Conditions when receiving compensation from unemployment insurance

When receiving compensation from unemployment insurance, you need to do certain things, including actively looking for work and submitting an activity report to Arbetsförmedlingen each month. You can read here about what you need to do so as not to risk receiving a warning or being left without compensation for one or more days.

What do I need to do?

So as to not risk losing your compensation for one or more days, you need to keep looking for work and adhering to the plans and agreements you have made with us.

This means that you need to

  • apply for at least six suitable jobs per month (unless your action plan has a different number). For example, advertised vacancies and jobs that Arbetsförmedlingen has brought to your attention, or submit spontaneous applications to employers
  • apply for the jobs we have encouraged you to apply for
  • submit your activity report to us between the first and the fourteenth of each month, filling in all the jobs you have applied for and other activities you have completed
  • develop an action plan together with us that sets out how you are going to find a job
  • participate in meetings or contact us and our suppliers at scheduled times and answer the phone when we have agreed to call you.

So as not to prolong your unemployment and risk being left without compensation for several days, you also need to accept

  • jobs you are offered
  • job interviews and do your best to receive a job offer
  • extra support through programmes we offer you

You may be deemed to have caused your own unemployment and risk being left without compensation for several days if you

  • choose to leave a programme or a job without a valid reason
  • act in a way that makes us terminate your programme
  • cause your employer to terminate your employment

What happens if I do not do what I am supposed to?

Arbetsförmedlingen’s assignment includes informing your unemployment insurance fund if something happens that may affect your compensation. We will send a message to your unemployment insurance fund if you neglect your job-seeking or prolong or cause your unemployment. If your unemployment insurance fund starts an investigation, they contact you and you are given the opportunity to describe what has happened before they make a decision about the compensation.

Your unemployment insurance fund may decide to issue you a warning or suspend you from compensation for one or more days. They may also decide that your compensation will not be affected, for example if they make the assessment that you have a valid reason.

  • First time: you are issued a warning.
  • Second time: One day without compensation.
  • Third time: Five days without compensation.
  • Fourth time: Ten days without compensation.
  • Fifth time: the entitlement to compensation is suspended until you have fulfilled a new working condition.

  • First time: Five days without compensation.
  • Second time: Ten days without compensation.
  • Third time: 45 days without compensation.
  • Fourth time: 45 days without compensation.
  • Fifth time: the entitlement to compensation is suspended until you have fulfilled a new working condition.

  • First time: 45 days without compensation.
  • Second time: 45 days without compensation.
  • Third time: the entitlement to compensation is suspended until you have fulfilled a new working condition.

If we learn of something that may affect your potential to search for work and accept job offers

If we learn of something that could prevent you from applying for work and accepting job offers, we must inform your unemployment insurance fund. For example, this might be that you are studying, are sick, are looking after sick children, have a company or are abroad. If the unemployment insurance fund starts an investigation, they will contact you before they decide whether this affects your entitlement to compensation.

We will also inform your unemployment insurance fund when you have informed us that you have started working and are no longer unemployed or are no longer a jobseeker for some other reason. If you subsequently want to look for work and apply for compensation again, you need to call us on the first day you are unemployed. If you have deregistered from Arbetsförmedlingen, you need to register again.

Frequently asked questions

How many jobs should I apply for?

Your action plan may have an application interval, for example 6-20. This describes how many jobs you should apply for in order to have a good chance of getting a job as quickly as possible. The lowest number in the application interval also describes the minimum number of jobs you need to apply for each month in order to allow us to make the assessment that you have actively applied for suitable jobs.

Even if you do not yet have an action plan or if your action plan does not have a search interval, you still need to actively look for work. This means that you normally need to apply for at least 6 jobs per month in order to allow us to make the assessment that you have actively been looking for work. If you are working part time or are not full-time unemployed for other reasons, this might mean that you do not need to apply for as many jobs.

If you have applied for fewer jobs than described above we will inform your unemployment insurance fund. If they believe you have not actively been looking for work, they will decide to give you a warning or to suspend your compensation for one or more days.

You need to be thorough and fill in all jobs you have applied for in your activity report: advertised positions, spontaneous applications or jobs we have encouraged you to apply for or told you about. Your activity report is important documentation that allows us to assess whether you are actively looking for work.

Do I have to apply for jobs in the entire country?

To improve your chances of finding a job quickly, you may need to look for work outside your place of residence or in a location to which you can commute. That depends on where you live, which occupations you are looking for work in and what the labour market is like. If there are no or few suitable jobs to apply for in your place of residence, you also need to look in other locations in the country.

You also need to be prepared to accept job offers in other parts of the country if an employer needs your skills.

What is deemed to be a suitable job?

All jobs for which your skills may be appropriate are, in principle, suitable, not just jobs you have experience of or training for. If an employer wants to hire you and think that you have the right skills, it is a suitable job.

You should also be prepared to move or commute weekly if this necessary to get a job or if there is demand for your skills among employers in another location in the country.

If you are unable to apply for and accept certain types of jobs because of medical reasons, you need to be able to prove this with a medical report.

Contact your unemployment insurance fund if you are offered a job and are in doubt as to whether it is a suitable job, for example based on work environment or employment conditions. You find out then if your compensation may be affected if you decline the job.

I am studying a course in order to increase my chances of finding a job. Why do I need approval from the unemployment insurance fund?

The main rule is that you are not allowed to study and receive compensation from unemployment insurance at the same time. There are exceptions and it is always the unemployment insurance fund that decides whether you can keep receiving compensation while studying. That is why it is important to contact your unemployment insurance fund before you start a course or training programme. This is the case regardless of type of studies, how much time you spend on your studies and whether they are in the daytime, evening or at the weekend. If Arbetsförmedlingen finds out that you are studying and does not have any information to the effect that the unemployment insurance fund has approved the studies, we must inform your unemployment insurance fund about the studies.

If you get approval to study while receiving compensation from the unemployment insurance fund, the studies must not affect your job-seeking. You must also be prepared to interrupt your studies if you are offered a job.

I have got a new job but have not yet started work. Do I have to keep looking for other work?

As long as you are unemployed and want to receive compensation from unemployment insurance, you must continue to be active and apply for jobs. That is one of the conditions of unemployment insurance. In this case you can apply for temporary jobs.

If you have a contract for a new job that you are to start within a month, that can be an acceptable reason to decline another job or to not apply for a job we have encouraged you to apply for. Contact your unemployment insurance fund for more information. Remember to still continue applying for work on your own. You should also inform Arbetsförmedlingen that you have got a new job.

Monitoring jobs applied for

We sometimes investigate whether you have applied for the jobs you have registered in your activity report. It is therefore important that you save documentation that can prove you have applied for these jobs.

Information about proving you have applied for jobs

Information about compensation from unemployment insurance

When you are unemployed it may be possible to receive compensation from unemployment insurance while you are looking for work. You can apply to your unemployment insurance fund for this compensation. In this section you can read about how to apply, what is required in order to receive compensation and how much money you could receive.

Compensation from unemployment insurance