Eurofound's COVID-19 EU PolicyWatch collates information on the responses of government and social partners to the crisis, as well as gathering examples of company practices aimed at mitigating the social and economic impacts.
Factsheet for case FI-2020-15/539 – measures in Finland
Country | Finland , applies nationwide |
Time period | Temporary, 09 April 2020 – 15 October 2020 |
Type | Legislations or other statutory regulations |
Category |
Income protection beyond short-time work
– Extensions of income support to workers not covered by any kind of protection scheme |
Author | Amanda Kinnunen (Oxford Research) and Eurofound |
Case created | 13 April 2020 (updated 06 October 2020) |
In order to support those self-employed that have been negatively affected by the outbreak of COVID-19, the Finnish Government has given a temporary decree that make it possible for municipalities to apply for a grant that is then redistributed to solo-self-employed. Municipalities apply for this grant through Ministry of Economic Affairs and Labour. The amount of the grant is dependent on the number of solo-self-employed registered in the municipality.
The grant is available for those self-employed who are either registered or whose entrepreneurial income is no less than €20,000 per year. Only those self-employed whose the financial situation and business activity has suffered from the outbreak of COVID-19 qualify for this grant. Furthermore, eligibility for the grant is dependent on the situation of the self-employed - only those with reasonable possibilities to continue business activities shall be given the grant.
The Government will direct up to €250 million euros to financial aid for solo-self-employed. An individual grant is €2,000 and it can be paid out only once. Self-employed can use this grant to cover expenses that have resulted from business activities between 16 March 2020 and 31 August 2020.
By May 2020, municipalities had received nearly 20,000 applications from self-employed.
By the end of August 2020, €85 million of the €250 million budget had been used. The number of applicants that had been granted the support was 20,000.
Workers | Businesses | Citizens |
---|---|---|
Does not apply to workers |
Solo-self-employed
|
Does not apply to citizens |
Actors | Funding |
---|---|
National government
Local / regional government |
National funds
|
Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:
Trade unions | Employers' organisations | |
---|---|---|
Role | Consulted | Consulted |
Form | Direct consultation outside a formal body | Direct consultation outside a formal body |
Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:
No information available.
There is no information regarding the involvement of the social partners.
Citation
Eurofound (2020), Financial aid for solo self-employed negatively affected by COVID-19, case FI-2020-15/539 (measures in Finland), COVID-19 EU PolicyWatch, Dublin, http://eurofound.link/covid19eupolicywatch
Disclaimer: This information has not been subject to the full Eurofound evaluation, editorial and publication process. All information is preliminary and subject to change.