You should register as a jobseeker with the local Employment and Economic Development Office (TE-office) at the latest on the first lay-off day. The easiest way to do this is to sign into the ‘Oma asiointi’ e-service of TE Services (available in Finnish and Swedish).
A daily allowance can be paid only after the qualifying period, i.e. after you have been laid off for a total of seven full workdays during a period of a maximum of eight consecutive weeks.
Submit your first application at the earliest on the Sunday following the end of the qualifying period. The daily allowance is always applied for retroactively.
PLEASE NOTE: The daily allowance must be applied for at the latest within three months of the first day when the payment of the daily allowance that is being applied for would begin.
More detailed instructions are available on the ‘How to apply’ page of the Public and Welfare Sectors’ Unemployment Fund.