
What if a light entrepreneur can't get a job anymore? As a light entrepreneur at Truster, you are in a good position in many ways. You can easily try the following idea or make quick decisions if you can't do business or light entrepreneurship isn't your thing. However, we know that things are not always that simple. All kinds of situations, such as self-unemployment, should be prepared in good time. At least it is good to know how unemployment security works for light entrepreneurs.
What kind of unemployment security does a light entrepreneur have?
Unemployment security for light entrepreneurs without a business ID can be very similar to that of an entrepreneur. Many people think that an entrepreneur or a light entrepreneur cannot belong to an unemployment fund, but that is not true. An entrepreneur or a light entrepreneur can equally be a member of an unemployment fund. In other words, a light entrepreneur who has become unemployed can receive Kela's basic daily allowance and earnings-related daily allowance paid by the unemployment fund in the same way as an entrepreneur or employee.
What does the employment condition mean?
The employment condition determines whether you are unemployed receiving Kela's basic daily allowance and, in addition, perhaps also earnings-related daily allowance paid by an unemployment fund.
For an employee, the employment condition means that during the previous 28 months he has spent at least six months and weekly at least 18 hours at work.
For an entrepreneur, the employment condition means that he has been an entrepreneur for at least 15 months in the previous 48 months, and has also earned enough during that period. However, a light entrepreneur is most often subject to the employee's employment condition.
Will the employment condition be met by a part-time light entrepreneur?
It depends on what you do besides light entrepreneurship. If you work full-time and do a side job as a light entrepreneur, the employment condition is of course fulfilled. You may also belong to an unemployment fund through your day job, in which case you will receive earnings-related daily allowance in the event of unemployment.
If you act as a light entrepreneur in addition to studying or otherwise only on a small scale, the employment condition is not met. In this case, you will also not be able to receive basic daily allowance or earnings-related allowance. If you want to improve your unemployment security, consider joining the wage and salary earners' unemployment fund.
What if the employment condition is not met?
If the employment condition is not met and the daily allowances are not received, you can apply for Kela's labour market support. You can also receive labour market support, for example, when you are just entering working life after studying, or when you have already received basic daily allowance and earnings-related allowance for 400 days, and no work has yet been found. Your income, and sometimes your parents' income, affects the amount of labour market support.
How can a full-time light entrepreneur improve his unemployment security?
You can do the same things an entrepreneur would do. You can take out self-employed pension insurance, i.e. YEL insurance, and become a member of the self-employed fund. Make sure that the YEL insurance is sufficient, because if you become unemployed, the amount of earnings-related allowance is based on the YEL income you have reported.
Will unemployment benefit be cut off if I work as an unemployed jobseeker as a light entrepreneur?
Fortunately, the unemployment security system is not so strict. During the first four months of unemployment, you can work as hard as you want. At the same time, you can also receive unemployment benefit, but adjusted for your income.
After four months, the TE Office will re-examine your situation. If the TE Office considers that you work part-time, you will continue to receive adjusted unemployment support. If the TE Office considers that you could not accept full-time work in addition to light entrepreneurship, you will be considered a full-time entrepreneur and will no longer receive subsidies.
If you occasionally do random work for different subscribers, you do not need to report them to the TE Office. Gig work also brings a nice change to everyday life. Maybe you'll get an insight or a new idea at work, the functionality of which you could try as a light entrepreneur more broadly?