Coming soon: Unemployment benefits for employees and entrepreneurs from the same fund

News 28.8.2026

Topics

Income security
Insurance
Membership

Preparations for the combined insurance scheme are moving forward. The government’s proposal on the combined unemployment insurance scheme has been submitted to Parliament (HE 144/2026). The new insurance scheme is intended to strengthen income security for both entrepreneurs and employees. The reform will improve income security, particularly in creative fields. The change will also mean that, in the future, it may be possible to receive both employee and self-employed unemployment benefits from the same unemployment fund.

The legislative amendment is scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2028. If the proposal is adopted, YTK would be able to accept not only wage earners but also entrepreneurs and those with combined insurance coverage as members starting on that date.

Less bureaucracy and more flexibility for members

Under the proposal, offering combined insurance would be voluntary for unemployment funds. Unemployment funds should have separate membership fees and equalization funds for unemployment insurance for wage earners and entrepreneurs.

Unemployment funds could thus, if they so choose, continue to offer unemployment insurance to both entrepreneurs and wage earners. This change would allow members to flexibly switch from one type of insurance to another during times of change, enabling their situation to be handled holistically. This would reduce the bureaucracy associated with switching funds and minimize the risk of misclassification.

Security for wage earners and entrepreneurs

The purpose of combined insurance is to improve income security for individuals who work alternately or concurrently as both entrepreneurs and wage earners. This is a new type of unemployment insurance whose eligibility requirements would take into account both wage income and entrepreneurial income. The change would improve income security for those who are currently excluded from such coverage under the existing system. In addition, the combined insurance would serve as supplemental coverage for those who are already covered by income security, either as self-employed individuals or as wage earners.

Combined insurance would cover all situations of combined self-employment and salaried employment as defined in the Unemployment Security Act, as well as situations involving salaried employment or self-employment combined with work in one’s own business. The aim is to extend combined insurance to as broad a group as possible. According to the proposal, it would also be possible to combine family care allowances and MYEL-insured grant-funded work with salaried employment or self-employment.

With regard to work grants and family caregiver allowances, it is further proposed that these could be insured not only as part of the diverse forms of employment covered by the combined insurance but also as a person’s sole source of income in the form of self-employment income.

Duration of the working condition and income basis

According to the proposal, the working condition for combined insurance would be 12 months during a 28-month review period. Under the working condition for combined insurance, wage income, entrepreneurial income, and income from self-employment and grants would be combined on a calendar-month basis. A month would count toward the working condition if the income totaled at least 930 euros per month.

Under the proposal, entrepreneurial income would generally be treated as earned income under the YEL insurance scheme. If a person does not have mandatory YEL insurance, the income could be treated as income under voluntary YEL insurance. If a person does not have mandatory or voluntary pension insurance, the income to be insured under the combined insurance plan would be based on the person’s own declaration, reduced by 1 200 euros. However, the insured income must be at least 1 200 euros per year. The insured income would be valid for 12 months, and it would be possible to change the income during the year.

A person working as both an employee and a entrepreneur, as well as a person who, in addition to being employed or running a business, works as a family caregiver or receives a work grant, could choose which source(s) of income they wish to insure with the unemployment fund in case of unemployment.

To receive daily benefits, the applicant must normally meet all other eligibility requirements for receiving daily benefits, such as labor market policy requirements.

Government Proposal to Parliament for Legislation on Combined Unemployment Insurance