Being a freelancer and social benefits

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Mari82
Posts: 12
Joined: Sun Oct 23, 2016 11:48 am

Being a freelancer and social benefits

Post by Mari82 » Mon Jan 15, 2018 3:15 pm

Hi. Can you explain something to me about the social benefits in Finland?
So my work contract ended on 20.10 2017. In November I go to unemployment office to declare that I am unemployed. I send all papers to Kela, whatever they asked. To hear that they found this Pay pal account in my bank statements. They asked me if I am a freelancer and I said yes but part time. I explained that during my full time job I worked as a freelancer on the side. After full time job ended, I continued to do online work until 1.12.
Boy that made Kela angry.
They kept asking me for my income as a freelancer and I kept sending payslips (it was $120 monthly) but that wasn't enough. I told them that I currently don't have any client and that they should pay my unemployment benefits. Yet they just sent me a message on kela.fi that I should send my freelance contract (I never had one) and paypal account and everything I earned up until now.
Why? Why is that so bad that I tried to earn a measly $100 a month? It's not 1k !! I can't pay my rent with my freelance microscopic income!
FYI Kela didn’t pay any unemployment benefit since 21.10. Should I still try asking for those money?
Pls advice. If you have gone through the same thing, what did you do. Thank you!



Being a freelancer and social benefits

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betelgeuse
Posts: 4353
Joined: Thu Aug 29, 2013 1:24 am

Re: Being a freelancer and social benefits

Post by betelgeuse » Mon Jan 15, 2018 4:05 pm

Mari82 wrote:
Mon Jan 15, 2018 3:15 pm
They kept asking me for my income as a freelancer and I kept sending payslips (it was $120 monthly) but that wasn't enough. I told them that I currently don't have any client and that they should pay my unemployment benefits. Yet they just sent me a message on kela.fi that I should send my freelance contract (I never had one) and paypal account and everything I earned up until now.
Why? Why is that so bad that I tried to earn a measly $100 a month? It's not 1k !! I can't pay my rent with my freelance microscopic income!
FYI Kela didn’t pay any unemployment benefit since 21.10. Should I still try asking for those money?
Pls advice. If you have gone through the same thing, what did you do. Thank you!
Kela needs to know your income to calculate your benefits. It's often absurd how much effort the system uses to calculate things accurate to the last penny. Your best bet is to send everything that they ask and then appeal the decision if you don't like the outcome. If you don't have a written contract, then you will send them a signed statement saying that the contract was verbal and listing the key terms.

Upphew
Posts: 10748
Joined: Tue Apr 08, 2008 10:55 pm
Location: Lappeenranta

Re: Being a freelancer and social benefits

Post by Upphew » Mon Jan 15, 2018 4:16 pm

Mari82 wrote:
Mon Jan 15, 2018 3:15 pm
Hi. Can you explain something to me about the social benefits in Finland?
So my work contract ended on 20.10 2017. In November I go to unemployment office to declare that I am unemployed. I send all papers to Kela, whatever they asked. To hear that they found this Pay pal account in my bank statements. They asked me if I am a freelancer and I said yes but part time. I explained that during my full time job I worked as a freelancer on the side. After full time job ended, I continued to do online work until 1.12.
Boy that made Kela angry.
They kept asking me for my income as a freelancer and I kept sending payslips (it was $120 monthly) but that wasn't enough. I told them that I currently don't have any client and that they should pay my unemployment benefits. Yet they just sent me a message on kela.fi that I should send my freelance contract (I never had one) and paypal account and everything I earned up until now.
Why? Why is that so bad that I tried to earn a measly $100 a month? It's not 1k !! I can't pay my rent with my freelance microscopic income!
FYI Kela didn’t pay any unemployment benefit since 21.10. Should I still try asking for those money?
Pls advice. If you have gone through the same thing, what did you do. Thank you!
To them you are neither fish nor fowl so they don't have a box to put you in. So no money. Are you employee or entrepreneur? Ok, you are out of yor work contract that seems to put you in employee box and thus you can be unemployed. But then there is some entrepreneurship going on, so you can't go to that box... now they are getting confused.

As you said, you can't live on 100€/month, now you have to get the bureaucrats understand that.
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Mari82
Posts: 12
Joined: Sun Oct 23, 2016 11:48 am

Re: Being a freelancer and social benefits

Post by Mari82 » Mon Jan 15, 2018 5:13 pm

Upphew -ha ha. Yes exactly. I am in between stuff. But shouldn't they help those who wanna get a job AND keep working for their freelance career? The goal is to grow my business and pay their taxes. Isn't that good for them?

Betelgeuse -thanks for your advice. I will do that.
If I can't get the benefits it's not the end of the world. But at least I wanna try to do something about it

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rinso
Posts: 3949
Joined: Fri Aug 25, 2006 7:22 pm

Re: Being a freelancer and social benefits

Post by rinso » Mon Jan 15, 2018 6:17 pm

I am in between stuff. But shouldn't they help those who wanna get a job AND keep working for their freelance career? The goal is to grow my business and pay their taxes. Isn't that good for them?
For Kela there is no in between stuff. It is either one or the other. If you want to develop a business and you are on social benefits, contact Kela first and agree on what you're allowed to do. Otherwise they use their mantra "not 100% unemployed = 0% benefits". Don't fight the system, give them what they want and hope for the best.

betelgeuse
Posts: 4353
Joined: Thu Aug 29, 2013 1:24 am

Re: Being a freelancer and social benefits

Post by betelgeuse » Mon Jan 15, 2018 9:34 pm

Mari82 wrote:
Mon Jan 15, 2018 5:13 pm
But shouldn't they help those who wanna get a job AND keep working for their freelance career? The goal is to grow my business and pay their taxes. Isn't that good for them?
That would be TE-palvelut (at least in theory), not Kela.


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