Worker on unpaid leave


​An employee who goes on unpaid leave may be entitled to unemployment benefits under the conditions detailed below and the other conditions of entitlement to unemployment benefit

For more information about eligibility for unemployment benefit, for those sent on unpaid leave due to the coronavirus crisis, click here.

To learn more about eligibility for unemployment benefit for a woman who took an unpaid leave because of a birth, click here.

Voluntary unpaid leave

If your on unpaid leave voluntarily, without justified reason, you may only be entitled to unemployment benefits after 90 days since the starting day of the leave, similarly to those resigning from their job.
Important information! Those who went on unpaid leave on their own initiative (even for justified reasons) from 2.7.21 onwards - will not be entitled to unemployment benefits.

Important information:

  • Qualifying period entitling to unemployment benefits:
    For those going on unpaid leave until 31.7.20 - 30 days at least.
    For those going on unpaid leave from 1.8.20 until 30.6.21 - 14 days at least.
    For those going on unpaid leave from 1.7.21 until 1.7.21 - 30 days at least.
    Calculation of qualifying period entitling to unemployment benefits.
  • Deduction of vacation days - a person submitting a claim from 1.7.21 onwards will be eligible for unemployment benefits after deduction of the vacation days accrued with his or her employer.
  • You cannot work for an employer during unpaid leave and receive unemployment benefits, even for few days only.
  • A person in unpaid leave for more than two months must pay national and health insurance contributions by himself - for more information, click here.
  • A teacher on sabbatical leave (Year of Study) is not eligible for unemployment benefit in that year.