Annual Report
1 Jan–31 Dec 2024
2024
2Annual Report 2024 Contents
Contents
ANNUAL REPORT 2024
3 The year of Employment Fund in
brief
4 Financial development
5 Managing Director’s review
8 Strategy, mission, vision and
values
11 Keyfigures2024
12 REPORT OF THE BOARD OF
DIRECTORS
13 Duties of Employment Fund
15 Cooperation with stakeholders
17 Customer service
19 Unemployment insurance
contributions
27 Adulteducationbenefits
37 Finance
40 Investment activities
43 Sustainability
58 Risk management
60 Personnel
64 Eventsafterthefinancialperiod
65 Corporate governance
78 Remuneration report
84 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
85 Financial statements (IFRS) 2024
85 Statement of changes in net
position
88 Notestothefinancialstatements
129 Auditor’s report
3Annual Report 2024
The year of Employment Fund in brief
Despite the lowering of unemployment insurance contributions,
the liquidity of Employment Fund is secured.
The customer satisfaction
score (CSAT) stood at 88% (85%)
for the year as a whole.
We provided EUR
3,129 million
forthefinancingof
unemployment security,
pension security and
adulteducationbenefits.
We sharpened our identity
and updated our strategy.
From now on, our vision is
to be a valued and effective
executor of social security.
The year of Employment Fund in brief
4Annual Report 2024 Financial development
Financial development
As expected, the amount of unemploy-
ment insurance contributions collected by
Employment Fund during 2024 remained
well below the totals collected during the
comparison period. This was because the
unemployment insurance contributions for
2024 were substantially lowered as pro-
posed by Employment Fund.
At the same time, there was a substantial
increaseinthefinancialbenefitspaidby
the Fund, compared to the previous year.
The economic and employment situation
was weaker than in the comparison period,
which led to an increase in unemployment
security expenses during 2024.
As expected, lower insurance contributions
pushed the result for the year (change in
netposition)intodeficitthoughthedeficit
was further deepened by higher unemploy-
ment expenses.
Financial development 1 Jan–31 Dec 2024 1 Jan–31 Dec 2023
Unemployment insurance contributions and other income 2,347 3,627
Financialbenefitspaidandadministrativeexpenses -3,163 -2,934
Netfinancialincome 67 69
Change in net position -749 763
Investment assets, cash and cash equivalents 1,513 1,869
Receivables,accrualsandfixedassets 447 859
Short-term and long-term loans 599 599
Unemployment insurance contribution and other liabilities 89 109
Net position 1,272 2,021
Unemployment insurance contribution rate (average) 1.61% 3.04%
Change in total payroll* 2.2% 4.6%
Unemployment rate (average) 8.4% 7.2%
Return on investments 4.2% 4.1%
* Change in cumulative payroll during the reporting period compared to corresponding payroll in the same
period in 2023. Calculated on the basis of the wages and salaries on which the unemployment insurance
contribution is paid.
5Annual Report 2024
Managing Director’s review
Managing Director’s review
In2024,thereweresignificantchangesin
the operations of Employment Fund and
at the same time, we set our sights to the
future. Parliament approved the abolition of
theadulteducationbenefitsandasaresult,
we started the gradual phasing out of the
benefits.Parliamentalsoapprovedanum-
ber of changes reducing unemployment
security expenditure. Amid the changes,
we focused on carrying out of our statutory
duties and set our sights to the future by
updating the Fund’s strategy.
From now on, our vision is to be a respected
and effective executor of social security.
Our strategic goals are we produce custom-
er-oriented digital age services reliably and
with high quality, and we increase produc-
tivityandefficiency.Ourmissionwillre-
main unchanged as the Fund will continue
to provide security for changes in working
life.
The aim of our strategic development
projects is to enhance our digital services,
boostefficiencyandproductivityandto
make our systems more capable and relia-
ble.Duringthefirsthalfof2024,wecarried
out a public IT purchase as a competitive
dialogue, and started project implementa-
tion in the autumn of the year. The aim of
the project, in which the focus is on devel-
oping IT platform services, is to ensure that
we can continue to provide our customers,
stakeholders and personnel with up-to-
date, user-friendly, reliable and secure
digital solutions and services.
DECISION TO ABOLISH THE ADULT
EDUCATION BENEFITS PUSHED
THE NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS
TO RECORD LEVELS
As Parliament was discussing the Gov-
ernment’s proposal to abolish the adult
education allowance, individuals eligible
for the benetif made extensive use of their
righttoapplyforit.Duringthefirsthalfof
2024, the number of applicants was about
1.5 times higher than in the same period
in 2023. However, the decision that no
6Annual Report 2024
adult education allowance would be grant-
ed to studies starting on or after 1 August
2024 led to a dramatic drop in the number
of applicants in the autumn. Increase in
the number of applicants and huge interest
in the allowance as well as the uncertain-
ty accompanying the abolition were not
reflectedincustomersatisfactionwith
the adult education allowance services. It
remained at extremely high level.
Abolitionoftheadulteducationbenefits
also means dismissals. Change negotia-
tions took place at Employment Fund and
the personnel reductions will be carried
out in tandem with the abolition process.
At most, Employment Fund will terminate
73 tasks. This means that the abolition of
thebenefitswillleadtomajorchangesin
staff numbers in the Fund even though the
allowance scheme only accounts for about
10% of our total expenditure.
The abolition of the adult education ben-
efitswasextensivelydiscussedinthe
public and in Parliament throughout the
legislative amendment process. We pro-
duced a large amount of information on the
useandcontentofthebenefitstosupport
the debate and decision-making. A model
replacing the scheme was one of the topics
discussed. Two schemes are being imple-
mented: a model based on student loans
and a subsidy scheme managed by the Ser-
vice Centre for Continuous Learning and
Employment. However, the latter scheme
would be available to employers instead of
persons participating in education.
EMPLOYMENT FUND’S RESULT WAS
IN DEFICIT BUT THE REDUCTIONS
IN UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE
CONTRIBUTIONS WILL CONTINUE
As expected, lower unemployment in-
surance contributions pushed the Fund’s
resultfor2024intodeficitthoughthe
deficitwasfurtherdeepenedbyhigher
unemployment expenditure. The
spending cuts based on the Gov-
ernment Programme had only
slight impact on unemploy-
ment security expenditure.
There were few changes in the collection of
the unemployment insurance contributions
and the funding of unemployment security
and other social security managed by the
Fund during 2024.
The Finnish Government decided to chan-
nel the savings in unemployment secu-
rity and other social security in the state
budget. The channelling will be carried out
through health insurance and health care
insurance.
Managing Director’s review
Working together is our key resource.
7Annual Report 2024
From Employment Fund’s perspective,
the solution adopted by the Government
is workable because the level of unem-
ployment insurance contributions will be
allowed to vary in a normal manner. The
Government also decided that the channel-
ling based on changes in unemployment
security will be abolished as from 1 January
2025. The scheme has been in effect since
2014.
We proposed a further reduction for the
unemployment insurance contributions for
2025. In the proposal, we took into account
the economic and employment forecasts
for 2025, an estimate of the impact of the
cuts in unemployment security on the
expenditure of Employment Fund and the
high level of the business cycle buffer. With
the second consecutive year of lower con-
tributions, unemployment insurance con-
tributions will be less than half of the 2023
levels in 2025. Despite the reductions, the
liquidity of Employment Fund is secured.
SETTING OUR SIGHTS TO THE
FUTURE AS A SUSTAINABLE ACTOR
In our sustainability work, we highlight
themes of social responsibility as our key
goals, which is in line with our core tasks.
We promote the sustainable development
goals set out in the UN 2030 Agenda, in par-
ticularbyensuringsustainablefinancingof
unemployment security, by effective imple-
mentationofadulteducationbenefits,and
by observing and developing the principles
of good governance in the Fund. In 2024,
wefocusedondefiningtheindicatorsfor
sustainable reporting and planning meas-
ures so that we can build a solid foundation
for systematic sustainability work and
reporting.
The activities of Employment Fund are
based on the work input of skilled and
competent personnel capable of change.
Working together is our key resource. De-
spite the change, we were able to provide
our customers with an excellent customer
experience, perform all our statutory tasks
impeccably and set our sights to the future.
JANNE METSÄMÄKI
Managing Director
Managing Director’s review
8Annual Report 2024
Strategy, mission, vision and values
Strategy, mission, vision and values
Employment Fund’s strategy comprises our
mission, vision, strategic goals, values and
drivers of change. At the end of 2024, we
reviewed our strategy at the initiative of the
Board of Directors and decided to sharpen
our vision and strategic goals and to iden-
tify the drivers of change impacting the
Fund. The Board of Directors assesses the
needs to update the strategy each year.
Providing security for changes in working
life remains our mission. Our new vision is
to be a respected and effective executor of
social security. Our values are: our custom-
erscomefirst;werenew,weevolve,weact;
we are a united team.
Providing security
for changes in
working life
MISSION
Providing security for
changes in working life
VISION
Respected and effective
executor of social security
VALUES
Ourcustomerscomefirst
We renew, we evolve, we act
We are a united team
9Annual Report 2024 Strategy, mission, vision and values
Our updated strategic goals are as follows:
• We produce customer-oriented services
for the digital age in a reliable and high-
quality manner.
• Weboostproductivityandefficiency.
Our strategic goals also include excellent
customer and personnel experience.
Identifiedkeydriversofchangeimpacting
Employment Fund:
• Security environment
• Finland’spublicfinances
• Changes in social security
• Division of tasks in public
administration
• Legislative changes concerning the
administrative tasks of Employment
Fund
• Employment development
• Demographic trends and dependency
ratio
• Financing of unemployment security
• Reforms in labour legislation
• The role of social partners
• Digitalisationandartificialintelligence
To support the strategy, we sharpened the
identity of Employment Fund in coopera-
tion with our personnel during 2024. The
identity matrix comprising nine areas
outlined in the work serves as a tool for
decision-making and steering of activities.
In the opinion of the Fund’s employees, the
core of our identity can be described as
follows:
Employment Fund has unique capabilities.
Wearethefoundationofthefinancingof
unemployment security, providing security
for changes in working life through stabil-
ity and adaptability. We work for the best
of society and our customers by fostering
cooperation and dialogue. Our adaptability
as an organisation and individuals enables
us to seize emerging opportunities. We are
characterised by an inventive and excep-
tionally customer-oriented thinking.’
From now on, the strategy and the action
plan provide us with a roadmap while our
identity serves as the framework for mak-
ing progress. Our vision serves as the goal.
Before the strategy update at the end of
2024, our strategic goals were as follows:
• We produce services for the digital age
in a reliable and high-quality manner.
• Weboostproductivityandefficiency
and deliver an excellent customer and
personnel experience.
We monitored the achievement of these
goals,givingprioritytoefficiency,custom-
er experience, and employee satisfaction
indicators.
10Annual Report 2024 Strategy, mission, vision and values
Employment Fund’s strategy
Values
Vision
Respected and
effective
executor of
social security
Our customers
come first
We renew
We evolve
We act
We are a
united team
Strategic goals
Mission
Providing security for
changes in working life
Forces of change
The role of social partners
Security environment
Finland’s public finances
Changes in social security
Legislative changes concerning the administrative tasks of Employment Fund
Employment development
Demographic trends and dependency ratio
Financing of unemployment security
Reforms in labour legislation
We increase productivity
and efficiency
We produce customer-oriented digital age
services reliably and with high quality
Excellent customer experience
Excellent personnel experience
Division of tasks in public sector
Digitalisation and artificial intellience
11Annual Report 2024
Key figures 2024
Keyfigures
ThefiguresareinEURmillion.
Income 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Change EUR Change %
Unemployment insurance contribution income collected from employers 993 1,159 1,326 1,412 766 -647 -46%
Unemployment insurance contribution income collected from employees 1,073 1,241 1,424 1,490 806 -684 -46%
Government contributions 1,248 911 717 704 752 47 7%
Other employer contributions* 27 23 23 21 24 3 17%
Total income 3,340 3,335 3,490 3,627 2,347 -1,280 -35%
Expenses 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Change EUR Change %
Unemployment funds, Employment Fund’s contributions -1,372 -1,463 -1,039 -1,098 -1,238 140 13%
Unemployment funds, government contributions -1,245 -909 -714 -700 -747 47 7%
Finnish Centre for Pensions -870 -902 -596 -600 -722 123 20%
Social Insurance Institution of Finland -207 -239 -243 -263 -168 -95 -36%
Adulteducationbenefits -197 -186 -189 -201 -212 11 6%
Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment -25 -14 -20 -30 -32 2 5%
State Pension Fund -9 -11 -8 -8 -10 2 28%
Administrative expenses -21 -26 -23 -34 -34 1 2%
Total expenses -3,947 -3,750 -2,832 -2,934 -3,163 229 8%
Netfinancialincome -16 3 -34 69 67 -2 -4%
Change in net position -623 -412 625 763 -749 -1,512
Net position 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Change EUR Change %
Investment assets and cash and cash equivalents 1,831 1,339 1,885 1,869 1,513 -356 -19%
Receivables,accrualsandfixedassets 593 679 818 859 447 -413 -48%
Short-term and long-term loans 1,287 1,299 1,299 599 599 0 0%
Unemployment insurance contribution and other liabilities 92 86 146 109 89 -20 -18%
Net position 1,045 633 1,258 2,021 1,272 -749 -37%
*Other employer contributions contain the employer’s liability component and transition security contributions and the deductions under the Employment Contracts Act.
12
Report of the
Board of Directors
13Report of the Board of Directors 2024
Duties of Employment Fund
Duties of Employment Fund
Employment Fund’s main
dutiesaretofinance
unemployment security,
determine and collect
unemployment insurance
contributions, and grant adult
educationbenefits.
We collect the unemployment insurance
contributions paid by employers and em-
ployees. We determine the unemployment
insurance contributions on the basis of the
information reported by the employers to
the Incomes Register. Parliament approves
the contribution rates by passing a bill on
the contributions each year.
The Fund maintains a business cycle
buffer arising from the difference between
assets and liabilities. And its purpose is
to keep changes in contributions at mod-
erate levels. With the buffer, the Fund can
ease upward pressure on contributions
when unemployment security expenditure
increases.
ThebenefitsfinancedbyEmploymentFund
include the unemployment allowances paid
by unemployment funds and the Social
Insurance Institution of Finland as well
as the adult education allowance and the
scholarshipsforqualifiedemployeespaid
directly by the Fund. Employment Fund is
alsoresponsibleforfinancingthetransition
security scheme.
Finnish Parliament has approved the leg-
islative proposal for abolishing the adult
education allowance scheme from 1 August
2024.Thescholarshipschemeforqualified
employees was abolished in the same con-
nection.Benefitswillstillbepaidduringa
transition period, and the last adult educa-
tion allowances will be paid in early 2026.
Wearealsoresponsibleforfinancingthe
earnings-related pensions accrued during
the periods when daily unemployment
allowances, job alternation compensation
and adult education allowances are paid.
We remit a payment amounting to the basic
daily allowance paid by the state to contrib-
ute to the daily unemployment allowances
paid by unemployment funds. Together,
theseaccountforabout94.5%ofthefinanc-
ing of unemployment funds. The remainder
ofthefinancingcomesfromthemember-
ship contributions.
Employment Fund’s operations are su-
pervised by the Financial Supervisory
Authority.
EUR
million
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
7.7 %
6.8 %
7.2 %
%
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Employment Fund’s financing
for unemployment funds
Unemployment rate, %
1
0
1,245 909
714
700
1,372
1,463
1,039
1,098
8.4 %
747
1,238
7.7 %
Government contributions paid
to unemployment funds, EUR million
Employment Fund contributions paid
to unemployment funds, EUR million
14Report of the Board of Directors 2024 Duties of Employment Fund
Employers
finances a portion of
the unemployment
allowances by tax
revenue.
pay unemployment
insurance contributions.
In certain situations,
they also pay a liability or
transition security component
and a compensation for disputes
concerning wrongful dismissal in
accordance with the Employment
Contracts Act.
The State
Employees
pay unemployment
insurance contributions.
Insurance and state
contributions collected
We finance Finnish working life extensively
We pay for the pensions accrued
during unemployment to the
Finnish Centre for Pensions and
the State Pension Fund.
We pay a share of the basic daily
allowances to Kela.
We pay a share of the pay security
to the Ministry of Economic Affairs
and Employment.
We pay a share of the earnings-
related daily allowances to the
unemployment funds.
We pay the government
contribution for unemployment
allowances to the unemployment
funds.
We fund training compensations
(available to municipalities,
parishes, associations and
foundations, for example).**
We fund the adult education
allowances.
We fund scholarships for qualified
employees.
Contributions
paid*
Net assets in
the business
cycle buffer
Net
financial
income
The net assets
of the business
cycle buffer
decreased by
EUR 749 million.
806
EUR
million
790
EUR
million
752
EUR
million
2,347
EUR
million
3,163
EUR
million
Employment
Fund
million
1,238
EUR
million
732
EUR
million
203
EUR
million
168
EUR
million
27
EUR
million
9.6
EUR
million
747
EUR
million
11.5
EUR
million
5.1
EUR
We pay the costs of transition security
training to KEHA Centre***
Figures for 2024
*Includes
administrative expenses
**Funded by
the Ministry of Finance
*** Cost of transition
security allowance includ-
ed in unemployment
funds and Kelas figures.
EUR�
1,272
million
million
67
EUR
15Report of the Board of Directors 2024 Cooperation with stakeholders
Cooperation with stakeholders
Employment Fund cooperates
extensively with a broad range
of different parties. In the
management of our statutory
tasks, we work closely with
ministries, especially the
Ministry of Social Affairs and
Health, Ministry of Economic
Affairs and Employment,
Ministry of Education and
Culture and the Ministry of
Finance.
We are part of Finland’s statutory social
insurance scheme. In these matters, we
cooperate with unemployment funds, So-
cial Insurance Institution of Finland, Finn-
ish Centre for Pensions, Finnish Workers’
Compensation Center and pension insur-
ance companies. Our role as a guarantor
of liquidity requires smooth and effective
cooperationwithbanksandfinancialin-
stitutions. In our role as the payer of adult
education allowance, we cooperate close-
ly with educational institutions. Labour
market central organisations are represent-
ed in the administration of Employment
Fund and we also cooperate with these
organisations.
Employment Fund updated its approach to
stakeholder work during 2024. The Man-
agement Group set strategic goals for the
stakeholder work. Acting together with
employees participating in our stakeholder
cooperation,weclarifiedourcommonoper-
ating methods and the manner in which we
approach the themes relevant to the Fund.
Wesubmittedourfirstdisclosuretothe
Finnish Transparency Register in sum-
mer 2024. Lobbying activities targeting
Parliament and ministries are reported to
the Finnish Transparency Register. In the
disclosure, we provided information about
our newsletter, which we send to policy
makers four times each year, and about our
meetingswithministryofficialsasthey
were preparing the proposal for abolish-
ingtheadulteducationbenefitsandthe
report on the channelling of the savings
generated by the cuts in unemployment
security and other social security. The aim
of the Finnish Transparency Register is to
make decision-making more transparent,
combatinappropriateinfluencingworkand
strengthen citizens’ trust in central govern-
ment and democracy. All disclosures sub-
mitted to the register are freely viewable.
16Report of the Board of Directors 2024
During the year, we organised webinars
for our stakeholders, such as education-
al institutions, unemployment funds and
labour law lawyers. The topics included the
effects of the abolition of the adult educa-
tionbenefits,transitionsecurity,disputes
arising from the termination of employ-
ment relationships and reconciliation
under the Employment Contracts Act. We
also published videos on adult education
benefitsandourfinancingtaskonEmploy-
ment Fund’s YouTube channel. We also had
frequent meetings with social insurance
actorstopromotecommonissuesandeffi-
cient implementation.
Together with the Social Insurance In-
stitution of Finland, Finnish Centre for
Pensions, Finnish Workers’ Compensation
Center and the Ministry of Social Affairs
and Health, we are part of the Nordic sys-
tem of social security. In this context, we
discussed the development of adult ed-
ucationbenefitservicestoimprovethe
customer experience and automation of
processes at a social security seminar in
Copenhagen in May.
Our aim is also to be an interesting source
of information for the media in matters
concerning employees’ social security, un-
employment insurance contributions and
updating of competence. We published me-
dia releases and provided information on
our implementation process on our website
during the year. According to a reputation
survey, journalists actively use our web-
sitetofindinformation.Wealsoreceived
thanks from journalists for the openness
of our communications and for clear and
well-structured media releases.
We also surveyed our reputation among
policy makers, representatives of educa-
tional institutions and the general public
during 2024. The reputation of Employment
Fund in the stakeholder group of policy
makers had improved substantially in a
few years and is now at an excellent lev-
el. In the open answers, decision-makers
weresatisfiedwiththeFund’soperations
and hoped for more information on our
implementation process. Representatives
of educational institutions were also of the
view that the reputation of the Fund has
improved (It remains at good level). Most of
the respondents participating in the edu-
cational institution survey use our website
intheirworkandfindthemveryorquite
useful. More than half of them also use our
newsletterandfindsituseful.Amongthe
general public, reputation of the Fund was
at moderate level. However, the general
publicfindsthatFundemployeesarecom-
petent and that the Fund operates in an
open, transparent and ethical manner and
thatitsactivitiesbenefitsocietyatlarge.
Cooperation with stakeholders
17Report of the Board of Directors 2024
Customer service
Customer satisfaction improved
despite the abolition of the
adulteducationbenefits.
WE SUPPORTED OUR BENEFIT
CUSTOMERS IN THE CHANGE SITUATION
AND DESIGNED SERVICE PROCESSES
OF THE EMPLOYER CUSTOMERS
In our unemployment insurance contri-
bution services, we focused, in addition to
basic customer services, on updating the
online service for employer customers. In
the summer, we came up with new ideas for
the online service, and in the autumn, we
carried out service design for a variety of
different processes and included our em-
ployer customers in the planning process.
Implementation of the new online service
will begin in 2025. The reform is needed
because customer satisfaction with the
online service was lower than in any other
channel (36%).
Unemployment insurance contribution
customers valued personal service, and 93%
ofthecustomersweresatisfiedwiththe
service they received by telephone in 2024.
The abolition of the adult education ben-
efitsshiftedthefocusfromdeveloping
thebenefitsonlineservicetohigh-quality
customer service and support. Ensuring
customer satisfaction was our key goal in
the challenging change situation, and the
objective was fully met in 2024. Customer
satisfaction with the telephone service and
online service stood at 95%, which is an all-
time record. This was the result of exten-
sive automation of application processing
carried out over the past few years and the
systematic work to make the online ser-
vice easier to use. We also invested in the
continuous training of our service experts
to make them familiar with all aspects of
the change. In fact, we received a great deal
of positive feedback on the quality of our
service amid the change situation. The cus-
tomer satisfaction score (CSAT) describing
Customer service
18Report of the Board of Directors 2024
theshareofsatisfiedandhighlysatisfied
customers of all customers reached 88%
(85%) for the year as a whole.
ABOLITION OF THE ADULT EDUCATION
BENEFITS WAS REFLECTED IN THE
NUMBER OF CUSTOMER CONTACTS
The abolition of the adult education bene-
fitswasreflectedinanincreasedneedfor
adviceinthefirsthalfof2024ascustomers
wanted to check their right to adult educa-
tion allowance during the abolition process.
Persons whose studies and right to the
allowance started no later than 31 July 2024
were eligible for adult education allowance.
The number of advisory contacts went
into sharp decline as the transition period
began at the start of August. We received
9,542 (12,033) calls and 3,674 (4,289) cus-
tomer messages between 1 August and 31
December 2024.
The volume of customer advice in unem-
ployment insurance contribution services
has been relatively moderate in recent
years. Collection of the unemployment in-
surance contributions is a fully automated
process, and there is only occasional need
for customer advice. In 2024, we responded
to 9,542 (12,033) customer calls, 3,674 (4,289)
customer messages and 17,185 (21,632)
requests for advice received by email in
unemployment insurance contribution
services.
Customer service
19Report of the Board of Directors 2024
Unemployment insurance contributions
Unemployment insurance contributions
Employment Fund determines
and collects the unemployment
insurance contributions and
supervises that the employers
manage their obligations
concerning the unemployment
insurance contributions.
The obligation to pay unemployment in-
surance contributions is based on the Act
onFinancingofUnemploymentBenefits
(555/1998). Unemployment insurance con-
tributions are paid by employees aged be-
tween 18 and 64 as well as their employers.
The employer was liable to pay the unem-
ployment insurance contributions if the
wages paid by it exceeded EUR 1,500 during
2024. No unemployment insurance con-
tributions are paid from an entrepreneur’s
earnings.Part-ownersasdefinedintheUn-
employment Security Act (1290/2002) are
obligated to pay unemployment insurance
contributions but they pay the lower rate
paid by employees.
All wages, bonuses or similar compen-
sation that have been paid or have been
agreed to be paid during employment or an
employment relationship as compensation
for work are considered income that can be
used as a basis for unemployment insur-
ance contributions.
The employer deducts the employee’s un-
employment insurance contribution from
the employee’s wages when paying the
wages and reports the earnings payment
data to the Incomes Register. Employment
Fund receives the wage details directly
from the Incomes Register and, using the
earnings payment data as a basis, deter-
mines the unemployment insurance con-
tributions payable by the employers. We
collect the contributions four times each
year (in January, April, July and October)
on the basis of the wages paid in the previ-
ous three months.
We make extensive use of automated deci-
sion-making when determining the unem-
ployment insurance contributions. In 2024,
automated decisions accounted for about
99% of all decisions on unemployment
insurance contributions. We developed the
practices of our automation process, tested
functionalities and reviewed and updated
the documentation in accordance with the
requirements set out in the new public ad-
ministration legislation in 2024.
20Report of the Board of Directors 2024
THE AMOUNT OF UNEMPLOYMENT
INSURANCE CONTRIBUTIONS IN 2024
The unemployment insurance contribution
rates were lowered in 2024 in accordance
with the proposal made by the Fund. Low-
ering of the contributions from 2023 levels
was made possible by the outlook for the
economy and employment, the assets accu-
mulated in the Fund’s business cycle buffer
and the fact that the measures set out in
the Government Programme are estimated
to decrease expenditure.
The unemployment insurance contribu-
tions paid by employers totalled EUR 766
(1,412) million in 2024. The liability compo-
nents and transition security contributions
paid by employers, and the deductions
specifiedintheEmploymentContractsAct
totalled EUR 24 (21) million. The unem-
ployment insurance contributions paid by
employees totalled EUR 806 (1,490) million.
Unemployment insurance contributions
EUR
million
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
2020 2021 2022 2023
Unemployment insurance
contributions collected
Employers
Employees
1,073
1,241
1,424
1,490
1,412
1,326
1,159
993
2,065
2,401
2,751
2,902
2024
806
766
1,571
0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
%
2020
2021
2023
2022
Employers
Employees
Unemployment insurance
contribution rates
1.25 %
1.42 %
1.51 %
1.54 %
1.25 %
1.40 %
1.50 %
1.50 %
2024
0.82 %
0.79 %
21Report of the Board of Directors 2024
UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE
CONTRIBUTION RATES WILL
BE LOWERED IN 2025
In August 2024, we proposed that the un-
employment insurance contributions for
the year 2025 should be lowered by 0.4
percentage points. The proposal for lower-
ing the contributions was made possible
by the estimated impact of the measures
set out in the Government Programme,
decisions made by the Government in its
spending limits discussions, improving
outlook for the economy and employment,
and the high level and decreasing maxi-
mum amount of the business cycle buffer
in 2025. President of the Republic approved
the act on the contributions for 2025 in
December 2024.
Unemployment insurance contribution rates (%) 2023 2024 2025
Employee’s unemployment insurance contribution 1.50 0.79 0.59
Employer’s unemployment insurance contribution, lower (1) 0.52 0.27 0.20
Employer’s unemployment insurance contribution, higher (2) 2.06 1.09 0.80
Employer’s average unemployment insurance contribution 1.54 0.82 0.61
Employee’s unemployment insurance contribution for part-owners 0.75 0.43 0.30
Employer’s unemployment insurance contribution for part-owners 0.52 0.27 0.20
Unemployment insurance contribution for unincorporated state
enterprises, lower (1) 0.52 0.27 0.20
Unemployment insurance contribution for unincorporated state
enterprises, higher (2) 1.22 0.65 0.43
Unemployment insurance contribution for universities, lower (1) 0.52 0.27 0.20
Unemployment insurance contribution for universities, higher (2) 1.52 0.71 0.49
(1)UptoapayrollofEUR2,251,500(2023);EUR2,337,000(2024);andEUR2,455,500(2025).
(2)ExceedingthepayrollofEUR2,251,500(2023);EUR2,337,000(2024);andEUR2,455,500(2025).
Unemployment insurance contributions
22Report of the Board of Directors 2024
In 2024, we investigated 1,099
(894) cases for supervision.
SUPERVISION OF UNEMPLOYMENT
INSURANCE CONTRIBUTIONS
Employment Fund supervises that the
employers meet their obligations to pay the
unemployment insurance contributions.
The purpose of the supervision is to ensure
that the earnings payment data reported by
the employers as a basis for the unemploy-
ment insurance contributions correspond
to the actual wage payments and that the
correct amounts of unemployment insur-
ance contributions are collected.
In the supervision, we check the accuracy
of the earnings payment data reported to
the Incomes Register. If we notice that an
employer has reported earnings payment
data to the Incomes Register incorrectly
we contact the employer in question and
examine the correctness of the earnings
payment data in more detail.
The incorrect earnings payment data un-
covered in the supervision is usually the
result of errors in the payroll system, mis-
understandings concerning the payment
obligation, or other errors. We provide em-
ployers with advice on matters concerning
the payment obligation and the reporting of
wages to ensure that employers report the
earnings payment data correctly.
In addition to the Incomes Register data,
we also receive each year from the Finnish
Tax Administration details of wages and
salaries uncovered in tax audits, which
we compare with the data reported to the
Incomes Register. We will contact the
employer if the earnings payment data has
not been reported to the Incomes Register.
In its supervisory activities, Employment
Fund also uses information on employers
received from other authorities and social
insurance providers. If necessary, we can
estimate the unemployment insurance
contribution based on the information
received.
In 2024, we investigated 1,099 (894) cases
for supervision. Based on the supervision,
we ordered additional payments totalling
EUR 338,357 (EUR 289,646) and paid refunds
amounting to EUR 19,188 (EUR 16,087).
Unemployment insurance contributions
23Report of the Board of Directors 2024
TRAINING COMPENSATION
The purpose of the training compensation
is to improve the employer’s opportuni-
ties to organise training for its employees,
to develop their vocational competence.
Employers in the public and third sectors,
such as municipalities, wellbeing services
counties, parishes, universities, universi-
ties of applied sciences, associations and
foundations, are eligible for training com-
pensation. These employers have not been
eligible for training deduction in their tax-
ation. Abolition of the training deduction
from 1 January 2025 does not impact the
granting of the training compensation. The
employers that were eligible for the train-
ing compensation before the abolition of
the training deduction are also eligible for
the compensation from 1 January 2025.
An employer may apply for training com-
pensation from Employment Fund each
year by the end of January of the following
calendar year. Employment Fund grants
and pays the training compensation
based on the application submitted by the
employer.
In 2024, we paid about EUR 11.5 (10.2) mil-
lion in training compensation to 602 (616)
employers for training days in 2023. The
employers eligible for the compensation
applied for compensation on the basis of
512,268 (451,522) training days. Of the em-
ployers receiving training compensation,
264 (304) were cities and other municipal-
ities, 21 wellbeing services counties, 177
(172) associations and foundations , 94 (96)
parishes, 10 (10) universities and 36 (35)
other employers.
36 %
5 %
6 %
13 %
Training compensations paid
Wellbeing services counties
Universities
38 %
Municipalities
Associations and foundations
Other
2 %Parishes
11,5
EUR million
Unemployment insurance contributions
24Report of the Board of Directors 2024
EMPLOYER’S LIABILITY COMPONENT
If an employee close to the retirement age
has been dismissed or laid off and is fac-
ing long-term unemployment or a long-
term lay-off, Employment Fund can order
the employer in question to pay a liability
component and collect it from this employ-
er. We use liability component payments
tofinanceunemploymentbenefitexpens-
es resulting from dismissals and lay-offs.
Provisions on determining the liability
component and the collection procedure
are laid down in chapter 8a of the Act on
theFinancingofUnemploymentBenefits
(555/1998).
Under the legislative change approved by
Finnish Parliament in 2022, the right to the
additional days of unemployment securi-
ty will be abolished. This also means that
the collection of liability components will
end. The new statutory transition securi-
ty contribution for employers dismissing
employees will replace the liability com-
ponents during a transition period. Em-
ployees born in 1964 are the last age group
eligible for the additional days and for
whom the employer is obliged to pay the
liability component. The transition period
for the liability component will end by the
year 2035.
We received about 3,900 (6,700) new liabil-
ity component cases in 2024. We imposed
a liability component on the employer in
about 370 (1,000) cases. The number of cas-
es processed has been decreasing during
the transition period leading to the aboli-
tion of the liability component.
We recorded about EUR 7 (14) million in
liability components in 2024. The average
processing time in cases that led to a pay-
ment decision was 59 (46) days.
TRANSITION SECURITY CONTRIBUTION
FOR EMPLOYERS DISMISSING EMPLOYEES
We started to collect the transition security
contribution from employers dismissing
employees in January 2023. Provisions
on determining the transition security
contribution and the collection procedure
are laid down in chapter 4a of the Act on
theFinancingofUnemploymentBenefits
(555/1998).
Unemployment insurance contributions
25Report of the Board of Directors 2024
The employer may be obliged to pay the
transition security contribution if the
employer has dismissed an employee aged
55oroveronproduction-relatedorfinan-
cial grounds and the employee had been
employed by the employer in question for
atleastfiveyears.Wecollectthetransi-
tionsecuritycontributionstofinancethe
employee’s transition security package.
The transition security package consists
of transition security training and transi-
tion security allowance. The employment
authority provides the dismissed em-
ployee with transition security training
corresponding to two months’ pay. The
Social Insurance Institution of Finland or
the unemployment fund will also pay the
employee a transition security allowance
corresponding to one month’s pay.
About 3,200 (1,000) transition security cases
were submitted to Employment Fund in
2024. We imposed a transition security
contribution on the employer in about 2,400
(500) cases.
We recorded about EUR 16 (6) million in
transition security contributions in 2024.
Transition security amounts increased
during the second year of the scheme com-
pared to 2023. The average processing time
in cases that led to a payment decision was
57 (75) days.
RECONCILIATION UNDER THE
EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS ACT
Employment Fund works as an expert in
the reconciliation of the compensation
paid in disputes concerning termination
of employment and the unemployment
allowance received by the employee. An
employer that has laid off an employee or
ended an employee’s employment con-
tract in violation of the provisions of the
Employment Contracts Act is liable to pay
compensation to the employee. A total of
75% of the compensation is deducted from
the earnings-related daily unemployment
benefitspaidtotheemployeeafterthe
employment relationship has ended when
compensation is paid for salary losses due
to unemployment. The employer pays the
deduction to Employment Fund.
ThereconciliationspecifiedintheEm-
ployment Contracts Act is made when a
court orders payment of compensation or
when the parties to the dispute agree on
a compensation. The court must consult
Employment Fund if after the end of the
employment relationship or for the dura-
tion of the lay-off, the plaintiff has received
earnings-related unemployment allowance.
We issued about 680 (720) statements and
contract comments in 2024. We also ar-
ranged training events for our stakeholders
to inform them about the reconciliation
under the Employment Contracts Act.
Unemployment insurance contributions
26Report of the Board of Directors 2024
EUR
806
766
were paid by empolyers
50.5% 49.5%
Uncollected contributions
accounted for
0.25%
Our aim is to have efficient digital services and satisfied customers
UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE CONTRIBUTIONS
WERE PAID BY
employers and other parties
liable to pay them
137,502
AMOUNT OF UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE
CONTRIBUTIONS COLLECTED
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
(CSAT)
77%
CUSTOMER CONTACTS FOR UNEMPLOYMENT
INSURANCE CONTRIBUTIONS (PCS)
89,375
9,542
Phone calls
1,445
Calculators
were used
17,185
Emails
38,000
Logins to
online service*
3,674
Messages in
online service
EUR 1,571 million
NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE
DECISIONS
500,547 pcs
were automated
decisions
TRAINING COMPENSATIONS WERE
REFUNDED TO
602 employers
NUMBER OF CASES FOR SUPERVISION
Decisions based on
supervision
1,392 pcs
1,099 pcs
of which
99%
million million
EUR
were paid by employees
of the total
times
Website visits
All figures are from the period 1 January – 31 December 2024. *Logins to online service are estimates from the same time period.
Unemployment insurance contributions
27Report of the Board of Directors 2024
Adult education benefits
Adulteducationbenefits
The act abolishing the adult
education allowance scheme
and the scholarship scheme
forqualifiedemployeesentered
into force in June. The abolition
prompted a record number of
applications during the early
months of the year.
Theyearoftheadulteducationbenefits
was characterised by the implementation
of the abolition set out in the Government
Programme. According to the Government
Programme of Petteri Orpo’s Government
presented in June 2023, the adult educa-
tion allowance scheme and the scholarship
schemeforqualifiedemployeeswouldbe
abolished as of August 2024. The legislative
proposal was submitted to Parliament in
February 2024 and in addition to the Social
Affairs and Health Committee, it was also
discussed at the Education and Culture
Committee, Constitutional Law Committee,
and the Employment and Equality Com-
mittee. Parliament passed the legislation
abolishingadulteducationbenefitson22
May and it was approved by the President
of the Republic on 30 May. The act entered
into force two days later.
The transition period for abolishing adult
educationbenefitsstartedon1August2024
and it will continue until 31 December 2025.
We granted adult education allowances on
old terms until the end of May. From that
date, in accordance with the act abolishing
the allowance scheme, adult education al-
lowance could only be granted to wage and
salary earners or full-time entrepreneurs
whose studies and eligibility for the allow-
ance had started on 31 July 2024 at the lat-
est. Allowances could no longer be granted
for studies starting in the autumn.
In accordance with the act abolishing the
benefitscheme,wehavegrantedscholar-
shipsforqualifiedemployeestostudents
studyingforinitialvocationalqualification,
furthervocationalqualification,andspe-
cialistvocationalqualificationwhocom-
pleted their studies no later than 31 July
2024.
28Report of the Board of Directors 2024
More and more allowance recipients work alongside studies.
The abolition of the adult education ben-
efitshashadsignificantimpactsonthe
Fund’sstaffmembersworkinginbenefits
services and services supporting the exe-
cutionofadulteducationbenefits.Despite
the demanding change situation, imple-
mentationoftheadulteducationbenefits
and customer advice have been excellently
managed, thanks to a fully digitalised ap-
plication process, a high degree of automa-
tion and change-capable personnel.
DEVELOPING COMPETENCE WITH
ADULT EDUCATION ALLOWANCE
FOR MORE THAN 20 YEARS
Adult education allowances have been
granted since 2001. Employees and entre-
preneurs who have been working for at
least eight years have been able to apply
for adult education allowance. The allow-
ance is intended for maintaining vocational
skills and developing competence and it
has been granted for studies conducted
under public oversight in Finland. These
studiesmayhaveledtoafullqualification,
apartialqualificationorbefurtherorcon-
tinuing vocational training.
Employees’ adult education allowance is
financedentirelyfromtheunemployment
insurance contribution income. The state
funds the entrepreneur’s adult education
allowance and the scholarships for quali-
fiedemployeesgrantedtocentralgovern-
ment employees.
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
2020 2021 2022 2023
Recipients, persons (includes entrepreneurs)
Adult education allowances paid,
EUR million
Number of recipients and
adult education allowances paid
EUR
million
persons
27,066
28,322
30,124
32,518
2024
31,796
175.3
177.9
200
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
186.9
189.3
202.7
Adulteducationbenefits
29Report of the Board of Directors 2024 Adulteducationbenefits
THE AMOUNT OF ADULT EDUCATION
BENEFITS PAID INCREASED IN 2024
A total of EUR 212.2 (201.1) million in adult education allowance
andscholarshipsforqualifiedemployeeswasgrantedin2024.
Theamountoftheadulteducationbenefitsgrantedincreased
by 5.5% compared to 2023.
We paid a total of EUR 202.7 (189.3) million in adult education al-
lowances to 31,796 (32,518) persons. The amount paid was about
7% higher than in 2023 even though there was a slight reduc-
tion in the number of recipients. Of the recipients, 1,104 (1,079)
received entrepreneurs’ adult education allowance and 30,694
(31,439) received employees’ adult education allowance.
Most of the recipients of adult education allowance have been
women aged under 40. The gender distribution remained un-
changed in 2024: 77% were women and 23% were men. The age
distribution of the recipients also remained the same as in 2023.
The breakdown of the age groups (from the largest to the small-
est) was as follows:
• 30–34, 25%
• 35–39, 25%
• 40–44, 19%
• 45–49, 13%
• 50–54, 8%
• over 55, 6%
• 25–29, 4%.
23%
77%
Recipients of adult education allowance by gender in 2024
Men
Women
25%
19%
Recipients of adult education allowance by age in 2024
30–34 years
40–44 years
25%
35–39 years
4%
25–29 years
13%
45–49 years
8%
50–54 years
6%
55 and over
30Report of the Board of Directors 2024 Adulteducationbenefits
In 2024, 48% (47%) of the recipients studied at universities of ap-
plied sciences, 29% (27%) at universities, 20% (23%) in vocational
institutions and 2% (3%) in other educational institutions. The ma-
jorityoftherecipients(81%)werestudyingforadegreeorqualifica-
tion. A total of 18% of the recipients used the allowance for studies
leadingtoapartialdegree/qualificationorfurtherorcontinuing
vocational training, and 1% used it for other training.
Themostpopularfieldsstudiedbytherecipientswerethesocial,
health and sports sector 33% (33%), and social sciences, business
and administration 20% (19%). They were followed by technology
and transport 15% (16%), and humanities and education 15% (14%).
Fields where recipients study
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
%
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
Social welfare,
healthcare
and sports
Social
sciences,
business and
administration
Technology
and transport
Humanities
and education
Culture
Natural
resources and
environment
Natural
sciences
Tourism,
hospitality
and business
Other
education
General
education
31Report of the Board of Directors 2024 Adulteducationbenefits
MORE THAN A THIRD OF ALL APPLICANTS
FOR ADULT EDUCATION ALLOWANCE
WORK IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
In terms of employment, persons work-
ing in public administration and national
defence were the largest single group using
the adult education allowance. They ac-
counted for 36% (31%) of all recipients. The
proportion of applicants working in these
sectors has increased by 18 percentage
pointsoverthepastfiveyears.Persons
working in health and social services
and wholesale and retail trade were the
next largest group of recipients in terms
of employment. The number of recipients
working in healthcare and social services
has decreased by 9 percentage points over
thepastfiveyears.Thedecreaseispartly
explained by statistical change because in
the statistics, wellbeing services counties
are entered under public administration
andnationaldefence.Forthefirsttime
in several years, the percentage of people
workinginthefieldofeducationandtrain-
ing increased, totalling 4% of all applicants
in 2024.
Sectors where recipients work
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
%
Public
administration,
national defence
and mandatory
social insurance
Healthcare and
social services
Wholesale and
retail, motor
vehicle and
motorcycle
repair
Industry
Professional,
scientific and
technical
activities
Education
Other service
activities
Administration
and support
services
Other
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
32Report of the Board of Directors 2024 Adulteducationbenefits
PROMPTED BY THE ABOLITION OF
THE BENEFITS, PEOPLE STARTED
SUBMITTING APPLICATIONS IN
EARLY SPRING TO ENSURE THEIR
ELIGIBILITY FOR THE ALLOWANCE
The application procedure for employee’s
adult education allowance is a two-step
process. Based on the allowance right ap-
plication, the recipient receives eligibility
for adult education allowance for the period
specifiedintheapplication.Afterthis,the
applicant can apply for an allowance pay-
ment retrospectively for each month on a
separate payment application. If the ap-
plicant wants to work between their study
leave periods and thus spread the studies
over a longer period, a new allowance right
application for new allowance periods must
be submitted to Employment Fund.
We received 34,125 (41,096) allowance right
applications and 164,323 (144,608) payment
applications. In the past, the busiest period
for allowance right applications has been
in August at the start of new studies. It was
already known at the end of 2023 that the
Government would soon propose abolition
of the allowance scheme so that the allow-
ance could no longer be granted for studies
starting in autumn 2024. This had prompt-
ed applicants to submit applications early.
In fact, unlike in previous years, the largest
number of applications for eligibility for
allowance were received in January (4,484).
The busiest period of payment applications
also fell on the spring months. In April, we
received a total of 18,354 payment appli-
cations, which was 8% more than in the
busiest month of 2023 (16,389). The num-
ber of applications received in the period
March–May were the highest ever in the
history of Employment Fund. In 2024, the
average processing time for allowance
right applications was 8–9 (13–14) days and
for payment applications 0.9 (0.5) days.
33Report of the Board of Directors 2024 Adulteducationbenefits
THE AUTOMATION LEVEL
KEPT INCREASING
Typically, most (about 80%) of the payment
applicationsaresubmittedinthefirst
week of the month, putting pressure on our
resources. In recent years, to ensure our
service capacity, we have developed pro-
cess automation for payment decisions and
extension applications for allowance right.
In 2024, automated payment decisions
accounted for 89% (84%) of all payment
decisions. In 2024, a total of 53% (20%) of
the extension applications were processed
automatically.
The transition period for legislation on au-
tomated decision-making in public admin-
istration ended on 31 October 2024. In 2024,
we developed automation-related docu-
mentation in accordance with the require-
ments of the new legislation and ensured
that the processes used before the entry
into force of the legislation are in compli-
ance with the new regulations.
Applications for adult education allowances
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
15%
24%
26%
34% 35%
22%
15%
-13%
2%
-16%
-25%
-31%
applications
2023
2024
January February March
April
May June July August September
October
November
December
34Report of the Board of Directors 2024 Adulteducationbenefits
SCHOLARSHIPS FOR QUALIFIED
EMPLOYEES ON THE BASIS OF A
VOCATIONAL QUALIFICATION
Thescholarshipschemeforqualified
employees was introduced in 1996. A per-
son residing in Finland is eligible for the
scholarship if they have completed initial
vocationalqualification,furthervocational
qualificationorspecialistvocationalquali-
fication,areunder68yearsofage,andhave
beenworkingforatleastfiveyearsbythe
datetheycompletethenewqualification.
Thescholarshipforqualifiedemployeesis
a tax-exempt lump sum of EUR 414.
THE NUMBER OF SCHOLARSHIPS FOR
QUALIFIED EMPLOYEES STARTED
TO DECREASE AFTER JUNE DUE TO
THE ABOLITION OF THE SCHEME
Wegrantedscholarshipsforqualifiedem-
ployees to 23,009 (28,485) persons in 2024.
We paid a total of EUR 9.6 (11.8) million in
scholarships, which was the lowest amount
inthelastfiveyears.
The application for the scholarship can be
submitted after graduation and therefore
often at the end of the semester. In 2024,
the highest number of applications was
received in June, totalling 6,842 (5,715). Af-
ter June, the number of applications went
into sharp decline. This is because due to
the abolition of the scholarship scheme,
the scholarship could only be granted on
thebasisofaqualificationcompletedno
later than 31 July 2024. Between July and
December, we received only 3,146 appli-
cations. The average processing time for
scholarship applications was 7–8 (6–7)
days. A total of 42% of the decisions made
in 2024 were processed automatically.
A total of 44% of the scholarships were
granted on the basis of a further voca-
tionalqualification,29%onthebasisofan
initialvocationalqualificationand27%on
the basis of a specialist vocational quali-
fication.Asinpreviousyears,in2024,the
mostcommonqualificationscompletedby
scholarship recipients were the further vo-
cationalqualificationinsupervisorywork
11%(10.1%),initialvocationalqualificationin
social welfare and healthcare 8% (9.6%), and
specialistqualificationinbusinessman-
agement and leadership 8% (7.4%). A sub-
stantial majority (65%) of the scholarship
recipients were women.
Recipients of scholarships
for qualified employees
and scholarships paid
EUR
million
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
recipients
2020 2021 2022 2023
Recipients of scholarships
Scholarships paid, EUR million
26,443
25,949
27,755
28,485
2024
23,009
10.6
10.4
11.5
11.8
9.6
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
35Report of the Board of Directors 2024 Adulteducationbenefits
APPEALS AND RECOVERY OF BENEFITS
PAID WITHOUT JUSTIFICATION
Applicantswhoarenotsatisfiedwiththe
outcome of their application for a scholar-
shipforqualifiedemployeesoradultedu-
cation allowance have the right to appeal
againstthedecision.Thefirstappellate
body is the Social Security Appeal Board
(SAMU).Thesecondandfinalappellate
body is the Insurance Court. In 2024, the
Appeal Board received 217 (248) com-
plaints. The Insurance Court received 17
(30) complaints. The complaints mainly
concernedtherecoveryofbenefitsorthe
revisionofbenefits,takingintoaccount
additional income based on their time of
payment.
Ifabenefithasbeenpaidwithoutjustifica-
tion or the amount paid out was too high,
the excess must be recovered from the
recipient. A total of 1,431 (1,318) recovery
decisions were made.
OUR FOCUS WAS ON WINDING
DOWN THE SCHEME
Inthedevelopmentofthebenefitsystems
and processes, our focus has been on
implementing the changes set out in the
legislation repealing the scheme. We were
able to incorporate all system updates into
production without problems even though
the act was approved only two days before
its entry into force.
We no longer carry out actual development
work as our focus is on winding down the
scheme and storing and archiving data.
36Report of the Board of Directors 2024 Adulteducationbenefits
CUSTOMER CONTACTS FOR ADULT
EDUCATION ALLOWANCE (PCS)
31,796
persons of whom
96.5% were employees
and 3.5% entrepreneurs
ADULT EDUCATION ALLOWANCES
WERE GRANTED TO
NUMBER OF ADULT EDUCATION ALLOWANCE DECISIONS
FOR EMPLOYEES
35,208 pcs
Allowance right decisions
164,321 pcs
Payment decisions
89%
of all decisions were
automatic decisions
9 days
Average
processing time
1 days
Average
processing time
1,094 pcs
12 days
Average
processing time
1,458,326
27,527
91,385
2,796
589,627 51,251
Aiming for efficient digital services and customer satisfaction
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
(CSAT)
91%
Phone calls
Calculators
were used
Emails
Logins to online
service
Messages in
online service
NUMBER OF ADULT EDUCATION ALLOWANCE DECISIONS
FOR ENTREPRENEURS
39%
of all decisions were
automatic decisions
Website visitors
All figures are from the period 1 January – 31 December 2024.
37Report of the Board of Directors 2024
Finance
Finance
BUSINESS CYCLE BUFFER AND
CHANGE IN NET POSITION
Employment Fund maintains a business cycle
bufferspecifiedinthelawtoensureliquidity
and balance out changes in unemployment
insurance contributions. The business cycle
buffer accrues on the basis of the difference
between Employment Fund’s assets and
liabilities. When the unemployment insur-
ance contributions are set, the forecast for
the maximum amount of assets or liabilities
in the buffer may not exceed expenses cor-
responding to an unemployment rate of six
percentage points. When the decision on the
level of unemployment insurance contribu-
tions is made, the forecast for the business
cycle buffer may by law exceed the maximum
amount of assets over two years during a
three-year review period to ensure a steady
payment trend. In that case, however, unem-
ployment insurance contributions may not be
set higher than in the previous year. The max-
imum amount of the business cycle buffer is
calculatedonthebasisofthefiguresinthe
annualfinancialstatements.
The maximum value of the buffer is cal-
culated by dividing the annual expenses
for which Employment Fund is liable (EUR
2,416 million in 2024) by the average un-
employment rate for the year (8.4%), and
multiplying the result by six. The statutory
maximum amount of the business cycle
buffer was EUR 1,726 (1,861) million in 2024.
EUR
million
1,868 1,861
-2,078
-2,220
-2,500
-2,000
-1,500
-1,000
-500
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Development of the business cycle buffer
Net position Maximum amount Minimum amount
1,045
633
1,258
2,021
2,078
2,220
-1,868
-1,861
1,726
-1,726
1,272
38Report of the Board of Directors 2024 Finance
According to our budget for 2025, which we
submitted to the Ministry of Social Affairs
and Health in August 2024, the change in
Employment Fund’s net position would be
about EUR 700 million negative in 2024 and
about EUR 350 million negative in 2025.
In the same connection we estimated that
the net position would be about EUR 1,320
million positive on 31 December 2024 and
about EUR 960 million positive on 31 De-
cember 2025.
Change in the Fund’s net position was
EUR 749 million negative (EUR 763 million
positive) in 2024. The Fund’s net position
totalled EUR 1,272 million on 31 December
2024 (EUR 2,021 million on 31 December
2023).
Whenpreparingourfinancialstatements
for 2024, we estimated that the change in
Employment Fund’s net position would be
about EUR 600 million negative in 2025,
which would mean a positive net position
of about EUR 670 million at the end of 2025.
EUR
million
-800
-600
-400
-200
0
200
400
600
800
1,000
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Change in net position
-623
-412
625
763
-749
39Report of the Board of Directors 2024
We estimate that the change in Employment Fund’s net position
would be about EUR 600 million negative in 2025, which would mean
a positive net position of about EUR 670 million at the end of 2025.
Finance
LIQUIDITY AND DEBT FINANCING
Undertheinvestmentanddebtfinancing
principles approved by Employment Fund’s
SupervisoryBoard,infixed-incomeinvest-
ments with less than one year’s maturity,
the Fund must keep an amount that covers
at least one month’s expenses (about EUR
264 million in 2024). On average, the liquid-
ity buffer described above was 3.1 times the
minimum amount in 2024.
For liquidity purposes, the Fund also has
a EUR 300 million commercial paper pro-
gramme (31 Dec 2023: EUR 300 million). The
Fund also has EUR 600 million in commit-
ted revolving credit facilities (RCF) with
four banks (31 Dec 2023: EUR 600 million).
The commercial paper programme and the
revolving credit facilities remained unused
at the end of 2023 and at the end of 2024.
At the end of 2024, Employment Fund had a
bond of EUR 600 million, which is due on 16
June 2027.
The credit rating agency S&P Global Rat-
ings has given Employment Fund a credit
rating of AA+ (stable outlook)/A-1+. S&P
Global Ratings has given the same rating to
the State of Finland.
40Report of the Board of Directors 2024
Investment activities
Investment activities
Employment Fund carries out
investment activities to the
extent necessary to manage the
timing differences in the cash
flowsgeneratedbyitsincome
and expenses, and for liquidity
management purposes.
Employment Fund’s investment assets and
cash and cash equivalents totalled EUR
1,513 (1,869) million at the end of 2024.
One of the main goals of Employment
Fund’s investment activities is to support
the performance of the Fund’s statutory
dutiesandtoensuresufficientliquidityto
financetheexpensesforwhichEmploy-
ment Fund is responsible. The Fund’s Board
of Directors determines the goal for our in-
vestments in the annually approved invest-
ment plan, and decides on the allocation
of investment funds across different asset
classes. The Supervisory Board approved
theupdatedinvestmentanddebtfinancing
principles in April 2024.
FINANCIAL OPERATING ENVIRONMENT
In 2024, global economic growth was again
slowed down by the war in Ukraine, geo-
political tensions and sanctions. Finland’s
economic growth will be slightly nega-
tive in 2024. The employment situation
weakened and the unemployment rate rose
to 8.4% (7.2%) in 2024.
Theperiodofrapidinflation,whichstarted
in 2022, and the ensuing cycle of interest
rate hikes by central banks came to an end
in 2024. Between June and December 2024,
the European Central Bank lowered its key
interest rate four times by 0.25%, from 4%
to 3%. Similarly, the US central bank FED
and several other central banks lowered
theirkeyinterestratesin2024asinflation
slowed down substantially during the year.
THE INVESTMENT MARKET
For the most part, stock markets grew rap-
idly during 2024: when measured in domes-
tic currencies, the stock indices in the main
markets in North America rose by about
25% and in Europe by about 8%. The perfor-
mance of the domestic stock exchange was
modest and the index yield was -0.1%.
41Report of the Board of Directors 2024
Thefixed-incomeinvestmentsinthe
Fund’s main investment categories in Eu-
ropean bonds generated high returns. The
positivetrendinfixed-incomeinvestments
was the result of stable pricing of credit
risks and, in particular, the lowering of
bond interest rates in the second half of the
year. This was mainly due to interest rate
decisions by central banks and reports on
asubstantialslowdownofinflationinthe
United States and Europe.
Market trends of alternative investments
during the year depended to a great extent
on the investment category concerned. In-
vestments in the domestic real estate sec-
tor in residential, commercial and publicly
owned properties generated low returns in
2024, with the exception of investments in
forest properties, which yielded strong re-
turns. Investments in non-listed shares and
non-listed corporate loans yielded good
returns. Investments in renewable energy
generated low returns.
ALLOCATION OF INVESTMENTS
We actively invested our assets in money
market instruments, bonds, equities and
alternative investments. Depending on the
asset class, the Fund made direct invest-
ments or invested its assets through funds.
In our investment plan for 2024, we slightly
increased the weight of alternative invest-
ments and bonds and reduced the weight
of money market investments. At the end
ofthefinancialperiod,EUR590(820)mil-
lion of the Fund’s assets were invested in
money market instruments, EUR 775 (958)
million in bonds, EUR 44 (39) million in
equities, and EUR 103 (83) million in alter-
native investments. In 2024, the return on
our investments was 4.2% (4.1%). The return
exceeded the expectation of 3.6% (2.8%)
entered in our investment plan and the ref-
erence return on our investment activities,
which was at 3.9% (4.1%).
We take sustainability into consideration
when we make investment decisions.
Sustainability in the Fund’s investment
activities is described in more detail under
Sustainable investment in the section on
sustainability (page 56).
0.1
-4
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
4
5
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Return on investments
Return on investments Reference return
%
0.7
0.5
-0.7
-2.9 -2.8
4.1 4.1
4.2
3.9
39 %
51 %
7 %
Investment spread
Money market
Bonds
Alternative
investments
3 %Equities
1 512
EUR million
Investment activities
42Report of the Board of Directors 2024 Investment activities
EUR million
Largest investments
EUR 74.6 million
EUR 59.5 million
EUR 48.5 million
EUR 40.1 million
EUR 39.9 million
EUR 39.4 million
EUR 34.0 million
EUR 32.0 million
EUR 31.5 million
EUR 30.3 million
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Danske Bank deposits
OP Euro II A fixed-income fund
SEB Euro Short Rate Fund IC fixed-income fund
SEB bond
Svenska Handelsbanken certificate of deposit
Dutch Government bond
Nordea Mortgage Bank bond
OP Corporate Bank bond
German Government bond
Finnish Government bond
43Report of the Board of Directors 2024 Sustainability
Sustainability
We promote sustainable
development and sustainability
in the areas where we can
maximiseourinfluence
through our core activities.
In our role as a provider of funding for
social security, we put great emphasis on
social responsibility themes. The sustain-
able development goals set out in the UN
2030 Agenda serve as the framework for
the Fund’s sustainability work, and we have
identifiedthreekeygoalsintheAgenda.
In addition to these goals, sustainability is
alsoreflectedinourinvestmentactivities
andtheacquisitionofdebtfinancing.
During 2024, we utilised a variety of differ-
ent networks to develop our sustainability
competence. We are a member of the cor-
porate responsibility network FIBS, which
organises events on topical sustainability
themes and provides news and information
services on related topics. We took active
part in the events organised by the respon-
sibility network maintained by the State
Treasury, in which public administration
organisations share information on such
matters as best practices of sustainability
and sustainability reporting.
44Report of the Board of Directors 2024 Sustainability
OUR BASIC TASKS AND IDENTIFIED
2030 AGENDA GOALS
Based on a materiality analysis, we have
identifiedthefollowingsustainabledevel-
opment goals of the UN on which we can
exertmaximumpositiveinfluencewithour
owncoreactivities.Wehaveidentifiedthe
following key goals of the 2030 Agenda as
such objectives:
• Decent work and economic growth
• Quality education
• Peace, justice and strong institutions
These key goals are directly linked to the
Fund’scoretasks,suchasthefinancing
of unemployment security and adult ed-
ucationbenefits.Wecontinuedtowork
on concrete sustainability measures and
indicators during 2024. Our aim is to build
a solid foundation for systematic sustain-
ability work so that we can report on our
sustainability activities more extensively
in the coming years. With the abolition of
theadulteducationbenefits,wemustre-
view our 2023 Agenda goals in the next few
years as the opportunities to promote the
quality education goal as part of our basic
taskswillbesignificantlyreducedafter
2025.
SUSTAINABLE FUNDING OF
UNEMPLOYMENT SECURITY
PROVIDES SECURITY FOR
CHANGES IN WORKING LIFE
We collect the unemployment insurance
contributionstofinanceunemployment
security, transition security, pay security,
pension security and adult education bene-
fits.Partofthereturnonunemploymentin-
surance contributions is transferred to Em-
ployment Fund’s business cycle buffer, the
purpose of which is to ensure the steady
development of unemployment insurance
contributions. The business cycle buffer
grows when the Finnish economy is doing
well and employment rates are high. The
funds accumulated in the buffer are used
during economic downturns, which curbs
the pressure to increase the unemployment
insurance contributions of employers and
employees. By carrying out our basic task
effectively, we support the UN sustainable
development goal of decent work and eco-
nomic growth.
Ourtaskistoensuresustainablefinancing
of unemployment security by keeping un-
employment insurance contributions at ap-
propriate level and at the same time, min-
imisefluctuations,collectunemployment
insurancecontributionsefficiently,main-
tain good liquidity, invest funds productive-
ly and securely, and anticipate economic
andemploymentfluctuationsinFinland.
Sustainablefinancingofunemployment
security strengthens social peace. With
unemployment security, individuals are in
a better position to seek jobs meeting their
needs. Social stability also supports Fin-
land’s economic growth.
45Report of the Board of Directors 2024 Sustainability
Indicators for the goal of appropriate level of unemployment insurance contributions:
Indicator Target level Level in 2024 Level in 2023
Unemployment insurance contributions and other
income EUR 2,347 million EUR3,627million
Financingcontributionspaid EUR 3,129 million EUR 2,900 million
Change in net position EUR -749 million EUR 763 million
Business cycle buffer/maximum Positive but below maximum EUR 1,272/1,726 million EUR 2,021/1,861 million
Indicator for the goal of steady development of unemployment insurance contribution rate:
Indicator Target level Level in 2024 Level in 2023
Unemployment insurance contribution rate
(average) Small annual variation
employers 0.82%,
employees 0.79%.
employers 1.54%,
employees 1.50%
Indicatorsforthegoalofefficientcollectionofunemploymentinsurancecontributions:
Indicator Target level Level in 2024 Level in 2023
Actual credit losses on unemployment insurance
contributions Minimal EUR 2.7 million EUR 4.6 million
Indicators for the goal of good liquidity:
Indicator Target level Level in 2024 Level in 2023
Fixed-income investments with less than one
year’s maturity in relation to one month’s expenses. 1x or more EUR 581 million/3.1x EUR 889 million/2.6x
Unused committed credit facilities, EUR million EUR 600 million EUR 600 million
Indicators for the goal of productive and secure investment:
Indicator Target level Level in 2024 Level in 2023
Returnoninvestment%;
Benchmark index return %
Return on investment % at least
benchmark index return % 4.2%/3.9% 4.1%/4.1%
Average portfolio credit risk At least BBB- BBB+ BBB+
Total portfolio risk Moderate 4.07% (moderate) 3.54% (moderate)
46Report of the Board of Directors 2024 Sustainability
Appropriate level of unemployment
insurance contributions
In 2024, we collected a total of EUR 2,347
(3,627) million in unemployment insurance
contributions and other income. Employers’
unemployment insurance contribution in-
come accounted for EUR 766 (1,412) million
and employees’ unemployment insurance
contribution income for EUR 806 (1,490)
million of this total.
In 2024, we paid EUR 3,129 (2,900) million in
financingcontributionstofinanceunem-
ployment security, transition security, pay
security, pension security and adult educa-
tionbenefits.
Our annual result (change in net position)
was EUR -749 (763) million.
Employment Fund’s business cycle buffer
was EUR 1,272 (2,021) million positive at
the end of 2024. The statutory maximum
amount of the business cycle buffer was
EUR 1,726 (1,861) million in 2024. Our liquid-
ity remained good throughout the year.
Steady development of unemployment
insurance contribution rate
Unemployment insurance contributions
were substantially lowered for the year
2024. The lowering was prompted by an
improved outlook for the economy and
employment, near-maximum level of the
business cycle buffer and the fact that the
measures set out in the Government Pro-
gramme were estimated to decrease ex-
penditure. Last year, the average employer’s
contribution was 0.82% of the wages or 0.72
percentage points less than in 2023. The
average employee’s contribution was 0.79%
of the wages or 0.71 percentage points less
than in 2023.
47Report of the Board of Directors 2024 Sustainability
Efficient collection of unemployment
insurance contributions
The actual credit losses arising from unem-
ployment insurance contribution receiva-
bles totalled EUR 2.7 (4.6) million in 2024.
Credit losses accounted for about 0.17%
(0.16%) of the unemployment insurance
contributions collected in 2024.
Good liquidity
Tosecureitsliquidity,infixed-incomein-
vestments with less than one year’s matu-
rity, Employment Fund keeps an amount
that covers at least one month’s expenses.
In2024,thesefixed-incomeinvestments
totalled EUR 581 (889) million. In 2024, the
averageamountofthesefixed-income
investments was 3.1 (2.6) times higher than
one month’s expenses. For liquidity pur-
poses, the Fund also has a EUR 300 million
commercial paper programme (31 Dec 2023:
EUR 300 million). The Fund also has EUR
600 million in committed revolving cred-
it facilities (RCF) with four banks (31 Dec
2023: EUR 600 million). The commercial
paper programme and the revolving credit
facilities remained unused at the end of
2024 (unused on 31 Dec 2023).
Productive and secure investment
In 2024, the return on our investments was
4.2% (4.1%). The return exceeded the expec-
tation of 3.6% (2.8%) entered in our invest-
ment plan and exceeded the reference
return on our investment activities, which
had been set at 3.9% (4.1%).
The average credit rating of our investment
portfolio is evaluated on Standard & Poor’s
rating scale, which is based on historical
probabilities of credit losses. We estimate
that the investment portfolio credit rating
is about BBB+ on 31 December 2024 (31 Dec
2023: BBB+).
Attheendofthefinancialperiod,EUR590
(820) million of the Fund’s assets were
invested in money market instruments, and
EUR 775 (958) million in bonds. These in-
vestments account for 90% (93%) of our total
investment portfolio. In our investment
plan for 2024, the minimum proportion of
money market and bond investments has
been set at 87% (87%).
The total risk of our investment portfolio
was 4.07% (31 Dec 2023: 3.54%). The risk
posed by the investment portfolio is mod-
erate due to its conservative structure and
moderately low risk level of the securities
in the portfolio.
48Report of the Board of Directors 2024
Equality and diversity work
Sustainabilityisalsoreflectedinourequal-
ity and diversity work. The Fund has a
diversity working group, the aim of which
is to identify and discuss issues concerning
the diversity of the work community and
definethepracticaldevelopmentmeasures
that may be needed in our work communi-
ty. The tasks of the working group is also to
promote the experience of all our employ-
ees of an open and equal work community.
By ensuring a safe working environment
for all our employees, we can also contrib-
ute to the achievement of the objective
‘Decent work and economic growth’, one of
the key goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.
We updated the Fund’s non-discrimination,
equality and diversity plan in 2024. We also
surveyed our personnel’s experiences of
how diversity, equality and inclusion are
reflectedinourworkcommunity.Basedon
the experiences of our staff members, we
will be able to develop principles and prac-
ticesinthefieldofequalityanddiversityin
the future.
ADULT EDUCATION BENEFITS HAVE
PROMOTED CONTINUOUS LEARNING
AND UPDATING OF COMPETENCE
Adulteducationbenefitshavebeenusedto
support the professional development and
competence renewal of adults in working
life. This support will continue in the tran-
sition period during the abolition process.
Our goal has been to implement the adult
educationbenefitsinaneffectivemanner
andincreaseawarenessofthebenefits.
These goals promote the achievement of
the quality education goal set out in the
2030 Agenda.
Sustainability
49Report of the Board of Directors 2024
Indicators of the awareness goal:
Indicator Target level Level in 2024 Level in 2023
Number of recipients (adult education allowance) 31,796 persons 32,518 persons
Numberofrecipients(scholarshipforqualifiedemployees) 23,009 persons 28,485 persons
Indicators of the goal of effective implementation:
Indicator Target level Level in 2024 Level in 2023
Application processing time (allowance right application,
adult education allowance, average) Less than 15 days 13.8 days 17.1 days
Application processing time (payment application, adult
education allowance, average) Less than one day 0.5 days 0.8 days
Applicationprocessingtime(scholarshipforqualified
employees, average) Less than 10 days 6.8 days 9.9 days
Sustainability
50Report of the Board of Directors 2024
Increasing awareness
Theyearoftheadulteducationbenefits
was characterised by the implementation
of the abolition set out in the Government
Programme. The act on abolishing the ben-
efitsenteredintoforceon1June2024.The
transition period for abolishing the adult
educationbenefitsstartedon1August2024
and it will continue until 31 December 2025.
The last payments of the adult education
allowance scheme will be made in 2026
and the last payments of the scholarship
schemeforqualifiedemployeesin2025.In
2024,adulteducationbenefitswerepaid
to 31,796 (32,518) persons. In 2024, scholar-
shipsforqualifiedemployeesweregranted
to 23,009 (28,485) persons.
In addition to the number of recipients, we
have also used a variety of different com-
munication indicators to assess awareness
of adult education allowance. Due to the
abolitionoftheadulteducationbenefits,we
are no longer seeking to enhance aware-
ness of the scheme but to provide edu-
cational institutions and recipients with
guidance.Wehaveclarifiedtheimpactsof
theabolitionofadulteducationbenefitson
our stakeholders with active communica-
tion and by organising regular webinars on
adulteducationbenefitsforourcustomers.
In 2024, we organised 7 (5) webinars for
adulteducationbenefitcustomersandsent
targeted newsletters in which we provided
guidanceonapplyingforthebenefitsand
explained the impacts of the abolition of
theadulteducationbenefitsonourcus-
tomers. We also actively informed Finnish
educational institutions about the aboli-
tionoftheadulteducationbenefitsandthe
transition period, for example, by posting
regular newsletters. In 2024, we organised
a stakeholder event to which we invited
representatives for example from labour
market organisations, ministries and the
Social Insurance Institution of Finland.
Effective implementation
News of the abolition of the adult educa-
tion allowance scheme led to an increase
inthenumberofbenefitapplicationsin
spring 2024. Despite the larger number
of applications, we were able to shorten
the processing times. In 2024, the average
processing time for initial applications for
adult education allowance was 13.8 (17.1)
days and for payment applications 0.5
(0.8) days. The average processing time for
applicationsforscholarshipsforqualified
employees was 6.8 (9.9) days.
Training compensation
The employers’ training compensation
scheme is also managed by Employment
Fund. The purpose of training compensa-
tion is to improve the employer’s opportu-
nities to organise training for its employees
so that they can enhance their vocational
competence. Bodies such as wellbeing ser-
vices counties, municipalities, parishes, as-
sociations and foundations are eligible for
the compensation. In 2024, a total of EUR
11.5 (10.2) million in training compensation
was paid to 602 (616) employers.
Sustainability
51Report of the Board of Directors 2024
WE ARE CONTINUOUSLY ENHANCING
THE TRANSPARENCY AND
EFFICIENCY OF OUR ACTIVITIES
Compliance with and development of the
principles of good governance help us to be
amoreefficient,transparentandresponsi-
ble actor. We also combat the grey economy
in Finland in cooperation with other public
organisations and the authorities. Through
these measures, we promote the achieve-
ment of the objective of peace, justice and
strong institutions set out in the UN 2030
Agenda.
We are continuously developing our princi-
ples and practices of good governance. The
Fund has a channel for reporting suspect-
ed misconduct, and the reports received
throughthechannelareprocessedconfi-
dentially and, if necessary, anonymously.
You can use the channel to report suspect-
ed misconduct falling within the scope
of the Whistleblower Act or Employment
Fund’s ethical guidelines. We comply with
the EU’s General Data Protection Regu-
lation, other legislation applicable to our
operationsandofficialinstructionsonthe
processing of personal data. We provided
our personnel with training on the Fund’s
ethical guidelines in 2024 so that we can
all act in accordance with the requirements
and identify potential unethical practices.
The Fund’s ethical guidelines are publicly
viewable on our website.
The satisfaction of our personnel and cus-
tomers is important to us. We measure per-
sonnel satisfaction in an annual survey and
develop our operations based on the feed-
back received from our employees. We use
the CSAT index to measure customer satis-
faction with the customer service of adult
educationbenefitsandunemployment
insurance contributions and use the results
to continuously develop our services. We
are also working to make our operations
moreefficientbyincreasingautomationin
our processes, and to process adult educa-
tionbenefitsandunemploymentinsurance
contributionsaccuratelyandefficientlyso
that the need to appeal against our deci-
sions can be minimised.
Sustainability
52Report of the Board of Directors 2024
Indicatorsforthegoalofmoreefficient,transparentandresponsibleactor:
Indicator Target level Level in 2024 Level in 2023
Share of automated decisions of decisions on adult education
benefits(paymentapplicationsandscholarshipsforqualified
employees)
89% (payment applications),
42%(scholarshipsforqualified
employees)
83.5% (payment applications),
40.6%(scholarshipsforqualified
employees)
Share of automated decisions of decisions on unemployment
insurance contributions 99% 99%
Personnel satisfaction (eNPS) At least +10 -18 -26
Customersatisfaction(CSAT,benefitservices) More than 80% 91% 85%
Customer satisfaction (CSAT, unemployment insurance
contributions) More than 80% 77% 79%
Number of decisions changed in SAMU* and Insurance Court
as share of all decisions made (decisions on scholarships for
qualifiedemployeesandadulteducationallowance) 8/229,747 19/215,607
Number of decisions changed in SAMU* and Insurance Court
as share of all decisions made (decisions on unemployment
insurance contributions) 0/500,547 0/520,880
Number of data breaches and incidents (breaches reported to the
Finnish Data Protection Ombudsman) Declining trend
16 data breaches and 22 data
protection incidents
8 data breaches and 22 data
protection incidents
Number of reports received in the whistleblower channel 7 reports 4 reports
Results of the Trust & Reputation survey
(overall score for the most recent survey and the survey
preceding it and the years when these surveys were carried out.
Scale 1–5).
Increasing trend of
the overall score by
stakeholder
policy makers 3.99,
educational institutions 3.77,
general public 3.37,
media 3.12
policy makers 3.66,
educational institutions 3.52 (2020),
general public 3.34,
media 3.65 (2021)
*Social Security Appeal Board
Sustainability
53Report of the Board of Directors 2024
More efficient, transparent
and responsible actor
To ensure our service capacity, we use
process automation in the processing of
adulteducationbenefits.In2024,automat-
ed payment decisions accounted for 89%
(83.5%) of all payment decisions. Automat-
ed decisions accounted for 42% (40.6%) of
alldecisionsonscholarshipsforqualified
employees made in 2024. We also make ex-
tensive use of automated decision-making
when determining unemployment insur-
ance contributions. In 2024, automated
decisions accounted for about 99% (99%) of
all decisions on unemployment insurance
contributions.
We use annual surveys to monitor person-
nel experience and develop our operations
based on the feedback received from our
employees. The eNPS is one of the tools we
use to monitor job satisfaction. It describes
how likely it is that employees would
recommend the workplace to others. The
scale of eNPS is between -100 and +100. The
higher the score, the higher the probability
that the respondents would recommend
the workplace to others. In 2024, the Fund’s
eNPS was -18 (-26). In recent years, our
eNPS has been strongly impacted by the
abolitionoftheadulteducationbenefits
and the resulting change negotiations.
Customer satisfaction with our bene-
fitservicesremainedatexcellentlevel
throughout the year even though the
announcement that the adult education
benefitswouldbeabolishedincreasedour
workload. The customer satisfaction score
(CSAT) indicating the percentage of satis-
fiedandhighlysatisfiedcustomersofall
adulteducationbenefitcustomers)reached
91% (85%) for the year as a whole. The share
ofcustomerssatisfiedandhighlysatisfied
with unemployment insurance contribu-
tion services reached 77% (79%).
Customersnotsatisfiedwiththedecisions
onscholarshipsforqualifiedemployees,
adult education allowance or unemploy-
ment insurance contributions have the
right to appeal against the decision. The
firstappellatebodyistheSocialSecu-
rity Appeal Board (SAMU). The second
andfinalappellatebodyistheInsurance
Court. We measure the quality and effec-
tiveness of our decisions by how many of
our decisions will change in SAMU or the
Insurance Court. The lower the number of
changes made to our decisions, the higher
their quality and there is no need to use
additional resources for decisions that have
already been made once. In 2024, a total of
217 (248) appeals concerning adult educa-
tionbenefitsweresubmittedtoSAMUand
17 (30) to the Insurance Court. No cases of
unemployment insurance contributions
were submitted to SAMU or the Insurance
Court in 2023 or 2024. In 2024, in 5 (17) of
the appeals concerning adult education
benefitssubmittedtoSAMUandin3(2)of
the similar appeals submitted to the Insur-
ance Court, the appeal was at least partially
accepted or the matter was returned to
Employment Fund.
Sustainability
54Report of the Board of Directors 2024
Employment Fund submitted 16 data
breachreportstotheOfficeoftheDataPro-
tection Ombudsman in 2024. A data breach
is reported to the data protection authority
if it is estimated that it may pose a risk to
the rights and freedoms of natural persons.
A total of 22 other data protection incidents
were recorded during the year.
Employment Fund’s compliance function
is responsible for the whistleblower chan-
nel. On the channel, you can also report
suspected violations and misconduct
anonymously. The whistleblower channel
received 7 (4) reports in 2024. The reports
were processed and investigated in accord-
ance with our operating principles.
The reputation of Employment Fund in the
following four stakeholder groups was ex-
amined in 2024: policy makers, educational
institutions, general public and the me-
dia. T-Media’s Reputation & Trust tool was
used as the research method. In this tool,
respondents react to statements from the
perspectiveofadministration,finances,
management, innovations, interaction,
products and services, the workplace and
sustainability. On a scale of 1 to 5, the over-
all score of the Fund among policy makers
was 3.99 (3.66), educational institutions
3.77 (2020: 3.52), general public 3.37 (3.34),
and the media 3.12 (2021: 3.65). The reputa-
tion of the Fund improved slightly among
policy makers and the general public
year-on-year. No survey was conducted
among educational institutions and media
stakeholders in 2023. Our reputation among
educational institutions has improved
compared to the survey conducted in 2020
while our reputation in the media has
declined somewhat compared to the results
of the 2021 survey.
We developed activities to promote the
principles of good governance and com-
pliance during 2024. Among other things,
the Fund adopted new ethical guidelines
and published mandatory online training
for staff members. Completion rate of the
new online training package was 89% at the
end of 2024. Completion rate has continued
to increase since the end of the reporting
period. The compliance function also or-
ganised training events on the new ethical
guidelines for individual service areas.
Sustainability
55Report of the Board of Directors 2024
Last year, we worked in close cooperation
with the Finnish Tax Administration, the
Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employ-
ment and other public actors to combat the
grey economy. We also participated in the
financingofthePalkka.fipayrollprogram.
Palkka.fiisafreepayrollprogramforsmall
employers maintained by the Finnish Tax
Administration, employment pension in-
surance companies and Employment Fund.
The program facilitates the correct man-
agement of wage-related payments, thus
supportingthefightagainsttheshadow
economy. In 2024, we also participated in
a project on companies removed from the
Trade Register. The aim of the project is to
identify the legal provisions causing major
problemsandofficialproceduresconcern-
ing companies that have been removed
from the Trade Register and to prepare pro-
posals to eliminate the problems. We also
joined the Finnish Transparency Register,
to which the lobbying activities targeting
Parliament and ministries are reported. The
aim of the Finnish Transparency Register
is to make decision-making more transpar-
ent,combatinappropriateinfluencingwork
and strengthen citizens’ trust in central
government and democracy.
FRAMEWORK FOR SOCIAL FUNDING
The Fund has a framework for social fund-
ing. The framework was prepared in ac-
cordance with the social bond principles
of the International Capital Market Asso-
ciation (ICMA) updated in 2021 and the
social loan principles of the European Loan
Market Association (LMA) updated in 2023.
Within the framework, the Fund is able to
use a variety of different funding instru-
ments to promote social improvements
withdebtfinancing.
It also enables us to establish a close link
betweenourdebtfinancingandpositiveso-
cial impacts. Using the framework, we can
also promote ‘Quality education’ and ‘De-
cent work and economic growth’, two of the
UN sustainable development goals selected
by the Fund for its sustainability work. The
financingtakenoutinthismannerwill
be used to cover the expenses that meet
the eligibility criteria (provide security for
changes in working life). They include the
financingofunemploymentbenefitsand
the adult education allowance scheme,
which supports the maintenance and
development of vocational competence.
At the end of 2024, Employment Fund did
nothaveanydebtfinancingtowhichthe
social funding framework would have been
applied.
Sustainability
56Report of the Board of Directors 2024
SUSTAINABLE INVESTMENT
Sustainable investment means that when
we make investment decisions, we take
environmental, social and governance
(ESG) factors into consideration in addition
tofinancialindicators.Withtheexception
of index investments, we integrate ESG
factors into all our investments insofar as
is possible. An external party reviews our
investments twice a year and reports any
deviations.
We exclude companies whose operating
methods are considered irresponsible with
regard to factors such as corruption, child
labour, employees’ rights and human rights
from our list of potential investments. We
invest in companies that comply with the
UN Global Compact wherever possible.
Numerical methods of assessment are used
to monitor and analyse the sustainability of
Employment Fund’s investments. The goal
is to provide a picture of the Fund’s sustain-
abilityprofileandmapitsdevelopmentas
comprehensively and diversely as possible.
Similar metrics have been used for moni-
toring since 2019. The sustainability anal-
ysis includes a review of operational sus-
tainability metrics for the investment items
and the companies behind them, such as
commitment to equality, good governance,
and the development of variables used to
measure environmental impact. The as-
sessment is based on SFDR and MiFID II
regulation and EU taxonomy. According to
the latest sustainability assessment, our
investments meet most of the ESG criteria.
The ESG analysis of Employment Fund’s
investments covers 68% (54%) of the Fund’s
investments and cash and cash equiva-
lents. The analysed assets do not include
such items as cash and cash equivalents
and investments in government bonds.
Sustainability
57Report of the Board of Directors 2024
According to an analysis assessing the sus-
tainability of our investments in December
2024 conducted by an asset management
institution, of the environmental indicators
of our investment portfolio, relative carbon
emissions (weighted carbon intensity) have
decreased compared to the analysis carried
out in December 2023. The reduction has
been the result of the focusing of invest-
ments on more environmentally friendly
investment targets and the lower calcu-
lated environmental load generated by the
investment targets themselves. The carbon
footprint of our investments remains sig-
nificantlylowerthanthebenchmarkindex.
About 82% (79%) of our fund investments
are investments promoting sustainability
factors (in funds meeting the requirements
of Article 8 of SFDR), and 13% (16%) are
investments meeting the requirements of
Article 9 of SFDR (in funds for sustainable
investments). 88% (80%) of our investments
have at least ambitious goals in climate
work and emission reductions.
About 79% (77%) of our investments are
estimated to have a positive impact on the
sustainable development goals of the UN.
Trends in indicators related to social fac-
tors of our investments (gender equality, in-
dependent governance and equal pay) were
inconsistent compared to the situation at
the end of 2023. However, at portfolio level,
the measured observations show that the
portfolio is in line with the benchmark in-
dex, except for equal pay where the portfo-
lio is clearly better than the benchmark in-
dex. There was a slight improvement in the
equal pay indicator during 2024, and inde-
pendent governance remained unchanged.
There are no non-compliant companies (as
classifiedbyISS)inthedirectinvestments
made by Employment Fund. About 0.2%
(0.1%) of the Fund’s investments have been
directed at such companies as part of fund
investments.
Sustainability
58Report of the Board of Directors 2024
Risk management
Risk management
Risk management is part of
Employment Fund’s internal
control. Its aim is to ensure risk
awareness in decision-making
and to support the Fund in the
achievement of its objectives.
Risk management produces
high-quality information
on the risks and threats
facing the Fund and provides
recommendations for measures
to prevent them.
WE USE EXTENSIVE RISK
MANAGEMENT TO ENSURE THE
CONTINUITY OF OUR ACTIVITIES
We monitor and manage such risks as
strategic and operational risks, regulatory,
economicandfinancialrisksaswellas
risks arising from our operating environ-
ment. Comprehensive risk management is
an important part of our activities.
Identifying strategic-level risks and man-
aging them on a systemic basis help the
Fund to achieve its goals within the frame-
workofaspecificriskappetitelevel.In
2024, we took further measures to improve
the effectiveness of our strategic risk man-
agement. Strategic risks were integrated
more closely into the principles of internal
control and risk management in coopera-
tion with the Management Group. Measures
were also taken to strengthen the manage-
ment of cyber risks.
The purpose of operational risk manage-
ment is to safeguard the continuity of our
key functions and statutory activities and
to ensure that the Fund can also operate
during emergencies. Employment Fund
has continued to promote digitalisation
to improve its services and operational
efficiency,andthesemeasureshavealso
helped to reduce operational risks. Conti-
nuity management was a key development
priority in 2024 and this work has also had
a positive impact on the overall picture of
risk management.
By managing regulatory risks, we can en-
sure that Employment Fund acts in compli-
ance with the law and other requirements
and in an ethical and responsible manner.
Active monitoring of legislative changes
is a key part of this process. Employment
Fund’s compliance function focuses on
these areas. We also actively monitor de-
velopments in information security legis-
lation. We also developed data protection
processes.
59Report of the Board of Directors 2024 Risk management
Tomanagefinancialrisksarisingfrom
changes in the operating environment, we
rely on such means as diverse forecast-
ing methods and timely adjustments of
unemployment insurance contributions.
To safeguard our liquidity, we make low-
risk investments and strive to secure good
borrowing possibilities. Employment Fund
also has a statutory business cycle buffer
to reduce the need for changes in the level
of unemployment insurance contributions
duetocyclicalfluctuations.Financialrisk
management at Employment Fund has re-
lied on the same principles as before.
Personnel play a key role in risk manage-
ment. Staff members participate actively
in the process by identifying risks in their
own work. Risk management training
is mandatory for all employees and it is
updated each year. This enhances com-
petence and strengthens risk awareness
throughout the organisation. The Head of
Risk Management supports the organisa-
tioninriskidentificationandreportson
the situational picture of risks to the Fund’s
Management Group, Audit Committee and
the Board of Directors.
We updated our risk management princi-
ples in autumn 2024 and combined them
with the principles of internal control.
COMPLIANCE FUNCTION SUPPORTS
AND ENSURES COMPLIANCE
WITH REGULATIONS
In addition to risk management, internal
control and the second line of defence of
Employment Fund also includes a compli-
ance function. The Fund’s Board of Direc-
tors has approved the principles of the
function,andtheComplianceOfficerregu-
larly reports to the Managing Director, the
audit committee and the Board of Directors.
The purpose of the function is to ensure
that Employment Fund complies with
existing regulation, external instructions
binding on the Fund and the Fund’s own
internal guidelines. Compliance function
identifiesandassessesrisksarisingfrom
non-compliance in close cooperation with
risk management. The function also sup-
ports business in monitoring the regulatory
environment and coordinates cooperation
between compliance and service areas.
It also promotes compliance with ethical
and responsible practices, for example by
providing guidelines and training for per-
sons working at Employment Fund.
New ethical guidelines for the Fund were
adopted in 2024 and online training on the
guidelines was published. The training
is mandatory for all staff members. The
compliance function also organised train-
ing events on the guidelines for individual
service areas. In addition to monitoring
compliance,theComplianceOfficeralso
acts as the person responsible for insider
issues of the Fund, maintains a register of
related parties and provides assistance in
disqualificationmatters.
Employment Fund’s compliance function
is also responsible for the whistleblower
channel. On the channel, you can also re-
port suspected violations and misconduct
anonymously. All whistleblower reports
received were processed and examined in
accordance with our operating principles.
60Report of the Board of Directors 2024
At the end of 2024, the Fund had 140 (175)
employees. In person-years, the number of
personnel was 135 (159).
The Fund paid EUR 10,921,130 in salaries
andEUR70,949infringebenefitsduring
2024. Our pay system is based on the com-
plexity of work, and we also use a bonus
system supporting the achievement of our
strategic objectives.
Men accounted for 54 (56) and women for
86 (119) of the personnel. The average em-
ployee age was 44.2 (41.5) years, and the av-
erage duration of employment at Employ-
ment Fund was (7.0) 6.3 years. Voluntary
staff turnover was 10.23% (8.53%) in 2024.
.
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
persons
30 Jun
2023
Number of personnel
2023–2024
175
31 Dec
2023
30 Jun
2024
31 Dec
2024
186
140
175
persons
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Age and gender breakdown 2024
20–29
years
30–39
years
40–49
years
50–59
years
60–65
years
Women Men
9
5
6
10
20
19
26
17
2
26
Personnel
Personnel
61Report of the Board of Directors 2024
ABOLITION OF ADULT EDUCATION
BENEFITS HAS EXTENSIVE
IMPACTS ON OUR PERSONNEL
Entry into force of the act abolishing the
adulteducationbenefitson1June2024
wasthemostsignificantchangeofthe
year from the perspective of personnel
management. Already during the transi-
tion period, the legislative amendment has
had an impact on the structure, operations
and human resources of the service are-
asprovidingbenefitservicesandsupport
functions. As a result of the abolition of the
adulteducationbenefits,58%oftheemploy-
ment relationships of the persons working
inbenefitservicesendedand13%ofthe
employees moved to other duties within
the organisation during 2024. The actual
personnel impacts will become clear once
the transition period has ended.
Personnel
Amidthedifficultchangesituation,we
focused on supporting our personnel. We
have supported the wellbeing of our em-
ployees with open dialogue and coaching
and on discussion forums. We have paid
particular attention to change support
measures for dismissed employees, such as
careercoachingandflexibleworkinghours
so that their path to new job opportunities
would be as smooth as possible.
We monitored the success of change
management on a regular basis. Between
February and October, we conducted six
experiential surveys to gauge our employ-
ees’ views on the change situation. With
the survey results and feedback from the
personnel, we targeted the communica-
tions and measures in accordance with the
needs. We also received valuable informa-
tion on how to implement and focus the
change management measures in different
service areas.
62Report of the Board of Directors 2024 Personnel
WE STRENGTHENED OUR IT SERVICES
Although one of our tasks is ending, the
Fund will continue to manage its other
statutory tasks. In 2024, we updated the
organisational structure of our Technolo-
gy and Development service area and also
used recruitment to strengthen our IT ser-
vices. The pace of technological develop-
ment is accelerating and requires a change
capability, which can only be maintained
with a strong IT organisation that is able
to respond to the current and future needs
arising from our operations.
By developing IT platform services, we
want to ensure up-to-date, user-friendly,
reliable and secure digital services and
solutions for our personnel and customers.
WE INVESTED IN COMPETENCE
DEVELOPMENT AND PREVENTIVE
SUPPORT FOR WORK ABILITY
During the year, we invested in the devel-
opment of personnel competence, especial-
ly by supporting working life and digital
skills. We provided our staff members with
comprehensive internal training and ex-
ternal coaching, both in-house and on line.
The average number of training hours was
16.4 (13.9) per person.
In supporting wellbeing, we focused on
preventive occupational health care and
maintaining of work ability. Our sick leave
rate was 2.85% (3.23%).
The impacts of these measures were posi-
tivelyreflectedinthefeedbackgivenbyour
employees: the employees felt that their
competence and wellbeing are also a priori-
ty in a challenging change situation.
63Report of the Board of Directors 2024
In autumn 2024, we also launched an extensive
identity project and will continue to incorporate
its results in our daily work in 2025.
Personnel
WE MONITOR TRENDS IN PERSONNEL
EXPERIENCE ON A REGULAR BASIS
Good personnel experience is crucial to us
and at the core of our strategy. We conduct
surveys to monitor personnel experience
trends. At the end of the year, we conducted
a pulse survey, that provided valuable mon-
itoring data on the impacts of the develop-
mentmeasuresidentifiedin2023.
Among the indicators we use is the
eNPS recommendation index, which varies
between -100 and 100. In 2024, the Fund’s
eNPS was -18 (-26). According to our es-
timate, the level of the recommendation
index has been strongly affected in recent
years by changes arising from the abolition
oftheadulteducationbenefits.
Therewasasignificantimprovementin
the results at the end of 2024: 3.09 (2.45)
on a scale of 1–4 in the assessment of the
continuation of one’s own employment
relationship. At the same time, however,
the experience of managing the workload
of teams had fallen from 3.03 to 2.83. The
experience of communicating the Fund’s
strategy and future outlook was also declin-
ing and was put at 2.79 (2.93).
As a solution to managing the workload
generated by simultaneous projects and
other changes, the Fund established a
project-based multi-professional change
coordination team, which served as a link
between project planning, decisions and
implementation during the second half of
2024. In practice, all change coordination is
now carried out as line work.
In autumn 2024, we also launched an
extensive identity project and will contin-
ue to incorporate its results in our daily
work in 2025. The aim of identity work is
to ensure that each Fund staff member has
understanding of the identity and future
direction of Employment Fund and that
adefinedidentityhelpstheemployeesin
everyday work.
64Report of the Board of Directors 2024
Events after the financial period
Eventsafterthefinancialperiod
NosignificantchangesoccurredinEmploymentFund’sfinancialpositionaftertheendofthereviewperiod.
Helsinki 25 February 2025
Employment Fund
Board of Directors
65Report of the Board of Directors 2024
Corporate governance
Corporate governance
The corporate governance statement of
Employment Fund for 2024 has been pre-
pared in accordance with the Securities
Market Act and the recommendation on re-
porting contained in the Finnish Corporate
Governance Code for Listed Companies,
which took effect on 1 January 2025.
COMPLIANCE WITH THE FINNISH
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE CODE
2025 AND DEVIATIONS FROM
THE RECOMMENDATIONS
Employment Fund is an independent stat-
utory agency supervised by the Financial
Supervisory Authority.
Employment Fund has issued two bonds
quoted on Nasdaq OMX Helsinki Ltd, one
of which was repaid on its maturity date in
June 2023, while the other will mature in
2027.
Employment Fund has a commercial pa-
per programme of EUR 300 million (31 Dec
2023: EUR 300 million), which remained
unused at the end of 2023 and 2024.
Where applicable, Employment Fund con-
ducts its operations in compliance with the
Finnish Corporate Governance Code, which
is publicly available on the Securities Mar-
ketAssociation’swebsite(www.cgfinland.
fi).
The operations of Employment Fund and
the responsibilities of its organs are based
on the Act on the Financing of Unem-
ploymentBenefits(555/1998),Government
Decree on the Financing of Unemployment
Benefits(1227/2014)andtheDecreeonthe
Rules of Procedure of Employment Fund
(862/1998).
Due to Employment Fund’s form of activity
and background, its operations differ from
the Finnish Corporate Governance Code on
the following recommendations:
• Recommendations 1, 2, 3 and 4:
Employment Fund is not a limited
liability company and its most senior
decision-making body is not a general
meeting or similar organ as this task
is carried out by the Supervisory
Board appointed by the Government,
in accordance with the Decree on the
Rules of Procedure of Employment
Fund (862/1998). The Decree contains
provisions on matters to be decided
in the meetings of the Supervisory
Board and the related procedures as
well as the notice of the meeting. For
this reason, the recommendations
concerning the general meeting, notice
of the general meeting, proposals
for decisions, initiatives of the
shareholders, attendance at the general
meeting and documents discussed at
the general meeting are not applicable
in the operations of Employment Fund.
66Report of the Board of Directors 2024
• Recommendations 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9:
Employment Fund’s Supervisory
Board elects the members of the Board
of Directors in accordance with the
principles set out in the Decree on the
Rules of Procedure of Employment
Fund (862/1998). Under the Decree,
the Supervisory Board approves the
appointment of the members, chair
and vice chair of the Board of Directors
for the following calendar year. Seven
of the Board of Directors’ members
represent employer organisations and
seven are employee representatives.
For this reason, the recommendations
concerning the election, term of
office,composition,diversityand
independence of the Board members are
not applicable to Employment Fund’s
operations.
• Recommendations 10 and 19:
Employment Fund’s Supervisory
Board elects the members of the Board
of Directors in accordance with the
principles set out in the Decree on the
Rules of Procedure of Employment
Fund (862/1998). Seven of the Board
of Directors’ members represent
employer organisations and seven are
employee representatives. Employment
Fund has no shareholders or similar
owners, and thus there is no evaluation
of whether the Board of Directors
or management is independent of
significantshareholders.Likewise,
the recommendation concerning the
shareholders’ nomination committee is
not applicable.
• Recommendations 16, 17 and 18: The
regulations governing Employment
Fund’s operations do not impose
an obligation to establish special
committees. Therefore, the Fund does
not have any committees other than an
audit committee. As Employment Fund
is not a limited liability company, there
is no evaluation of whether the audit
committee members are independent of
significantshareholders.
• Recommendation 21: Under the
Decree on the Rules of Procedure of
Employment Fund, the Supervisory
Board elects the members and chair
of the Board of Directors. The chair
is elected from among the Board of
Directors members (in alternating years
from among the representatives of the
employers or employees) and thus the
recommendation on the restriction
concerning the Managing Director is
not applicable.
• Recommendation 22: The Ministry of
Social Affairs and Health decides on
the remuneration for meetings for the
Supervisory Board and the principles of
compensation for travelling expenses.
The Supervisory Board decides on the
remuneration of the Board of Directors.
The Board of Directors decides on
the remuneration and the terms and
conditions of the service contract of
the Managing Director as well as the
principles of remuneration for other
management staff.
Corporate governance
67Report of the Board of Directors 2024
• Recommendation 23: Employment
Fund has no shareholders or similar
owners, and thus the recommendations
concerning share awards and share-
based remuneration for the members
of the Board of Directors are not
applicable.
• Recommendation 27: Employment
Fund is not a limited liability company
and thus the regulation on related-
party transactions is not applicable
to Employment Fund’s operations
within the meaning of the Finnish
Corporate Governance Code. However,
Employment Fund complies with IFRS
standards and monitors related-party
transactions as described below.
SUPERVISORY BOARD
Under the Decree on the Rules of Procedure
of Employment Fund (862/1998), Employ-
ment Fund’s most senior decision-making
body is the Supervisory Board, which has
between 10 and 18 members. Half of the
members represent employers and the
other half represent employees. The term
of the members of Employment Fund’s
Supervisory Board is three calendar years.
On 2 November 2023, on the proposal of
the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health,
the Government appointed the members
of Employment Fund’s Supervisory Board
for the term 1 January 2024–31 December
2026. A total of 18 members were appointed
to the Supervisory Board. Six of the mem-
bers were appointed on the proposal of the
Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK),
three on the proposal of the Local Govern-
ment and County Employers (KT), three on
the proposal of the Central Organisation
of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK), three on
the proposal of the Finnish Confederation
of Professionals (STTK) and three on the
proposal of the Confederation of Unions for
Professional and Managerial Staff in Fin-
land (Akava). The composition is in accord-
ance with section 4a, subsection 2 of the
Act on Equality between Women and Men.
In 2024, the Government appointed two
new members to the Supervisory Board for
the rest of the current term (until 31 Decem-
ber 2026).
Corporate governance
68Report of the Board of Directors 2024
The Supervisory Board elects from among
its members a chair and a vice chair for
one calendar year at a time, one of whom is
an employer representative and the other
one an employee representative. The chair-
manship is held in turn by representatives
of employers and employees, alternating
annually. In 2024, the Supervisory Board
was chaired by Antti Zitting, representing
the employers.
Meeting practice and access to information
The ordinary meeting of the Supervisory
Board is held twice a year, in the spring
before the end of May and in the autumn no
later than in October. An additional meet-
ing of the Supervisory Board is held when-
ever the chair of the Supervisory Board or
the Board of Directors deems it necessary,
or when at least two members of the Su-
pervisory Board request in writing that an
additional meeting be held for a reason
specifiedintherequest.Thenoticeofthe
meetingmustbedeliveredinaverifiable
manner to the members of the Supervisory
Board no later than eight days before the
meeting.
The meeting of the Supervisory Board
constitutes a quorum when the chair or the
vice chair and at least half of the members
are present. Those present must include
both employer and employee represent-
atives. The decisions of the Supervisory
Board are based on a simple majority. In the
event of a tie, the decision is based on the
opinion supported by the chair of the meet-
ing. In the event of an election in which the
voting ends in a tie, the result is decided
by drawing lots. If the question concerns a
proposal for unemployment insurance con-
tributions and the voting ends in a tie, the
opinion supported by both the chair and
the vice chair becomes the decision.
The Supervisory Board elects the chair and
the vice chair of the Supervisory Board for
one calendar year at a time. One must be
an employer representative and the other
an employee representative. The chair-
manship is held in turn by representatives
of employers and employees, alternating
annually.
The Supervisory Board met three times
in 2024. The constitutive meeting of the
Supervisory Board took place in January
2024.
Corporate governance
69Report of the Board of Directors 2024
The members of the Supervisory Board in 2024 were:
Name Year of birth Education Main occupation
Attendance at
meetings of the
Supervisory Board
Antti Zitting, chair 1956 Master of Science (Technology) Board chair, Sacotec Oy 3/3
Riku Aalto, vice chair 1965 Master of Administrative Sciences President, Industrial Union 3/3
Maria Kaisa Aula 1962 Lic.Soc.Sc., D.Soc.Sc.
Chair of the County Executive, Central Finland
Wellbeing Services County 3/3
Nina Brask, from 15 August 2024 1972 Fitness nurse (kuntohoitaja)
Chair of the County Executive, Kymenlaakso
Wellbeing Services County 1/1
Päivi Inberg, from 15 August 2024 1972 Nurse (perushoitaja) Chair, Finnish Union of Practical Nurses (SuPer) 1/1
Jari Jokinen 1967 Master of Science (Technology)
ChiefExecutiveOfficer,FinnishAssociationof
Graduate Engineers and Architects (TEK) 3/3
Teemu Kokko 1961 Doctor of Science (Business Administration)
President, CEO, Haaga-Helia
University of Applied Sciences 3/3
Antti Korpiniemi 1961 Master of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences CEO, Berner Ltd 2/3
Tomi Lantto 1970 Master of Economic Sciences CEO, Antell Oy 2/3
Kirsi-Marja Lievonen, until 13 April
2024 1962 Licentiate of Laws trained on the bench Human Resources Manager, City of Vantaa 0/1
Petri Lindroos 1965 Master of Education
Director of Negotiations, Trade Union of
Education in Finland (OAJ) 2/3
Salla Luomanmäki 1963 Master of Arts
Board member, Confederation of Unions for Professional
and Managerial Staff in Finland (Akava),
Akava representative 3/3
Jorma Malinen 1959 Automation Designer President, Trade Union Pro 3/3
Matti Mettälä 1963 Master of Laws trained on the bench EVP, Kesko Corporation 3/3
Outi Mäkelä 1974
Master of Science (Economics and Business
Administration) Municipal Manager, Nurmijärvi 3/3
Olli Nikula 1967 Master of Economic Sciences CEO, Saint-Gobain Finland Ltd 3/3
Silja Paavola, until 15 August 2024 1956 Practical Nurse Chair, Finnish Union of Practical Nurses (SuPer) 2/2
Saila Ruuth 1981 Master of Political Science
Vice President, Trade Union for the Public and
Welfare Sectors (JHL) 2/3
Millariikka Rytkönen 1975
Midwifery, Bachelor’s Degree,
Nursing, Master’s Degree
Chair, Union of Health and Social Care Professionals
in Finland (Tehy) 3/3
Annika Rönni-Sällinen 1976 Master of Laws President, Service Union United (PAM) 3/3
70Report of the Board of Directors 2024 Corporate governance
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Under the Decree on the Rules of Procedure
of Employment Fund (862/1998), Employ-
ment Fund must have a Board of Directors
composed of 14 members. The members are
appointed by the Supervisory Board and
seven of the members must be representa-
tives of employer organisations and seven
employee representatives. The Board of
Directors must have a chair and vice chair,
one of whom must be an employer repre-
sentative and the other one an employee
representative. The chairmanship is held
in turn by representatives of employers and
employees, alternating annually.
The Board of Directors constitutes a quo-
rum when the chair or the vice chair and at
least seven other members are present, or
take part in the meeting using a data con-
nection or other technical tool.
Those present must include both employer
and employee representatives. The deci-
sions of the Board of Directors are based on
a simple majority. In the event of a tie, the
decision is based on the opinion supported
by the chair of the meeting. If the question
concerns a proposal for unemployment
insurance contributions and the voting
ends in a tie, the opinion supported by both
the chair and the vice chair becomes the
decision.
The Board of Directors is responsible for
Employment Fund’s administration and
the proper organisation of its operations.
The Board of Directors follows the develop-
ment of Employment Fund with the help of
monthly reports and other information de-
livered by the management. The key tasks
and operating principles of Employment
Fund’s Board of Directors are set out in the
Government Decree on the Rules of Proce-
dure of Employment Fund (862/1998) and in
the Board’s written rules of procedure. The
Board carries out a self-assessment of its
activities each year.
71Report of the Board of Directors 2024
The members of the Board of Directors in 2024 were:
Name Year of birth Education Main occupation
Attendance at
meetings of the
Board of Directors
Pekka Piispanen, chair 1960 Master of Arts
Director, Confederation of Unions for Professional and
Managerial Staff in Finland (Akava) 11/11
Vesa Rantahalvari, vice chair 1967 Master of Administrative Sciences
Chief Policy Adviser, Confederation of
Finnish Industries (EK) 11/11
Tuomas Aarto 1973
Master of Laws trained on the
bench CEO, Management, Service Sector Employers (PALTA) 11/11
Jarkko Eloranta 1966 Master of Political Science
President, Central Organisation of
Finnish Trade Unions (SAK) 8/11
Minna Etu-Seppälä 1972
Master of Laws trained on the
bench Director, Chemical Industry Federation of Finland (KT) 11/11
Riikka Heikinheimo 1963 Doctor of Philosophy Director, Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK) 10/11
Minna Helle 1972 Master of Laws CEO, Technology Industries of Finland 10/11
Markku Jalonen 1960 Licentiate of Social Sciences
Managing Director, Local Government and
County Employers (KT) 11/11
Patrizio Lainà 1985
Doctor of Political Science, Master
of Economic Sciences
Chief Economist, Finnish Confederation of Professionals
(STTK) 10/11
Henrika Nybondas-Kangas 1974
Master of Laws trained on the
bench
Director of Negotiations, Local Government and
County Employers (KT) 9/11
Antti Palola 1959 Sea Captain President, Finnish Confederation of Professionals (STTK) 10/11
Saana Siekkinen 1972 Master of Social Sciences
Director, Central Organisation of
Finnish Trade Unions (SAK) 11/11
Heikki Taulu 1973 Master of Social Sciences
Economist, Confederation of Unions for Professional and
Managerial Staff in Finland (Akava) 11/11
Pirjo Väänänen 1971 Master of Social Services
Head of Social Affairs, Central Organisation of
Finnish Trade Unions (SAK) 11/11
Corporate governance
72Report of the Board of Directors 2024 Corporate governance
At its meeting on 29 August 2024, the
Supervisory Board of Employment Fund
elected the members of the Fund’s Board of
Directors for 2025. In 2025, the Board of Di-
rectors comprises the following members:
Tuomas Aarto, Taina Ahvenjärvi, Minna
Etu-Seppälä, Minna Helle, Vesa Ranta-
halvari, Markku Jalonen, Henrika Nybon-
das-Kangas, Pekka Piispanen, Heikki Taulu,
Ilkka Kaukoranta, Saana Siekkinen, Pirjo
Väänänen, Patrizio Lainà, and Antti Palola.
Markku Jalonen, representing employers,
was elected chair of the Board for 2025, and
Saana Siekkinen, representing employees,
was elected vice chair.
Meeting practice and access to information
The chair convenes the meeting of the
Board of Directors. The notice concerning
the meeting of the Board of Directors must
be delivered to all members in good time
before the meeting in order to ensure that
the members of the Board of Directors are
able to attend the meeting. The Board of
Directors meets 8–12 times each year and,
if necessary, more often.
If all the members approve, the meeting
of the Board of Directors may be held as a
telephone conference or via email in case
ofurgentandspecificmatters.
Chair’s duties
The Supervisory Board elects the chair and
the vice chair of the Board of Directors for
one calendar year at a time. In 2024, the
Board was chaired by Pekka Piispanen,
representing the employees.
Chair of the Board
• convenes the meetings of the Board of
Directors
• approves the agenda prepared by the
Managing Director for the meetings of
the Board of Directors
• is responsible for ensuring that minutes
are drafted of every meeting of the
Board of Directors
• maintains contacts with the Managing
Director and members of the Board
of Directors between meetings, as
necessary, and is responsible for
ensuring that these rules of procedure
are complied with in the work of the
Board of Directors
• approves the invoices of the Managing
Director.
73Report of the Board of Directors 2024 Corporate governance
Operations of the Board of Directors
In 2024, the Board of Directors met 11 times.
The Board of Directors also held a strategy
seminar for which no remuneration is paid.
The Board of Directors assesses its own
activities and operating practices as well
as the activities and operating practices of
the audit committee each year. In 2024, the
assessment was carried out as a self-as-
sessment and its results were discussed at
the Board meeting in December.
AUDIT COMMITTEE
On the basis of the rules applying to Em-
ployment Fund, the Board of Directors
does not have any permanent committees.
However, it can decide to establish work-
ing groups or committees for the purpose
of assisting the Board of Directors with the
preparation of certain matters falling with-
in the competence of the Board of Directors.
The Board of Directors has had an audit
committee since 2019.
The members of the audit committee are
appointed by the Fund’s Board of Directors
from among its members. Under the audit
committee’s rules of procedure, the com-
mittee must have at least four members,
half of whom represent employees and
half represent employers. The audit com-
mittee assists the Board of Directors. The
audit committee has no decision-making
powers but it can submit proposals and
reports to the Board of Directors on the
tasks assigned to it. The audit committee is
primarily responsible for preparing mat-
tersrelatedtofinancialreporting,internal
control, risk management and the selection
of auditors.
In 2024, the audit committee met four
times.
Audit committee
Attendance at
meetings
Pirjo Väänänen, chair 4/4
Henrika Nybondas-Kangas, vice
chair 4/4
Riikka Heikinheimo 3/4
Heikki Taulu 4/4
74Report of the Board of Directors 2024
MANAGING DIRECTOR
Employment Fund has a Managing Director who is responsible for
the Fund’s management in accordance with the guidelines and
orders issued by the Board of Directors. The Managing Director is
responsible for ensuring that Employment Fund’s accounts are in
accordancewiththelawandthatitsfinancialaffairshavebeen
arranged in a reliable manner. The Managing Director must pro-
vide the Board of Directors and its members with the information
necessary for the Board of Directors to perform its duties.
Janne Metsämäki, LL.M. (b. 1960) serves as Employment Fund’s
Managing Director. Karo Nukarinen, M.Sc. (Econ.) (b. 1976) serves
as the Fund’s Deputy Managing Director.
MANAGEMENT GROUP
The Management Group assists the Managing Director in the
management of Employment Fund’s operations and in achieving
Employment Fund’s strategic and operational goals. The Manage-
ment Group meets on a weekly basis. In 2024, the members of the
Management Group were:
Name
Year of
birth
Education
Duties/
responsibilities
Janne Metsämäki 1960 Master of Laws Managing Director
Virpi Halme 1976 Master of Laws
Director, Technology
and Development
Katja Knaapila 1966
Master of Business
Administration
Director, HR and
Communication
Karo Nukarinen 1976
Master of Economic
Sciences
Chief Financial
Officer
Tuulikki Saari 1979 Master of Arts
Director, Customer
Relations
In addition to the Management Group, the Managing Director is al-
so assisted in operational management by the Extended Manage-
ment Group, which in addition to the Management Group, also has
thefollowingmembers:PaulaKuntsi-Ruuska,RiskManager;Antti
Lähde,HeadofPMO;JohannaRahunen,ServiceManager;Terhi
Savikko-Talasrinne, Communications Manager (in Change Lead
role,autumn2024);LottaHietaniemi-Sipakko,ActingCommuni-
cationsManager(autumn2024);PekkaRäsänen,CISO;andEmma
Siekkinen, Development Specialist (personnel representative). The
extended Management Group meets each month. The Fund’s pro-
jects are also steered and monitored by the Portfolio Management
Group.
LEGALITY AND COMPLIANCE OF OPERATIONS
Employment Fund’s operations comply with the law, the guide-
lines and regulations applying to the Fund, and the requirements
of good governance.
INTERNAL CONTROL AND RISK MANAGEMENT
Employment Fund’s Board of Directors decides on the criteria for
the Fund’s internal control and risk management, approves the
Fund’s risk management principles and requires that Employment
Fund’s operations are organised so as to enable adequate internal
control and risk management across every level of the organisa-
tion and in all its activities. The principles of Employment Fund’s
internal control and risk management apply to all functions of the
Fund and each employee is responsible for implementing them.
Corporate governance
75Report of the Board of Directors 2024
Risk management and compliance are
part of internal control. Risk management
means the systematic and proactive way
of identifying, analysing and managing
threats and opportunities arising from the
operations.
The purpose of the compliance is to en-
sure that Employment Fund complies with
existing regulation, external instructions
binding on the Fund and the Fund’s own
internal guidelines. The focus is on preven-
tive activities.
Corporate governance
Employment Fund’s internal control is based on the ‘three lines of defence’ model.
Managing Director and Management Group
Audit
and
supervisory
authorities
Operatiivisen
johdon
sisäinen
valvonta
Board of Directors and Audit Committee
Supervisory Board
Internal
control of
operational
management
Internal
control
procedures
Risk
management
Compliance Internal audit
1.
Line of defence
2.
Line of defence
3.
Line of defence
76Report of the Board of Directors 2024 Corporate governance
Internal audit
The Board of Directors of Employment
Fund decides on the operating model and
criteria for the Fund’s internal audit. The
Fund’s internal audit operates on the basis
of the plans discussed by the audit commit-
tee and approved by the Board of Directors.
In 2024, the internal audit of Employment
Fund was purchased from Pricewater-
houseCoopers Oy. The Fund’s internal audit
reports on its operations to the Board of
Directors and the audit committee on a
regular basis.
Principles of organising
insider administration
Employment Fund has issued publicly
quoted bonds. Employment Fund complies
with the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR)
and other applicable legislation, insider
guidelines and the rules for issuers of other
instruments of Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd. Em-
ployment Fund also has insider guidelines
approved by the Board of Directors, which
describe the most important principles
governing the insider matters of Employ-
ment Fund.
In accordance with MAR requirements,
Employment Fund maintains a list of
persons in management positions and
their related parties. The members of the
Supervisory Board, members of the Board
of Directors, the Managing Director and the
ChiefFinancialOfficerhavebeendefined
by Employment Fund as persons holding
management positions. A person holding a
management position in Employment Fund
may not, directly or indirectly, trade with an
EmploymentFund’sfinancialinstrument
for their own account or for the account of
a third party during a closed period, regard-
less of whether the person in question has
inside information at that time.
For the duration of the closed period, Em-
ployment Fund also imposes trading re-
strictionsonallseparatelydefinedpersons
participating in the preparation of Employ-
mentFund’sinterimfinancialreportand
financialstatementrelease.Theclosedpe-
riod lasts for 30 days before the publication
ofthestatutoryinterimfinancialreportor
thefinancialstatementrelease,including
the date of the publication. Employment
Fund has also decided to voluntary com-
ply with the 30-day closed period policy (i)
before the publication in spring of the es-
timate of unemployment insurance contri-
butions presented to the Ministry of Social
AffairsandHealthforthefollowingyear;
(ii) before the publication in August of the
proposal of Employment Fund’s Board of
Directors for the level of the unemployment
insurance contributions for the following
year;and(iii)beforethepublicationin
August of the budget and the Supervisory
Board’s proposal for the amounts of un-
employment insurance contributions for
the following year. This is because Em-
ployment Fund’s future developments are
assessed in these documents.
Employment Fund establishes an insider
list for each individual project, in which the
details of the persons with access to that
particular insider information is entered
(project-specificinsiderlists).Employment
Fund does not maintain the insider list’s
supplementary section listing permanent
insidersbutonlytheproject-specificlists
are used. Employment Fund has a person
77Report of the Board of Directors 2024 Corporate governance
responsible for insider issues who carries
out the duties of Employment Fund’s in-
sider administration. Employment Fund
has a procedure by which one can report
asuspectedbreachoffinancialmarket
provisions and regulations through an
independent channel. Employment Fund’s
anonymous whistleblower system serves
as the Fund’s reporting channel and it is
accessible on Employment Fund’s internal
intranet website and on its public website.
Principles concerning related parties
The regulations on related-party transac-
tions set out in the Limited Liability Com-
panies Act are not applicable to Employ-
ment Fund’s operations. However, the Fund
complies with the framework of the IFRS
standards and guidelines regarding relat-
ed-partytransactions(IAS24).Thefollow-
ing parties are considered as related parties
of Employment Fund: members and deputy
members of the Board of Directors and
the Supervisory Board, Managing Director,
Deputy Managing Director and the mem-
bers of the Management Group as well as
the family members or other close relatives
of the above persons or the organisations
controlled by them.
Transactions involving related parties are
handled in accordance with the guidelines
on related-party transactions approved by
the Board of Directors. The list of related
parties is maintained by Employment
Fund’sComplianceOfficer.
AUDITOR AND AUDITOR’S FEES
The Supervisory Board of Employment
Fund selected KPMG Oy as the Fund’s audi-
tor for 2024.
Marcus Tötterman, Authorised Public Ac-
countant, KHT, acted as the main auditor.
The auditor’s fees for 2024 comprise EUR
94,714 in audit-related costs paid to KPMG
Oy and EUR 0 paid for other services.
78Report of the Board of Directors 2024 Remuneration report
Remuneration report
Employment Fund is not a limited liabil-
ity company and thus the regulations on
remuneration principles and reporting are
not directly applicable to the Fund’s opera-
tions. Therefore, Employment Fund’s remu-
neration report for 2024 has been drawn
up, where applicable for Employment Fund,
in compliance with the Finnish Corporate
GovernanceCode2025(www.cgfinland.
fi),publishedbytheSecuritiesMarket
Association.
FEES AND OTHER BENEFITS PAID TO THE
MEMBERS OF THE SUPERVISORY BOARD
On 29 November 2023, on the proposal of
the labour market parties, the Government
appointed the members of Employment
Fund’s Supervisory Board for the term 1
January 2024–31 December 2026.
The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health
decides on the remuneration for meet-
ings for the Supervisory Board and the
principles of compensation for travelling
expenses.
On 29 November 2023, the Ministry of
Social Affairs and Health decided that the
fees for the members of the Supervisory
Board are as follows: for the chair, EUR 330
per month and EUR 440 per meeting, for
the vice chair and other members, EUR 330
per meeting. The Supervisory Board met
three times in 2024.
79Report of the Board of Directors 2024
In 2024, the fees paid to the members of the Supervisory Board were as follows:
Meeting fee of the
Supervisory Board
members
Annual fee of the
Supervisory Board
chair Travelling expenses
Total on 31
December 2024
Attendance at meetings
of the Supervisory Board
Antti Zitting, chair 1,320 3,960 228 5,508 3/3
Riku Aalto, vice chair 990 0 990 3/3
Maria Kaisa Aula 990 0 222 1,212 3/3
Nina Brask 330 0 330 1/1
Päivi Inberg 330 0 330 1/1
Jari Jokinen 990 0 990 3/3
Teemu Kokko 990 0 990 3/3
Antti Korpiniemi 660 0 660 2/3
Tomi Lantto 660 0 660 2/3
Kirsi-Marja Lievonen 0 0 0 0/1
Petri Lindroos 660 0 660 2/3
Salla Luomanmäki 990 0 990 3/3
Jorma Malinen 990 0 990 3/3
Matti Mettälä 990 0 990 3/3
Outi Mäkelä 990 0 990 3/3
Olli Nikula 990 0 990 3/3
Silja Paavola 660 0 660 2/2
Saila Ruuth 660 0 660 2/3
Millariikka Rytkönen 990 0 990 3/3
Annika Rönni-Sällinen 990 0 990 3/3
Total 16,170 3,960 450 20,580
Remuneration report
80Report of the Board of Directors 2024
FEES AND OTHER BENEFITS PAID TO THE
MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The Supervisory Board decides on the remuneration of the Board
of Directors. On 31 August 2023, the Supervisory Board decided that
the fees for the members of the Board of Directors are as follows:
Task Fee EUR per month Fee EUR per meeting
ChairoftheBoard 1,100 440
VicechairoftheBoard 870 330
OthermembersoftheBoard 550 275
No other remuneration or supplementary pension arrangements
are in place for the members of the Board of Directors.
In 2024, the Board of Directors met 11 times. The Board of Directors
also held one strategy meeting, for which no remuneration is paid.
In 2024, the fees paid to the members of the Board of Directors
were as follows:
Name
Annual fees
of the Board
of Directors
Meeting fees
of the Board
of Directors
Total on 31
December
2024
Attendance at
meetings of
the Board of
Directors
Pekka Piispanen,
chair
13,200 4,840
18,040
11/11
Vesa Rantahalvari,
vice chair
10,440 3,630
14,070
11/11
Tuomas Aarto
6,600 3,025
9,625
11/11
Jarkko Eloranta
6,600 2,200
8,800
8/11
Minna Etu-Seppälä
6,600 3,025
9,625
11/11
Riikka Heikinheimo
6,600 2,750
9,350
10/11
Minna Helle
6,600 2,750
9,350
10/11
Markku Jalonen
6,600 3,025
9,625
11/11
Patrizio Lainà
6,600 2,750
9,350
10/11
Henrika
Nybondas-Kangas
6,600 2,475
9,075
9/11
Antti Palola
6,600 2,750
9,350
10/11
Saana Siekkinen
6,600 3,025
9,625
11/11
Heikki Taulu
6,600 3,025
9,625
11/11
Pirjo Väänänen
6,600 3,025
9,625
11/11
Total 102,840 42,295 145,135
Remuneration report
81Report of the Board of Directors 2024
The Supervisory Board decides on the fees paid to the members
of the audit committee. The fees for the audit committee were
EUR440permeetingforthechairandEUR275permeetingforthe
members of the committee. In 2024, the audit committee met four
times.
In 2024, the fees paid to the members of the audit committee were
as follows:
Name
Meeting fees
for the audit
committee
Total on 31
December
2024
Attendance at audit
committee meetings
Pirjo Väänänen, chair 1,760 1,760 4/4
Henrika Nybondas-
Kangas, vice chair 1,100 1,100 4/4
Riikka Heikinheimo 825 825 3/4
Heikki Taulu 1,100 1,100 4/4
Total 4,785 4,785
REMUNERATION OF ORGANS AND PERSONNEL
IN THE PERIOD 2020–2024
The remuneration of the members of the Supervisory Board and
the Board of Directors of Employment Fund as well as the Manag-
ing Director and staff members have developed as follows during
thepastfivefinancialperiods:
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Supervisory Board
1)
Chair of the Supervisory Board 4,524
4,700
4,738 4,540 5,508
Vice chair of the Supervisory
Board 600
944
620 726 990
Member of the Supervisory
Board
2)
484
825
410 567 715
Board of Directors
1)
Chair of the Board 16,800
16,800
16,460 16,870 18,040
Vice chair of the Board 13,200
13,200
13,250 13,250 14,070
Member of the Board
3)
9,154
8,577
9,220 9,466 9,826
Managing Director
4)
167,034
170,426
178,559 187,901 189,981
Employment Fund’s personnel
5)
52,061
60,257
57,790 61,480 80,613
1)
Annual fees of the Supervisory Board and the Board of Directors include month-
ly and meeting fees and travel expenses.
2)
Average annual fee
3)
Meeting fees for Board meetings and separate fees for audit committee meet-
ings have been included in the average fees for Board members
4)
Salaries,fringebenefitsandvariableperformance-relatedbonus
5)
Personnel expenses without social security contributions divided by the aver-
age number of personnel (person-years). Do not include the remuneration of the
Managing Director.
Remuneration report
82Report of the Board of Directors 2024
REMUNERATION SCHEME FOR THE MANAGING DIRECTOR
A separate remuneration scheme approved by the Board of Di-
rectors applies to the Managing Director. The Board of Directors
decides on the payment of any bonuses. The bonuses of the other
management members are based on a remuneration scheme ap-
proved by the Board of Directors. Based on a proposal of the Man-
aging Director, and in accordance with approved bonus criteria, the
Board of Directors decides on the payment of bonuses.
ThesalariesandotherbenefitsandfeespaidtotheManaging
Director for 2024 are shown in the following table. Social security
contributions are excluded.
Position
Salary
and fringe
benefits
Variable
performance-
related bonus
1 Jan–31 Dec
2024
1 Jan–31 Dec
2023
Managing
Director 177,198 12,783 189,981 187,901
TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT OF THE MANAGING DIRECTOR
The Managing Director’s terms of employment have been deter-
mined by the Board of Directors and they are stated in a written
employment contract. The remuneration of the Managing Direc-
torconsistsofafixedsalaryandavariableperformance-related
bonus. Performance targets and any remuneration to be paid are
approvedbytheBoardofDirectors.ThefixedsalaryoftheMan-
aging Director comprises a monetary compensation and taxable
benefits(meal,telephoneandcarbenefits).Theretirementageand
pension accrual of the Managing Director are based on the gener-
al employment pension legislation. The Fund has not provided a
supplementary pension arrangement for the Managing Director.
The Managing Director’s notice period is based on the Employment
Contracts Act for both parties.
Remuneration report
83Report of the Board of Directors 2024
REMUNERATION FOR THE MANAGEMENT GROUP
The remuneration of Employment Fund’s Management Group con-
sistsofafixedsalaryandatelephonebenefitaswellasavariable
performance-related bonus. In 2024, the maximum bonus was set
at12%oftheannualsalaryincludingfringebenefits.Thefixedsal-
arycomprisesamonetarycompensationandtaxablebenefits.
The Management Group’s performance-related bonus is based on
a remuneration scheme approved by the Board of Directors each
year. Based on a proposal of the Managing Director, and in accord-
ance with approved bonus criteria, the Board of Directors decides
on the payment of bonuses.
ThesalariesandotherbenefitsandfeespaidtotheManagement
Group during 2024 are shown in the following table. Social security
contributions are excluded.
Position
Salary
and fringe
benefits
Variable
performance-
related bonus
1 Jan–31 Dec
2024
1 Jan–31 Dec
2023
Management
Group 541,228 27,324 568,552 545,637
TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT OF THE MANAGING GROUP
The terms of employment for Management Group members have
beendefinedinawrittencontract.Theretirementageandpension
accrual of the Management Group members are based on the gen-
eral employment pension legislation. The Fund has not provided a
supplementary pension arrangement for the Management Group
members. The Management Group members’ notice period is de-
finedintheemploymentcontractforbothparties.
Remuneration report
84
Financial
statements
85Financial statements 2024
Financial statements (IFRS) 2024
Statement of changes in net position
STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN NET POSITION
ThefiguresareinEURthousand.
Change in net position Note 1 Jan–31 Dec 2024 1 Jan–31 Dec 2023
Contributions collected
Unemployment insurance contributions and other income 5 2,347,151 3,627,462
Unemployment insurance contributions and other income 2,347,151 3,627,462
Financing contributions paid
Financing contributions paid 6 -3,128,553 -2,900,224
Administrative expenses 7 -34,161 -33,528
Financing contributions paid and administrative expenses -3,162,714 -2,933,752
Net fair value gains on investments 14 68,308 70,642
Financing costs 8 -1,445 -1,293
Change in net position -748,701 763,059
86Financial statements 2024
STATEMENT OF NET POSITION
ThefiguresareinEURthousand.
Assets Note 31 Dec 2024 31 Dec 2023
Non-current assets
Property, plant and equipment 9 2,752 3,210
Intangible assets 10 363 872
Total non-current assets 3,114 4,083
Current assets
Receivables from unemployment
insurance contributions 11 14,032 16,158
Accruals of unemployment insurance
contributions 11 401,914 730,652
Other receivables 13 27,895 108,567
Investment assets 15 1,394,904 1,652,468
Cash and cash equivalents 16 118,538 216,479
Total current assets 1,957,284 2,724,324
Total assets 1,960,398 2,728,407
Net position and liabilities Note 31 Dec 2024 31 Dec 2023
Net position
For previous periods 2,021,036 1,257,977
For the period -748,701 763,059
Total net position 1,272,334 2,021,036
Non-current liabilities
Bonds 17 599,106 598,638
Total non-current liabilities 599,106 598,638
Current liabilities
Unemployment insurance contribution
liabilities 11 307 1,444
Other liabilities 18 88,651 107,289
Total current liabilities 88,958 108,733
Total liabilities 688,064 707,371
Total net position and liabilities 1,960,398 2,728,407
Statement of net position
87Financial statements 2024
STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS
ThefiguresareinEURthousand.
Cash flows 1 Jan–31 Dec 2024 1 Jan–31 Dec 2023
Unemployment insurance contributions collected 2,692,067 3,518,746
Benefitspaid -3,148,470 -2,858,611
Interests paid -370 -5,531
Net cash flow from ordinary operations -456,773 654,603
Cash flows from investments
Purchases of intangible assets 0 -212
Investmentsinfinancialinstruments -2,626,143 -3,794,334
Sales of investment instruments and realised income 2,984,975 3,831,681
Net cash flow from investments 358,832 37,136
Loans withdrawn and repaid 0 -699,971
Net cash flow from financing activities 0 -699,971
Net increase/decrease in cash and cash equivalents -97,941 -8,232
Cashandcashequivalentsatthebeginningofthefinancial
period 216,479 224,711
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the financial period 118,538 216,479
Statementofcashflows
88Financial statements 2024 Notestothefinancialstatements
Notes to the financial statements
1 GENERAL INFORMATION
Employment Fund (‘the Fund’) (business
ID 1098099-7), established in 2019, is an
independent institution managed by la-
bour market parties and supervised by the
Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and
the Financial Supervisory Authority, whose
mainobjectivesaretofinanceunemploy-
mentbenefitsandgrantadulteducation
benefits.TheFundalsodirects,develops
and supervises the implementation of the
collection procedure of unemployment
insurance contributions and determines
and collects the employer’s liability compo-
nent and transition security contribution.
The Fund also grants and pays employ-
er’s training compensations. The train-
ing compensation is based on the Act on
Compensations for Training (1140/2013).
Employment Fund is domiciled in Helsinki
and its address is Itämerenkatu 11–13, 00180
Helsinki.
The principal accounting policies applied
inthefinancialstatementsoftheFundare
set out below. These policies have been
consistentlyappliedtofinancialperiods
presented unless otherwise stated.
2 SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT
ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND
COMPARABILITY OF FINANCIAL PERIODS
2.1 Basis of preparation
EmploymentFund’sfinancialstatements
have been prepared in accordance with In-
ternational Financial Reporting Standards
(IFRS) as adopted by the European Union,
conforming with the IAS and IFRS stand-
ards as well as the SIC and IFRIC interpre-
tations applicable as per 31 December 2024.
IFRS refers to the standards and interpreta-
tions applicable to corporations and set out
in the Finnish Accounting Act and the pro-
visions issued under it in accordance with
the procedure laid down in Regulation (EC)
No 1606/2002 of the European Parliament
andoftheCouncil.Thenotestothefinan-
cial statements also comply with Finnish
accounting and corporate legislation sup-
plementing IFRS standards.
EmploymentFundisanon-profit,gov-
ernment-affiliatedfundwhoseoperations
are based on the Act on the Financing of
UnemploymentBenefits,theDecreeofthe
FinancingofUnemploymentBenefitsand
on the Decree on Rules of Procedure of
Employment Fund with amendments, as
stated in section 1.
Employment Fund collects and pays un-
employment insurance contributions. The
Fund does not carry out business opera-
tions in which it would generate revenues
arising from the sale of goods or rendering
of services. Due to the nature of the Fund’s
Accountingpoliciesofthefinancialstatements
89Financial statements 2024 Notestothefinancialstatements
operations, the Fund does not generate
revenues, and common revenue recognition
principles do not apply. IFRS standards do
not directly regulate the structure of the
IFRSfinancialstatementsofafundlike
Employment Fund, or the basis for recog-
nition and measurement of transactions.
Employment Fund applied the framework
of IFRS standards and general principles
for recognition and measurement when it
prepareditsIFRSfinancialstatements.Due
to these factors, the primary statements of
theFund’sIFRSfinancialstatementsare
the statement of changes in net position,
the statement of net position, and the cash
flowstatement.
Thechangesinnetpositionforthefinan-
cial period consist of the sum of unemploy-
ment insurance contributions collected and
paid,gainsoninvestmentsandfinancial
items. The difference between the Fund’s
assetsandliabilitiesreflectstheaccumu-
lated net position, which is also referred
to as the business cycle buffer. A more
detailed description of the business cycle
buffer is provided in note 4.2. Employment
Fund has no shares or equity. Therefore,
theseIFRSfinancialstatementsdonot
include the statement of changes in equity.
However, the statement of changes in net
position is presented as a separate primary
statement.
Duringthepresentedfinancialperiods,the
Fund did not have any such transactions
that should have been recognised in other
comprehensive income. Therefore, these
IFRSfinancialstatementsdonotincludea
statement of other comprehensive income.
Employment Fund does not operate as an
insurer as it does not issue or hold insur-
ance or reinsurance contracts. Therefore,
the Fund’s operations are not within the
scope of IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts. The
principal valuation method used in the
financialstatementsistheacquisitioncost,
althoughfinancialassetsandliabilitiesrec-
ognisedatfairvaluethroughprofitorloss
aremeasuredatfairvalue.Thefinancial
statements are presented in euros unless
otherwise stated.
Thepreparationoffinancialstatements
in conformity with IFRS requires the use
of certain critical accounting estimates.
It also requires management to exercise
its judgement in the process of applying
theaccountingpoliciesofthefinancial
statements.Thesignificantaccounting
estimates and judgements are described in
note 3.
There are no new IFRS standards or IFRIC
interpretations that are not yet effective
and that would be expected to have a mate-
rial impact on Employment Fund.
90Financial statements 2024 Notestothefinancialstatements
2.2 Foreign currency translation
Thefinancialstatementsarepreparedin
euros, which is Employment Fund’s func-
tional and presentation currency. The
Fund’s foreign currency transactions are
translated into the operating currency at
the exchange rates prevailing on the trans-
action dates. Deposits denominated in for-
eign currencies are measured at fair value
throughprofitandloss,andtheeffectsof
changes in exchange rates have been pre-
sented as part of the total fair value change.
2.3 Unemployment insurance contributions
Employment Fund determines and collects
unemployment insurance contributions
based on chapter 7 of the Act on the Fi-
nancingofUnemploymentBenefits.Em-
ployers report the paid wages to the In-
comes Register. Unemployment insurance
contributions are determined four times
per year based on the earnings payment
data for the three preceding calendar
months. Unemployment insurance contri-
butionincomeisrecognisedinthefinan-
cial statements on an accrual basis, and
the unemployment insurance income for
thefinalquarteroftheyearisrecognisedin
the balance sheet under pre-payments and
accrued income.
Employer’s liability components and
transition security contributions
Employment Fund determines and collects
liability components from employers. The
liability component applies to employers
whose payroll, used as the basis for the
unemployment insurance contribution, ex-
ceedstheminimumlevelofEUR2,337,000
(in 2024). An employer may be obligated
to pay the liability component if it has
dismissed or laid off an aged employee
whose employment relationship has last-
ed at least three years and the employee
has been unemployed or laid off for a long
time.Unemploymentbenefitexpensesare
financedwiththeliabilitycomponents.
Collected liability components that cover
the cost of daily unemployment allowanc-
es are recognised as income for the period
when the amount of income can be relia-
bly measured. In order to cover the cost of
additional daily allowances, the collected
liability components are recognised as
incomewithinseveralfinancialperiods
based on the estimate of the realisation of
corresponding expenses.
91Financial statements 2024 Notestothefinancialstatements
The statutory transition security scheme
entered into force in January 2023. Em-
ployment Fund can collect the transition
security contribution from an employer dis-
missing an employee on production-relat-
edorfinancialgroundsiftheemployeein
question has reached the age of 55 and has
been employed by the employer in question
foratleastfiveyears.Thetransitionsecu-
rity contribution applies to large employers
whose payroll on which the unemployment
insurance contributions are based ex-
ceedsaspecificminimumlevelintheyear
preceding the date of dismissal. In 2024,
the minimum level was EUR 2,337,000.
The additional days of unemployment
allowance will soon be abolished. The
persons born in 1964 are the last age group
eligible for the additional days. This also
means that the employer will no longer
be obliged to pay a liability component for
employees that they have dismissed or laid
off. This means that the transition period
for the liability component will end by the
year 2035.
Transition security is intended for employ-
ees aged 55 or over dismissed on produc-
tion-relatedorfinancialgrounds,andit
contains a transition security allowance,
right to training and an extended job search
leave. The transition security training is
provided by the employment authority
and it corresponds to the maximum of two
months’ wages of the dismissed employee.
The transition security allowance is paid
by the unemployment fund or the Social
Insurance Institution of Finland and it
corresponds to one month’s salary of the
dismissed employee.
EmploymentFundwillfinancethetran-
sition security scheme with a transition
security contribution collected from the
employer. The contribution comprises two
parts of equal size: a common part and a
portion collected from the employer dis-
missing the employee. The common part is
collected from all employers by raising the
unemployment insurance contribution. A
common part of 0.03 percentage points is
included in the unemployment insurance
contributions collected by Employment
Fund from employers. The contributions
collected from individual employers are
recognisedintheresultsforthefinan-
cial period on an accrual basis under the
account category ‘Liability component
and transition security contribution’. The
non-invoiced part of the contributions is
recognised in the balance sheet under pre-
payments and accrued income.
92Financial statements 2024 Notestothefinancialstatements
Reconciliation based on chapter 12, section
3 of the Employment Contracts Act
Under the Employment Contracts Act,
when a court of law considers a reconcili-
ation matter, it must provide Employment
Fund with the opportunity to be heard. As
a rule, 75% of the earnings-related daily
unemployment allowance received by the
employee during the indemnity period is
deducted from the indemnity imposed on
the employer for wrongful termination of
employment. The court must order the em-
ployer to pay the amount deducted from the
compensation to Employment Fund and
informitofthefinaljudgementorruling
on the case. The payment of the deduction
to the Fund must also take place when the
employer and the employee reach a set-
tlement on the compensation payable for
wrongful termination of employment.
Receivables subject to debt-collection
The Fund collects and monitors neglected
unemployment insurance contributions,
those subject to enforcement and the con-
tributions due by companies in bankruptcy
or debt restructuring proceedings. As the
receivablesdonotincludeanysignificant
financialcomponents,theFundhasused
thesimplifiedmodelpermittedbyIFRS9.
2.4 Subsidies to unemployment funds
Under the Act on the Financing of Unem-
ploymentBenefits(555/1998),withregard
tothefinancingofearnings-relatedunem-
ployment allowances, Employment Fund
is liable for the costs incurred from unem-
ployment allowances, employment pro-
motion measures and from job alternation
compensation, insofar as the state or indi-
vidual unemployment funds are not liable
forthese.Theabove-mentionedbenefitsare
paid from the unemployment funds.
Employment Fund is also liable for the
insurance contributions for unemployed
persons and recipients of the adult educa-
tion allowance that are paid through the
Finnish Centre for Pensions to the employ-
ment pension institutions.
Under the Decree on the Implementa-
tion of the Act on Unemployment Funds
(272/2001), Employment Fund is tasked
with processing prepayment applications
and payment decisions and monitoring
thesufficiencyofprepayments.TheFund
makes prepayments to the unemployment
funds twice a month in accordance with
the budget approved at the end of the pre-
viousfinancialperiod.TheFundreceives
monthly statistics from the Financial
Supervisory Authority on the accumulat-
ed allowances paid by the unemployment
funds to their customers, and based on that,
the Fund has accrued the prepayments and
actual payments to each unemployment
fund either as a receivable or liability in
its accounts. This accrual is recognised by
benefittype.Transitionsecurityallowance
wasaddedtothebenefittypesofferedby
the unemployment funds from 1 January
2023.Transitionsecurityisusedtofi-
nance expenses arising from the transition
93Financial statements 2024 Notestothefinancialstatements
security allowance paid to dismissed em-
ployees aged 55 and over.
The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health
pays to Employment Fund the government
contributions that the Fund pays to the
unemploymentfundsasfinancingcontri-
butions. The Fund transfers the prepay-
ments of government contributions to the
unemploymentfundsonthefirstbanking
day of each month. In 2024, the Ministry of
Social Affairs and Health paid government
contributionstotheFundasfixedmonthly
prepayments unless otherwise proposed by
Employment Fund.
The income received from the minis-
tries and the expenses paid to the unem-
ployment funds have been recognised
inamountscorrespondingtothebenefit
payments made by the funds to their cus-
tomers. The Ministry of Social Affairs and
Healthwillapprovethefinancialstate-
ments of the unemployment funds on the
basisoffinalinformationinsummer2025,
at which point the Fund will make equal-
isations in the account balances between
the unemployment funds and the state.
Under section 4 of the Act on the Financing
ofUnemploymentBenefits,Employment
Fund has sole responsibility for funding the
increased earnings-related component laid
down in section 6 of the Unemployment
Security Act. From the beginning of 2015,
the means by which the higher income
earnings-related unemployment allowanc-
es are calculated was changed so that the
level of allowances decreased slightly. The
same change was carried out regarding the
supplementary earnings-related allowanc-
es. These changes implement the reduction
ofunemploymentallowancesasspecified
in the Finnish Government’s framework de-
cision. The change has decreased expenses
related to earnings-related daily unemploy-
ment allowances. To implement govern-
ment savings, Employment Fund pays the
amount of savings (about EUR 50.3 million)
yearly to the Social Insurance Institution of
Finlandtofinancebasicsocialsecurityun-
der section 23 of the Act on the Financing
ofUnemploymentBenefits(555/1998).
Payments to the Finnish Centre
for Pensions and State Pension
Fund and the interest on them
Employment Fund’s second-largest ex-
pense item has been the contribution paid
to the Finnish Centre for Pensions to cover
the pension liabilities and expenses arising
from taking into account the time of un-
employment, education and job alternation
leave (sections 74 and 182 of the Employees
Pensions Act [395/2006]). The amount of
this contribution is determined by estimat-
ing the average amount of pension contri-
butions that would be paid for the unpaid
periods that constitute the basis of the ac-
crued pension security. As stated above, the
Fund is liable to pay the contribution laid
down in sections 62 and 133 of the State
Employees’ Pensions Act (1295/2006) to the
State Pension Fund.
Payments made to the Finnish Centre for
Pensionsforthefinancialperiodinaccord-
ance with section 12c of the Employees
Pensions Act (561/1998) are based on an
estimate provided by the Finnish Centre
forPensionsandadjustedinthefinancial
statements. The difference between the
94Financial statements 2024 Notestothefinancialstatements
payments made and the adjusted estimate
is recognised as prepayments and accrued
income or accruals and deferred income.
Thefinalpaymentamountisreceivedfrom
the Finnish Centre for Pensions in the
springoftheyearfollowingthefinancial
period,andthedifferencebetweenthefinal
payment and payment estimate used in
thefinancialstatementsispresentedasan
adjustment, an equalisation payment for
the previous year, in the following year’s
financialstatements.Therevisedpayment
for the year and the equalisation payment
forthepreviousyearhavebeenspecifiedin
thenotestothefinancialstatements.
The Finnish Centre for Pensions assigns
interest on the charges imposed on Em-
ployment Fund according to the TyEL
premium insurance interest rate. The
revisedpaymentincludedinthefinancial
statements accrues interest until the end of
thefinancialperiod(debitinginterest).The
Finnish Centre for Pensions refunds the
interest to Employment Fund according to
the actual payments and times of payment
(compensatory interest).
Thefinalpaymentamountdeterminedin
the following year accrues interest until the
clearance date agreed between the Finn-
ish Centre for Pensions and Employment
Fund (previous year’s debiting interest).
Compensatory interest is correspondingly
calculated for all payments made by the
Fund in the previous year (compensatory
interest for the previous year’s payments).
The debiting and compensatory interests
for payments to the State Pension Fund
are calculated in a manner identical to the
above.
Settlement to the Social Insurance
Institution of Finland of income
from the unemployment insurance
contributions of employees who are not
members of unemployment funds
Under sections 8 and 23 of the Act on
the Financing of Unemployment Bene-
fits(555/1998),theFundmakesanannual
prepayment to the Social Insurance Institu-
tion of Finland from the employees’ unem-
ployment insurance contribution income,
corresponding to the percentage of employ-
ees who are not members of unemployment
funds. The amount of the settlement is
estimated from data collected by Statistics
Finland, and the estimate is approved by
the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.
Thefinalamountofthepaymentisbased
on a calculation prepared by the Ministry
of Social Affairs and Health of the amount
ofbenefitsfinancedinthismannerpaidby
the Social Insurance Institution of Finland
duringthefinancialperiod.Transitionse-
curityallowancewasaddedtothebenefits
financedfrom1January2023.Transition
securityisusedtofinanceexpensesarising
from the transition security allowance of
dismissed employees aged 55 and over who
are not members of unemployment funds.
Adult education benefits
Employment Fund grants and pays adult
education allowance and scholarships
forqualifiedemployeesinaccordance
withtheActonAdultEducationBenefits
(1276/2000). Employment Fund is also
responsibleforfinancingtheadultedu-
cation allowance scheme for employees
andscholarshipsforqualifiedemployees
working for employers other than central
95Financial statements 2024 Notestothefinancialstatements
government. The state is responsible for
financingtheadulteducationallowance
scheme for entrepreneurs and scholarships
forqualifiedemployeesworkingforcentral
government.Theresponsibilityforfinanc-
ingisspecifiedinsection30oftheActon
AdultEducationBenefits.Adulteducation
benefitswillbeabolishedbytheactthat
entered into force on 1 June 2024. Adult
education allowance and scholarships for
qualifiedemployeeswillonlybegranted
during a transition period, and the granting
of the adult education allowance will end
on 31 December 2025.
Financing of pay security
Under section 31 of the Pay Security Act
(866/1998), Employment Fund is responsi-
ble for the state’s pay security expenses.
Pay security expenses are paid once per
year, normally in the spring of the following
year, to the Ministry of Economic Affairs
and Employment, based on an invoice sent
by the Ministry.
Transition security training
The transition security scheme that en-
tered into force from the start of 2023
includes transition security training for
employees aged 55 and over dismissed on
production-relatedorfinancialgrounds.
EmploymentFundisresponsibleforfi-
nancing the training. Employees covered
by transition security are eligible for tran-
sition security training corresponding to
pay of two months purchased by employ-
ment authorities. The Development and
Administration Centre for ELY Centres and
employment authorities (KEHA) compiles
the information on training expenses and
invoices them on a quarterly basis from
Employment Fund in accordance with ac-
tual costs.
Member State invoicing for
unemployment allowances
Article 65 of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004
of the European Parliament and of the
Council on the coordination of social se-
curity systems (basic regulation) provides
for situations in which a person becomes
unemployed after working in a Member
State other than their country of residence.
In Finland, Employment Fund has been
designated as the competent body when
implementing this basic regulation with
regard to earnings-related unemployment
insurance. The Fund’s responsibilities
include the payment and collection of the
compensation laid down in paragraphs 6
and 7 of Article 65, incurred from unem-
ployment allowance paid to the members of
unemployment funds.
The Fund applies for compensation from
Member States depending on how the
unemployment funds have paid the unem-
ployment allowances to those who have
been working in another Member State. In
turn, Member States apply for compensa-
tion from Employment Fund for citizens of
other Member States that have worked in
Finland.Thebenefitswillbefullyrepaid
but not more than the amount that would
have been paid in the country of employ-
ment. Income and expenses are recognised
on a cash basis.
96Financial statements 2024 Notestothefinancialstatements
Training compensation
Employment Fund manages employers’
training compensations. The training com-
pensation is based on the Act on Compen-
sations for Training (1140/2013). The train-
ingcompensationisafinancialsupportto
develop competence for those employers
who are not eligible for a training deduc-
tion granted by the Business Income Tax
Act or Agricultural Income Tax Act. These
employers include municipalities, parishes
andnon-profitorganisations.Thepurpose
of the training compensation is to improve
the employer’s opportunities to organise
training for its employees so that they can
enhance their vocational competence.
Training compensation can be granted
for a maximum of three training days per
employeeannually.Thefinancingoftrain-
ing compensation has been designated so
that each calendar year, the Ministry of
Finance pays the amount that the Fund has
refunded to employers in the form of train-
ing compensation based on an application
from Employment Fund.
Pensions and employee benefits
EmploymentFundonlyhasdefinedcontri-
bution pension schemes. Statutory pen-
sions are managed by a pension insurance
provider. Pension contributions are recog-
nisedasexpensesforthefinancialperiod
in which the payments are incurred. The
Fund has a bonus system for its employ-
ees. The Board of Directors decides on the
payment of any bonuses on the Managing
Director’s proposal and in compliance with
the bonus criteria. Realised bonuses are
recognisedasexpensesforthefinancial
period relevant to the bonus system.
2.5 Property, plant and equipment
Property, plant and equipment comprises
the Fund’s machinery and equipment and
the leasehold improvements. Property,
plant and equipment are measured in the
statement of net position at the historical
cost minus the accumulated depreciation
and impairment charges.
Leasehold improvements are added to the
premises improvement’s carrying amount
when it is probable that future economic
benefitsassociatedwiththeitemwillflow
to the Fund. The expenses of ordinary re-
pair and maintenance costs are reported in
the period in which they are incurred.
Depreciation on property, plant and equip-
ment is calculated using the straight-line
method over their estimated useful lives.
97Financial statements 2024 Notestothefinancialstatements
As a rule, the residual value is estimated to
be zero. Assets’ residual values and useful
livesarereviewedwhenfinancialstate-
ments are prepared. Depreciation periods
areadjustediftheestimatechangessignifi-
cantly. Estimated useful lives by asset class
are as follows:
• Leasehold improvements 5 years
• Machines and equipment 3 years
Gains and losses on disposal and decom-
missioning of property, plant and equip-
ment are calculated as the difference be-
tween net proceeds and the carrying value.
Gains and losses on disposals are included
in the administrative expenses in the state-
ment of changes in net position.
2.6 Intangible assets
Intangibleassetswithfiniteusefullife
comprise acquired or internally produced
computer software, and other intangible
assets when it is probable that future eco-
nomicbenefitsassociatedwiththeasset
willflowtotheFundandthecostcanbe
measured reliably. Implementation costs
related to the cloud computing service ar-
rangement, which is a service contract, are
primarily recorded as expenses incurred
when the relevant implementation service
is obtained. Implementation costs related
to the cloud service arrangement are only
capitalised and amortised over a longer
period of time in cases where the imple-
mentation service is not distinct from the
service that allows access to the software,
or when the costs relate to the creation of a
separate intangible asset.
The cost of an internally generated intan-
gibleassetisdefinedasthesumofdirectly
attributable production costs allocated to
the asset.
Costs associated with maintaining com-
puter software are reported as expenses
incurred. Research costs are recognised as
anexpenseinthefinancialperiodinwhich
they are incurred. Development costs that
are attributable to the design and testing
ofnewsoftware,ortosignificantchanges
to existing software, are capitalised only
when they meet the above-mentioned cri-
teria for the activation of intangible as-
setsspecifiedinInternationalAccounting
Standards (IAS 38) referred to above.
Intangibleassetswithfiniteusefullifeare
measured at historical cost less amortisa-
tion and impairment charges. Amortisation
of intangible assets is calculated using the
straight-line method over their useful lives.
Estimated useful lives by asset class are as
follows:
• Computer software 3 years
• Softwaredevelopmentexpenses3years
98Financial statements 2024 Notestothefinancialstatements
2.7 Impairment of non-financial assets
Attheendofeachfinancialperiod,itisas-
sessed whether there have been any events
or changes in circumstances that indicate
that the value of an intangible asset or
an item of property, plant and equipment
subject to amortisation or depreciation may
have changed. If there are any indicators
of impairment, the recoverable amount is
determined.
The recoverable amount is the asset’s fair
value less the costs of disposal or the value
in use, whichever is higher. Value in use
refers to the asset’s expected future net
cashflowsthathavebeendiscountedto
net present value by using the determined
discount rate. An impairment loss is rec-
ognised in the statement of changes in
net position for the amount by which the
asset’s carrying value exceeds its recovera-
ble amount. The useful life of a depreciated
asset is reviewed in connection with the
recognition of impairment losses.
Impairments are reversed if circumstances
change and an asset’s recoverable amount
changes after the recognition of the impair-
ment but not to an amount higher than the
carrying value would be without the im-
pairment charge.
2.8 Financial assets and liabilities
Financial assets
Employment Fund applies the IFRS 9 (Fi-
nancial Instruments) standard, which was
published by the International Accounting
Standards Board and took effect on 1 Jan-
uary2018.IFRS9specifieshowanentity
shouldclassifyandmeasurefinancial
assets. It also includes a model for impair-
ment charges based on expected losses and
general requirements for hedge accounting.
IFRS9requiresfinancialassetstobeclas-
sifiedintothreemeasurementcategories:
those measured at amortised cost, those
measured at fair value through other com-
prehensive income and those measured
atfairvaluethroughprofitandloss.For
financialliabilities,thestandardretains
most of the IAS 39 requirements. For im-
pairment, a model based on expected credit
losses is used.
EmploymentFund’sfinancialassetscon-
sist of investments (note 15) as well as cash
and cash equivalents (note 16). On the date
of acquisition, the management of the Fund
classifiesthefinancialassetsintoclasses
that determine the basis of valuation. All
financialassetsarerecognisedonthetrade
date (the day when the Fund commits to
buy or sell the asset).
99Financial statements 2024 Notestothefinancialstatements
Investments are presented in the statement
of net position as current assets unless
their maturity is over 12 months and the
management intends to dispose of them
more than 12 months after the reporting
date.
Investments are initially recognised at fair
value. Transaction costs are recognised di-
rectly as expenses. After initial recognition,
the investments are measured at fair value
on each reporting date, and realised and
unrealised changes in fair value are recog-
nised in the statement of changes in net
position in the period in which they arise.
Net changes in fair value are presented in
the statement of changes in net position
on the line ‘Net income from measuring
investments at fair value’. All interest and
dividend income from investments are
included in the net change of the fair value.
Thebasisfordefiningfairvalueispresent-
ed in note 14.
Financial assets are de-recognised when
therightstoreceivecashflowshaveex-
pired or have been transferred to another
party such that all the risks and rewards
have been transferred.
Cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash
in hand and deposits held at call with
banks.
Loans
Loans are recognised initially at fair value,
the net of the transaction costs incurred.
Loans are subsequently carried at amor-
tised cost. Any difference between the
proceeds (net of transaction costs) and
the redemption value is recognised in the
statement of changes in net position over
the period of the loan using the effective
interest method.
Fees paid on loan facilities are recognised
as the transaction costs of the loan to the
extent that it is probable that some or all of
the facility will be withdrawn. In this case,
the fee is deferred and recognised in the
statement of net position until the loan is
withdrawn. To the extent there is no evi-
dence that it is probable that some or all
the loans of the facility will be withdrawn,
the fee is capitalised as a prepayment for
liquidity services and amortised over the
period of the facility.
2.9 Rental agreements
As a lessee, the Fund has applied the IFRS
16 Leases standard since 1 January 2019.
IFRS16specifiestherequirementscon-
cerning recognition, valuation and informa-
tiontobepresentedinthefinancialstate-
ments. The standard introduces a single
lessee accounting model. In principle, all
leases with a term of more than one year
are recognised in the balance sheet unless
the underlying asset is of low value. On the
firstdayofthelease,thelesseerecognises
a liability for its obligation to make lease
payments and an asset item for its right to
use the asset. The lessee must recognise
the interest expenses on the liability and
the planned depreciation on the asset item.
Inaddition,thelesseemustredefinethe
amount of the lease liability in conjunc-
tion with certain events (such as a change
in the term of the lease or changes to the
lease payments due to index adjustments).
100Financial statements 2024 Notestothefinancialstatements
The Fund uses the transition relief permit-
ted by IFRS 16 with regard to short-term
leases (with terms of less than 12 months)
and leases of low-value assets.
3 CRITICAL ACCOUNTING
ESTIMATES AND JUDGEMENTS
Thepreparationoffinancialstatementsin
conformity with IFRS requires the manage-
ment to make estimates and assumptions
that have affected the income, expenses,
assetsandliabilitiespresentedinthefinan-
cial statements. Judgement is also needed
in the application of accounting policies.
The estimates are based on the best infor-
mation available on the reporting date. The
evaluation is based on both earlier experi-
ence and assumptions about the future that
are most probable on the reporting date.
Actual results may differ from these deci-
sions based on estimates and assumptions.
Possible changes in estimates are recog-
nised in the period in which the estimate
is adjusted and all subsequent periods.
The planning and management of Employ-
mentFund’sfinancesarelargelybasedon
forecasts of changes in the unemployment
rate, unemployment expenses, employment
rate and payroll. Under normal conditions,
the Fund must set the insurance contribu-
tionsatasufficientlevelsothatallproject-
ed expenses can be covered with the in-
surance contributions. The unemployment
insurance contributions (contribution rates)
are determined for one calendar year at a
time. When the contributions are changed,
the employers’ and employees’ contribu-
tions are changed by the same percentage.
The forecast deviation in the change in net
position between the budget prepared in
Augustintheprecedingyearandthefinan-
cial statements, which are prepared more
thanayearlater,wassignificantlyabove
long-term average in 2024.
If necessary, the Fund exercises judgement
in applying the valuation methods used in
the measurement of fair value insofar as the
fair values are not received as direct prices
from active markets. Valuation principles
are described in note 15 (Investment assets).
Fair value determination of current money
market investments is based on the dis-
countedcashflows,andmanagementhas
used judgement when it has concluded that
the change of credit risk does not have a
material impact on the change of fair val-
ues of investments due to their short du-
ration and high credit rating. Credit risks
are presented in section 4 Financial risk
manage ment. The Fund’s critical assump-
tions concerning the future and key uncer-
tainties in the reporting date are related to
the factors mentioned above.
101Financial statements 2024 Notestothefinancialstatements
Credit losses
Employment Fund applies the IFRS 9 stand-
ard model for expected credit losses when
estimating impairment charges associated
with uncertain unemployment insurance
contribution receivables (note 12). In this
model, expected losses are recognised for
theentirevalidityperiodofthefinancialas-
set, and the model is based on the amount
of the outstanding receivables and the time
period for which they remain outstand-
ing. The parameters applied in the model
are based on an estimate of the amount of
unemployment insurance contribution re-
ceivables, liability component receivables,
reconciliation receivables based on the Em-
ploymentContractsAct,benefitreceivables
and interest receivables to be recognised as
credit losses on the reporting date. Expect-
ed credit losses throughout the entire pe-
riod of validity are calculated by multiply-
ing the gross carrying value of the unpaid
receivables by the expected proportion of
loss. Changes to expected credit losses are
recognisedthroughprofitandloss.
Segment reporting
The IFRS 8 Operating Segments standard
requires entities to disclose information to
enableusersoftheirfinancialstatementsto
evaluatethenatureandfinancialeffectsof
the business operations in which the entity
engages and the economic environments in
whichitoperates.Asdefinedinthestand-
ard, an operating segment is a component
of an entity
A. that engages in activities from which it
may earn revenues and incur expenses
B. whose operating results are regularly
reviewed by the entity’s most senior
executive decision-maker to make deci-
sions about resources to be allocated to
the segment and assess its performance,
and
C. onwhichdiscretefinancialinformation
is available.
Further,accordingtothedefinitionofthe
standard, the function of the most senior
executive decision-maker is to allocate
resources to and assess the performance of
the operating segments of an entity.
Employment Fund is tasked with collecting
unemployment insurance contributions,
the level of which has been determined by
the public authorities. The Fund pays the
collected contributions onwards, mainly to
unemployment funds.
Employment Fund uses the collected con-
tributions for conservative investment
activitiesinordertocovercurrentfinancing
contributions. The Fund also covers any
deficitsitincurswithloanfinancing.
EmploymentFundisanon-profit,govern-
ment-affiliatedfund.Themanagement
monitors the Fund’s operations as a single
entity, which consists of the contributions
collectedandbenefitspaid,resultingina
change in net position. The Fund’s manage-
ment does not actually allocate resources
to the entity’s activities or review the effec-
tiveness of operations.
102Financial statements 2024 Notestothefinancialstatements
For these reasons, Employment Fund’s
management has made the assessment
that the presentation of segment informa-
tion is not appropriate. Presenting segment
information would not improve the ability
ofareaderofthefinancialstatementsto
assess the Fund’s operations, nature of
theoperatingenvironmentandfinancial
effects. According to Employment Fund’s
management, the nature of the Fund’s oper-
ations and operating environment and the
financialimpactsarefairlypresentedinthe
IFRSfinancialstatements.
4 FINANCIAL RISK MANAGEMENT
TheFundseekstolimitfinancialandin-
vestment risks to a level where their real-
isationwillnotresultinsignificantlosses
for the Fund to the extent of creating pres-
sure to increase contributions or endanger
the liquidity of the Fund. The investment
andfinancingactivitiesandrisklimits
of Employment Fund are provided for in
more detail in the investment principles
approved by the Supervisory Board and the
investment plan and debt management
plan approved by the Board of Directors.
The market risk of investments is primarily
measured by using the stress-test meth-
od, in which a risk indicator expressed as
annual volatility is assigned to each in-
vestment class on the basis of historical
fluctuationsinvalue.EmploymentFund’s
financialrisksmainlyrelatetoinvest-
ments, and they comprise market risk,
credit and counterparty risk and liquidity
risk.Investmentsarediversifiedinac-
cordance with the investment principles
approved by the Supervisory Board across
variousassetclassessoastoreducefinan-
cial risks. Risk limits are set to such a level
that their realisation would not result in the
Fund incurring losses that would give rise
to pressures to increase the level of contri-
butions. The Fund may enter into derivative
contractsforhedgingpurposes;however,
derivatives were not used during the peri-
ods presented.
The Fund measures all its investments at
fair value because they have been designat-
edasfinancialassetsatfairvaluethrough
profitandloss.Theinvestmentsareitem-
ised in note 15, along with their fair values
byassetclassandthebasisfordefiningfair
value.
4.1Financial risk factors
Market risk
The main market risk factor for Employ-
ment Fund’s investments and liabilities is
the interest rate risk. The Fund’s invest-
mentportfolioisdominatedbyfixed-in-
come investments (bonds and money
market investments).
Employment Fund may make investments
directly, or indirectly through investment
funds. At the end of the review period, 22%
(31 Dec 2023: 17%) of the investments were
indirect.
103Financial statements 2024 Notestothefinancialstatements
On 31 December 2024 and 31 December 2023, the
market risks for the investments were as follows:
Investment item,
31 Dec 2024
Risk,
per cent
Capital,
EUR thousand
Risk,
EUR thousand
Bank deposits 0.50% 116,567 583
Money market 1.00% 473,183 4,735
State and municipal bonds 4.00% 244,324 9,773
Bank bonds 4.50% 279,942 12,597
Corporate bonds 5.00% 250,436 12,522
Equities 25.00% 43,663 10,916
Alternative investments 10.00% 103,356 10,336
Total risk 4.07% 1,511,471 61,461
Investment item,
31 Dec 2023
Risk,
per cent
Capital,
EUR thousand
Risk,
EUR thousand
Bank deposits 0.50% 247,468 1,237
Money market 1.00% 572,186 5,722
State and municipal bonds 4.00% 419,124 16,765
Bank bonds 4.50% 289,759 13,039
Corporate bonds 5.00% 249,064 12,453
Equities 25.00% 38,997 9,749
Alternative investments 10.00% 83,333 8,333
Total risk 3.54% 1,899,931 67,298
Total risk was 4.07% (31 Dec 2023: 3.54%) of the Fund’s assets and
2.6% (31 Dec 2023: 1.9%) of the Fund’s income in 2024. The risk
posed by the investment portfolio is moderate due to its conserva-
tive structure and moderately low risk level of the securities in the
portfolio.
All money market investments carry variable interest rates (31 Dec
2023: 100%). Of the bonds, 8% where at variable rates (31 Dec 2023:
7%).Variable-rateinvestmentsexposetheFundtoacashflow
interestraterisk,whileinvestmentsatfixedratesexposetheFund
to a fair value interest rate risk.
If, on 31 December 2024, the Euribor rates and interest rate curve
(swap rates) had been 0.5 percentage points higher while all oth-
er variables remained constant, the change in net position would
have been EUR 9.1 million (31 Dec 2023: EUR -9.8 million) smaller.
Respectively, if on 31 December 2024 the Euribor rates and interest
rate curve (swap rates) had been 0.5 percentage points lower, the
total change in net position would have been EUR 9.1 million (31
Dec 2023: EUR 9.8 million) higher.
104Financial statements 2024 Notestothefinancialstatements
Credit risk
The credit risk of the investments is man-
aged by issuer credit limits. Limits for each
issuer are determined by taking account
of the absolute size, economic position
and future outlook of the issuer. The Fund
continuously monitors the credit stand-
ing and future outlook of the issuers, and
when changes occur, the limits are either
increased or decreased. The Fund mainly
invests in banks in the Nordic countries
that have high credit ratings, states with
strong credit ratings (Finland, Germany, the
Netherlands, Belgium, France, Austria and
Sweden), companies mainly in Finland and
some in Sweden, and municipalities. Cash
and cash equivalents are only held at banks
with high credit ratings.
The spread duration of the credit risk in-
cluded in the investments at the end of the
review period was 1.63 years (31 Dec 2023:
1.63 years).
The average credit rating of the invest-
ment portfolio is evaluated on Standard
& Poor’s rating scale, which is based on
historical probabilities of credit losses. The
investment portfolio credit rating is esti-
mated to be about BBB+ on 31 December
2024 (31 Dec 2023: BBB+).
The Fund’s investments mainly consist of
government and bank bonds. Their credit-
worthiness has been determined using the
S&P credit rating. Most of the banks that
the Fund has invested in have good credit
ratings. However, not every regional bank
andcompanyhasanofficialcreditrating,
so the credit quality of these entities is de-
termined using credit ratings received from
a third party.
105Financial statements 2024 Notestothefinancialstatements
ThefollowingtabledescribesEmploymentFund’sfixed-incomeinvestmentsandcredit-
worthinessbygroup.Thefiguresareexpressedinthousandsofeuros.
Investments distributed by the issuer’s
rating
31 Dec 2024,
EUR thousand
31 Dec 2024,
per cent
31 Dec 2023,
EUR thousand
31 Dec 2023,
per cent
AAA 190,409 14.0% 272,696 15.3%
AA+ 119,129 8.7% 250,698 14.1%
AA 35,981 2.6% 13,148 0.7%
AA- 244,046 17.9% 404,829 22.8%
A+ 198,707 14.6% 174,641 9.8%
A 81,482 6.0% 77,990 4.4%
A- 81,888 6.0% 91,922 5.2%
BBB+ 85,041 6.2% 106,350 6.0%
BBB 177,127 13.0% 213,420 12.0%
BBB- 70,027 5.1% 82,110 4.6%
BB+ 4,765 0.3% 29,363 1.7%
BB 22,716 1.7% 9,196 0.5%
BB- 21,264 1.6% 4,959 0.3%
B+ 0 0.0% 0 0.0%
B 0 0.0% 215 0.0%
B- 0 0.0% 0 0.0%
CCC+ 0 0.0% 0 0.0%
CCC 0 0.0% 0 0.0%
NR 31,847 2.3% 46,061 2.6%
Total 1,364,429 100.0% 1,777,598 100.0%
The amount of Employment Fund’s un-
employment insurance contribution re-
ceivables, liability component receivables,
reconciliation receivables based on the Em-
ploymentContractsAct,benefitreceivables,
and interest receivables, are included in the
credit risk. The most important factor in
the realisation of the aforementioned credit
risk is related to cases in which customers
liable for paying unemployment insurance
contributions become insolvent (due to
bankruptcy, corporate restructuring or debt
restructuring).
The actual credit losses arising from unem-
ployment insurance contribution receiva-
bles totalled EUR 2.7 (4.6) million in 2024.
As a whole, Employment Fund’s collection
processisveryefficient.
106Financial statements 2024 Notestothefinancialstatements
Liquidity risk
The Fund aims to manage liquidity risk as follows:
1. Liquid realisable investments
2. Short-term loans
3. Maintaining unemployment insurance contributions at reason-
able level and increasing them as necessary
Tosecureitsliquidity,infixed-incomeinvestmentswithlessthan
one year’s maturity, the Fund keeps an amount that covers at least
one month’s expenses. When the liquidity buffer decreases below
this limit, the Fund uses short-term borrowing to cover the tem-
poraryliquiditydeficit.Forthispurpose,theFundhasaEUR300
million commercial paper programme (31 Dec 2023: EUR 300 mil-
lion),whichremainsunused.TheFundalsohasEUR600millionin
committed revolving credit facilities (RCF) with four banks (31 Dec
2023: EUR 600 million). The commercial paper programme and the
revolving credit facilities remained unused at the end of 2023 and
at the end of 2024.
ThefiguresinthetablesareinEURmillion.
Unu