What you didn’t know about unemployment benefits: Additional benefits are available for those who have been laid off | Business

The allowance may be extended

Experts remind that residents who have paid unemployment social insurance contributions, have accumulated at least 12 months of unemployment insurance experience in the last 30 calendar months before registering with the Employment Service (UZT) and are registered with the UZT, which granted them unemployment benefits, can receive unemployment benefits in Lithuania. status.

“Unemployment benefits can also be received by those who have completed mandatory initial military service or alternative national defense service, or those who are released from permanent mandatory initial military service, during which they acquired initial military training, and have registered with the UZT no later than 6 months after being released from services”, explains Donata Stoškuvienė, Head of Regional Customer Service in the Baltic States of the digital financial services company Creditea.

Those who have worked for 12 months in another European Union (EU) or European Economic Area (EEA) country during the last 30 months and were covered by unemployment insurance during that period can also receive unemployment benefits. And if a person returns from non-EU and EEA countries (the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Ukraine, Belarus), the insurance period is not accumulated.

The benefit is usually paid for 9 months, but sometimes the payment period can be extended. For example, if the woman was issued a pregnancy and maternity leave certificate, if the unemployed person has no more than 5 years left until retirement age and has not been awarded an early old-age pension (in this case, the benefit is paid for up to 2 more months), or if the person is temporarily unable to work due to illness or injury, or is being treated in personal health care facilities due to addiction or pathological gambling of his own accord (in this case, the allowance is paid for another 30 days).

An additional payment is available

When a resident becomes unemployed, Sodra assigns and pays them within 10 working days of a benefit, which is calculated based on various factors, including the unemployed person’s previous earnings and work history. Often, the amount of the payment consists of two parts – fixed and variable.

The fixed part of the allowance is equal to EUR 215.01, which is 23.27 percent. minimum monthly wages. And the variable part depends on the resident’s earnings during the 30 months until the end of the previous calendar month from the day of registration for the UZT. This means that if, for example, a person wants to receive unemployment benefits in April 2024, his income will be analyzed in the period from 09/01/2021 to 02/29/2024.

“The variable amount of the monthly payment is calculated as follows: for the first to third month – 38.79 percent. from the person’s average insured wage, for the fourth to sixth month – 31.03 percent, for the seventh to ninth month – 23.27 percent.

The maximum unemployment benefit cannot exceed 58.18 percent. of the country’s average monthly wage in the last calendar quarter from the date of registration for the ČUZT. For example, in 2024 In the II quarter (from 04/01/2024 to 06/30/2024), the maximum unemployment benefit is EUR 1220.21 for persons who have acquired the status of unemployed”, D.Stoškuvienė calculates.

Here, if a resident earned, for example, EUR 2,000 per month (before taxes) in the last 12 months, he would receive EUR 1,205.82 in the first to third months, EUR 1,050.62 in the fourth to sixth months, and EUR 895.42 in the seventh to ninth months. Eur.

The expert also points out that employees who have worked in one company for 5 or more years have the right to receive additional long-term unemployment benefits in case of dismissal. They can be received by all employees who worked under employment contracts, except for those who are dismissed from budgetary institutions and the Bank of Lithuania.

Allowance – only for survival

The unemployment allowance starts to be paid from the 8th day after the unemployment status has been acquired. Also after 3 months from the registration in the UZT, but no earlier than the day of acquiring the unemployed status, if the person was dismissed from work due to his own fault.

The unemployment benefit is also paid only after the expiry of the payment term for other benefits (due to illness, professional rehabilitation, maternity, paternity, child care, illness due to an accident at work or occupational disease) assigned before the date of acquiring unemployment status.

“However, if an unemployed person has previously received unemployment benefit and has re-registered with UŽT, then the benefit can be granted to him only after 12 months have passed from the date of expiry of the previous unemployment benefit. That is, there should be a 12-month gap between allowances”, emphasizes D.Stoškuvienė.

She also urges you to actively look for a job while receiving benefits, otherwise they may be terminated. This means that the unemployed person should regularly apply for job vacancies, participate in job interviews or retraining or vocational programs aimed at improving employment opportunities.

“Unemployment should only be a temporary stop, and state compensation should only make it easier to survive a difficult life situation. It would also be worth thinking about income and job loss insurance, which could provide support in case of unexpected job loss or serious illness,” the expert observes.