€31.99

minimum / weekday

320

weekdays in total

16

first days at a higher rate

63

transferable days

How parental allowance is calculated

The calculation starts from annual income covering the 12 months before the leave begins. Kela takes the figures from the Incomes Register, so there is no need to prove your salary separately. An employee first has a 9.07% insurance contribution deduction removed; for a YEL entrepreneur the basis is the confirmed YEL income with no deduction.

What remains is multiplied by 70% and divided by 300. The result is the allowance for one weekday. The same formula holds from 13,713 to 45,744 euros. Below that the minimum is paid, and above it the accrual on the excess drops first to 40% and then to 25% — which is why a high earner sees parental allowance replace a clearly smaller share of their pay than a middle earner does.

Parental allowance at different salary levels

The table assumes the same salary for the whole year. In practice the annual income is assembled from Incomes Register entries, so unpaid spells, lay-offs and job changes all pull the figure down. This catches out recent graduates most often: the start of a first full working year may have been income-free, and the allowance is calculated from zero for that part.

The higher rate for the first 16 weekdays

For the first 16 weekdays the allowance is 90% of the calculation base. That is about three weeks. On a salary of 3,000 euros the higher rate is roughly 98 euros a weekday against the normal 76, so over 16 days the difference comes to more than 350 euros. The increase covers the first 16 weekdays in total: for the pregnancy allowance recipient they are used up within that allowance, and for the other parent from the start of parental allowance.

Splitting, transferring and using the days

• ·There are 320 weekdays per child: 160 for each parent.
• ·Up to 63 days can be given from your own quota to the other parent or another person caring for the child.
• ·The days must be used before the child turns two.
• ·With multiple births there are more days: 84 weekdays for the second and each further child.
• ·In a one-parent family that parent can use all 320 days.
• ·Someone using transferred days also gets the first 16 weekdays at the higher rate.

The days do not have to be taken in one block. The leave can be split into several periods with work in between, which is common when the second parent takes short stretches around holidays. Your employer has to be notified of each period, so agree the schedule well in advance.

Partial parental allowance alongside part-time work

If you work no more than five hours a day and care for the child the rest of the time, you can receive partial parental allowance. It is half the full daily amount, and one partial day uses up only half a parental allowance day. The days therefore stretch over twice as long a period. Both parents can take partial leave at the same time.

Tax and applying

Parental allowance is taxable income. A tax card calculated for wages does not suit a benefit, because its rate is built on employment income — order a revised tax card for benefits from OmaVero, or the withholding will easily miss and leave you with a back tax bill. The leave does not accrue holiday days the way working does, but it does accrue pension.

The application is made in OmaKela. If your employer pays a salary during the leave, the allowance for that part goes to the employer — you still have to apply yourself. The decision arrives in OmaKela, and it is worth checking the annual income used in the calculation: if it looks wrong, an appeal has to be made within the deadline.