista työttömyysturvalakiin covid-19-epidemian vuoksi annetun lain (315/2020) 4 § seuraavasti:
4 §Voimaantulo
Tämä laki tulee voimaan 11 päivänä toukokuuta 2020 ja on voimassa 31 päivään joulukuuta 2020.
Tätä laki sovelletaan työttömyysetuuden maksamiseen sellaiselta työttömyysetuuden hakujaksolta, joka alkaa lain voimaantulon jälkeen, kuitenkin viimeistään 31 päivänä joulukuuta 2020. Sen 3 §:ää sovelletaan kuitenkin työttömyysetuuden maksamiseen myös, kun hakemus on saapunut ennen tämän lain voimaantuloa.
§
Tämä laki tulee voimaan päivänä kuuta 20 .
Main content of the bill (official)
The summary and title were produced with AI on 13 Sep 2026. They are not official documents – check the details in the original bill. The title and summaries are machine translations of the Finnish AI summaries. Speeches and quotations are always shown in their original language.