You completed a qualifying period before your unemployment; that is, you were covered in Unemployment Insurance for the period of time required by law (even if not consecutive) and insurance contributions were paid for you.
The unemployment period begins on the day you first register with the Employment Service Bureau.
You have completed a qualifying period of at least 12 months of work as a salaried employee (the employer is liable to pay insurance contributions on your behalf) out of the last 18 months before your registration at the Employment Service. The months of work are not to be consecutive nor for a single employer.
In the qualifying period are only taken into account months of work spent from age 18 to 67.
Please note, a month during which you worked for only part of the month is considered as a full work month; in other words, even if you worked only one day in a certain month, this month is counted as a work month for purposes of calculating the qualifying period.
If you did not work for 12 months, in addition to the number of your working month, the following periods may be taken into account in the qualifying period, provided they occurred in the last 18 months.
Periods included in the qualifying period
- Months of work
- Vacation days and holidays for which salary was paid (vacation days redeemed due to severance of an employee-employer relationship are not taken into account in the qualifying period)
- Days of mourning
- Days of compulsory military service – up to six months
Days of volunteer national service – up to six months, for a person who completed a volunteer service period of at least 24 months, or for a woman who served for at least six months and married within 30 days of leaving the service.
Days of service in the national civil service – up to six months, for a person who completed a service period of at least 24 months, or for a woman who served for at least six months and married within 30 days of leaving the service
- Days of military reserve duty
- Sick days for which the worker was eligible for sick pay
- Days for which a work injury allowance was paid
- Days for which a maternity or paternity allowance was paid
- Days for which a risk pregnancy benefit was paid
- The first two months of unpaid leave during which the employer is obligated to pay insurance contributions for the worker.
- The period for which payment was made due to lack of prior notification of dismissal from work, under the Prior Notification Law (for 30 days at most)
- Working abroad as a qualifying period for unemployment benefit
Periods of absence from work that extend the 18-month determining period:
If in the last 18 months, you did not work for one or more of the following reasons, the 18-month determining period may be extended by the number of months of absence.
Vocational training – a referral or authorization of the Employment Service – up to 12 months.
Sick or accident, for which sick pay was not paid – up to six months.
Maternity leave, under Article six of the Women's Work Law, for which maternity allowance was not paid.
A period of bed rest due to risk pregnancy, for which a risk pregnancy benefit was not paid
A non-paid vacation after giving birth, under Article seven of the Women's Work Law, up to a quarter of the number of months in which a woman worked, but not more than 12 months from the day of the birth.
Days of absence from work for reasons not dependent on the worker - up to one month