Queue becomes longer to get social benefit as unemployment rises

Processing time for first applications for general social security benefit has become longer than usual, said the Social Insurance Institution-Kela in a press release on Tuesday. The reasons for the longer processing times include increased unemployment, graduating students and applicants whose periods of earnings-related unemployment allowance are ending, said Kela, adding that the authority is expecting to resolve the situation within the next few weeks. This week, first-time applications for general social security benefit have been processed in an average of 3–4 weeks. Under the Unemployment Security Act, Kela must issue a decision on general social security benefit no later than 30 calendar days after the application has arrived at Kela. Kela regrets the inconvenience assuring that the situation should be back to normal by the end of summer. “We always prepare for an increased inflow of applications in summer by working overtime and hiring extra summer staff. The situation should be back to normal by the end of summer,” said Tiina Ahponen, Head of Kelas Centre for Unemployment Benefits. Follow-up applications for general social security benefit, however, will be processed within the usual processing time The processing of follow-up applications for general social security benefit (unemployment status reports) currently takes less than 7 days, the press release added.