Individuals' and families' financial benefits and allowances during the coronavirus situation

Sickness allowance based on an infectious disease is intended to compensate for loss of income if the physician responsible for infectious disease control in the municipality or hospital district has ordered the person to stay away from work or placed the person in quarantine or isolation in order to prevent the spread of an infectious disease. Parents or guardians of children under 16 years of age are entitled to communicable disease allowance if they are absent from work because their child is quarantined. 

The amount of the allowance is equal to the amount of lost income.

Foreign workers employed in Finland can be entitled to communicable disease allowance. For example, foreigners who are temporarily working (shipyards, construction sites etc.) in the country and who have not moved here permanently are entitled to sickness allowance.

For more information, please see the website of the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela):

• Sickness allowance on account of an infectious disease
   
• Kela’s press release on the right of foreign workers employed in Finland to receive communicable disease allowance

You can apply for support at your own unemployment fund or Kela. Unemployment funds and Kela are responsible for all matters relating to the applications and their processing.

Follow Kela's website about unemployment benefits in the coronavirus situation.

You are not entitled to compensation if you are absent from work because you are avoiding close contacts in accordance with the recommendations of the authorities. As a rule, you should agree with your employer on work arrangements or ask, for example, if you could take some of your annual leave days. 

Belonging to a risk group does not automatically entitle anyone to compensation. Persons who choose to stay in quarantine-like conditions are not, as a rule, entitled to compensation.

In cases where employees belonging to risk groups are working in positions in which remote work is not possible and where the risk of being exposed to infection is high, the employer must try to make arrangements so that these persons can transfer to positions where the risk of being exposed to infection is lower. Remote work is advised for all employees whose tasks can be carried out from home.

As a rule, all available income and assets are taken into account when granting social assistance. You are not required to sell off your home or any tools you need. You can get social assistance on a short-term basis without having to realise your immovable property. However, if you have any assets that are easy to realise, such as shares or fund units, you must use them to secure your subsistence before you can become eligible for social assistance. 

The Social Insurance Institution (Kela) can grant you a financial commitment for necessary medical expenses as part of basic social assistance. As a rule, any additional costs for home delivery of medicines are not covered by the financial commitment. In some special situations, you might get a financial commitment that covers home delivery costs if a healthcare professional deems home delivery necessary.

Food is covered by basic social assistance, and any additional costs associated with buying food can be covered by supplementary social assistance. If Kela has made a decision on granting basic social assistance, supplementary social assistance can be applied for at the municipal social administration. Municipalities have introduced even other local arrangements for grocery purchasing. You can ask about the arrangements directly from your municipality of residence.

Basic social assistance takes into account the actual amount of housing costs, unless they can be considered to be excessive. If your housing costs exceed the amount considered reasonable by your municipality, the Social Insurance Institution (Kela) will advise you to apply for a cheaper flat. While Kela cannot force you to move, in some cases it may take into account your housing costs only to the amount considered reasonable. 

Decisions on basic social assistance must be made within 7 working days by law. The Social Insurance Institution has been able to process the applications for basic social assistance quickly, and there are no exceptional backlogs in sight. 

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The responsibility for arranging temporary accommodation rests with the social services of your municipality. The authorities placing a person under quarantine must contact the municipal social services if it becomes clear that the person does not have a residence.