The members of Academic Engineers and Architects in Finland TEK consider membership of an unemployment fund as one of the most important services they receive through TEK. The fund for TEK members is the Unemployment fund for highly educated KOKO.
Under certain conditions, KOKO fund also provides compensation if you are laid off or working part time.
KOKO is one of the least expensive unemployment funds in Finland. The annual fee in 2022 is 63 euros, which is 5.25 euros per month.
If you are a full member of TEK (graduated member) and join the fund through TEK, your membership fee will be invoiced as part of your TEK membership fee.
Students must also pay the membership fee of the KOKO fund, even though the student membership of TEK is free of charge.
Students should join the fund through TEK’s member portal right from the very first day of their summer job, because then they can meet the work requirement to accumulate earnings-related unemployment security already by the time they graduate.
The median salary of TEK members is approximately 5 200 euros per month. With this monthly income, if you are a member of the fund and become unemployed, you will receive more than 2 200 euros per month, whereas Kela would only pay you about 700 euros per month.
Entrepreneur’s unemployment security
An entrepreneur can receive compensation from the KOKO fund for no more than the first 18 months of being an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs should insure themselves against unemployment by joining the Entrepreneur Fund. To avoid interruptions to your unemployment security, it is recommended that you change funds within three months of becoming an entrepreneur.
You should notify TEK’s member service about switching funds to join the Entrepreneur Fund and end your membership in the KOKO fund so that the membership fee of the KOKO fund can be deducted from the fee charged through TEK. You cannot terminate your membership retrospectively.