Termination at the employee’s initiative
If you, as the employee, take the first step to end the employment, you are normally suspended for 45 benefit days. After the suspension period, the agreement is no longer an obstacle to receiving benefits from the unemployment fund.
Termination at the employer’s initiative
If the employer wants you to leave and initiates an agreement on the terms of the termination, you will not be suspended from receiving benefits from the unemployment fund.
Agreements that do not lead to suspension
When agreeing on the terms for how and why the employment is to be terminated, the following must apply for the dismissed person not to be suspended from the unemployment fund:
The employer must have initiated the termination of the employment.
The agreement must have been made before the employment ended.
The agreement must apply to the individual applicant; a general desire by the employer to reduce staff is not sufficient.
The agreed notice period is not relevant for the unemployment fund’s assessment. It also does not matter what is stated on the employer certificate regarding the reason for the termination – what matters is what is stated in the agreement.
Severance pay and notice period without work duties
If the agreement includes severance pay, it is important to know that you can never receive unemployment benefits during the period covered by severance pay or a notice period without work duties.