Annual Report
1 Jan–31 Dec 2023
2023
2Annual report 2023 Contents
Contents
ANNUAL REPORT 2023
3 The year of Employment Fund in
brief
4 Managing Director’s review
7 Keyfigures2023
8 Strategy, mission, vision and
values
11 REPORT OF THE BOARD OF
DIRECTORS
12 Duties of Employment Fund
14 Cooperation with stakeholders
15 Customer service at Employment
Fund
17 Unemployment insurance
contributions
25 Adulteducationbenefits
35 Finance
38 Investment activities
41 Sustainability
46 Risk management
48 Personnel
51 Eventsafterthefinancialperiod
52 Corporate governance
65 Remuneration report
70 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
71 Financial Statements (IFRS) 2023
74 Notestothefinancialstatements
115 Auditor’s report
3Annual report 2023
The year of Employment Fund in brief
The employment situation in Finland remained good and as a result, the
Fundpostedaclearprofitsurplusfortheyear.
The announced abolition
ofadulteducationbenefits
prompted a major change
projectintheFund.
We provided EUR
2,934
million for the funding
of unemployment and
pension security and
adulteducationbenefits.
From the beginning of
the year, we have been
collecting transition
security contributions from
employerstofinancethenew
transitionsecurityscheme.
Key matters in 2023
4Annual report 2023
Managing Director’s review
Managing Directors review
Employment Fund experienced successes
and achieved many of its objectives during
2023.However,theFundalsoexperienced
unpleasant surprises that changed our
plansforthesecondhalfoftheyear.
At the start of the year, we successfully
deployed our new information system for
collecting and processing transition secu-
ritycontributions.Weincreasedthedegree
of automation in the processing of appli-
cations for adult education allowances and
extended the automated decision-making
to applications for continued eligibility for
theallowance.
Employment Fund’s Board of Directors
approved the new strategic objectives for
theFundinMay.Inlinewiththeupdated
objectives, we produce digital services reli-
ably and with high quality, we increase pro-
ductivityandefficiency,wecreateanexcel-
lentcustomerandpersonnelexperience.
In our role as an executor of social security,
we put great emphasis on social responsi-
bilityinouroperations.In2022and2023,
we prepared a sustainability concept for
the Fund to support the achievement of the
sustainable development goals set by the
UNinits2030Agenda.Sustainabilityis
alsoreflectedinsuchareasasourinvest-
mentactivities,acquisitionofdebtfinanc-
ing,andourequalityanddiversitywork.
CUSTOMER SURVEY PRODUCED
NEW INFORMATION ON THE USE OF
ADULT EDUCATION ALLOWANCES
In spring, we examined why recipients of
adult education allowance decide to take
up studies, how they perceive the impact of
the allowance on work careers and wheth-
er they feel that they have achieved their
goals.Thiswasthefirstsuchsurveyin
the history of the adult education allow-
anceandnearly5,000personstookpart.
Career changing plans, high work load
experienced in the current job, and the
desire for career advancement were
5Annual report 2023
key reasons behind the decision to take up
studiesduringtheworkcareer.Quantita-
tive and qualitative responses showed that
the recipients use the allowances respon-
sibly and in a diverse manner to tackle
challengesarisinginworkinglife.
We published the results of the customer
survey on the perceived impact of the adult
education allowances in a seminar on 15
June.TheProgrammeofPrimeMinister
Petteri Orpo’s Government was published
the following day and it was stated in an
appendix to the document that the adult
education allowance scheme would be
abolished.Thiswasfollowedbyanan-
nouncement that the scholarship scheme
forqualifiedemployeeswouldalsoend.
ABOLITION OF THE ADULT EDUCATION
BENEFITS IS A MAJOR CHANGE FOR
THE FUND AND OUR CUSTOMERS
Discontinuation of the adult education
benefitsisamajorchangeforEmployment
Fund even though our other statutory tasks
willnotbeaffected.Terminationofthe
allowance scheme will also have substan-
tialimpactsonourpersonnel.Infact,the
focus in the second half of 2023 was on
change management and preparation for
thechange.Atthesametime,weproduced
information on the implementation of the
adult education allowance scheme for the
media and our stakeholders, compiled an
assessment of various development pro-
posals, and communicated extensively
withourcustomers.
The Government proposal for the act abol-
ishingtheadulteducationbenefitswas
submittedtoParliamentinFebruary2024.
Thefinalformandapprovaloftheactare
still pending, and it has not yet been decid-
ed whether the adult education allowance
scheme will be replaced with other types of
support.TheMinistryofSocialAffairsand
Healthhasappointedaworkinggroupto
examine how continuous learning should
besupported.Theworkwillbeconcluded
attheendofMarch2024.
Managing Directors review
6Annual report 2023
POSITIVE TREND IN EMPLOYMENT
ALLOWED SUBSTANTIAL LOWERING
OF UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE
CONTRIBUTIONS FOR 2024
For Employment Fund, the year 2023 was
characterised by good economic perfor-
mance.Theemploymentsituationre-
mained good and as a result, the Fund
posted a clear surplus for the year and our
business cycle buffer was approaching its
maximumamount.Moreover,theeconomic
and employment outlook as well as the fact
that the measures set out in the Govern-
ment Programme are estimated to decrease
expenditure prompted us to propose a sub-
stantial reduction in unemployment insur-
ancecontributionsfor2024.
The changes to unemployment security en-
visaged in the Government Programme will
havelimitedimpactontheexpenditurefi-
nanced by the Fund in 2024, but the impact
willbegreaterinthecomingyears.
In autumn 2023, a working group was ap-
pointed to examine how the savings accu-
mulated by social insurance funds could be
channelledtobenefitcentralgovernment
finances.Aspartitswork,theworking
group is also examining the channelling of
the savings accumulated by Employment
Fund.Wehaveprovidedtheworkinggroup
with information on our activities and held
discussionswithpublicofficials.Thetasks
of Employment Fund are laid down in the
law.Ourmaintaskistofinanceunemploy-
ment security and other separately speci-
fiedsocialsecuritywiththeunemployment
insurance contributions that we collect
fromemployersandemployees.Allassets
that we collect are intended for the fund-
ing tasks that we carry out as part of our
statutoryobligations.Itisimportantthat
under the legislation based on the working
groups proposals and the Government’s de-
cisions, the Fund will be able to manage the
financingofunemploymentsecurityand
other social insurance and to use the busi-
nesscyclebuffertobalancefluctuationsin
contributions.
The activities of Employment Fund are
based on the work input of skilled and com-
petentpersonnel.Duringthesecondhalfof
2023, we lived in uncertainty trying to pre-
pare for the change without knowing the
finalcontentoftheproposalforabolishing
theadulteducationbenefits.Ourpersonnel
are change-capable and work together for a
commongoal.Workingtogetherisourkey
resource.Thisisdemonstratedbythefact
that despite the change and uncertainty, we
were able to provide our customers with an
excellent customer experience and perform
allourstatutorytasksimpeccably.
JANNE METSÄMÄKI
Managing Director
Managing Directors review
7Annual report 2023
Key figures 2023
Keyfigures2023
ThefiguresareinEURmillion.
Income 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Change EUR Change %
Employer contribution income 1,238 993 1,160 1,327 1,413 86 6%
Employee contribution income 1,379 1,073 1,241 1,424 1,490 66 5%
Government contributions 688 1,248 911 717 704 -13 -2%
Liability component and transition security contribution
income
39 26 23 22 20 -2 -9%
Total income 3,345 3,340 3,335 3,491 3,627 137 4%
Expenses 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Change EUR Change %
Unemployment funds, Employment Fund’s contributions -954 -1,372 -1,463 -1,039 -1,098 60 6%
Unemployment funds, government’s contributions -685 -1,245 -909 -714 -700 -14 -2%
Finnish Centre for Pensions -577 -870 -902 -596 -600 4 1%
Social Insurance Institution of Finland -206 -207 -239 -243 -263 20 8%
Adulteducationbenefits -187 -197 -186 -189 -201 12 6%
Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment -24 -25 -14 -20 -30 10 52%
State Pension Fund -8 -9 -11 -8 -8 -1 -6%
Administrative expenses -19 -21 -26 -23 -34 11 48%
Total expenses -2,659 -3,947 -3,750 -2,832 -2,934 102 4%
Net financial income 8 -16 3 -34 69
Change in net position 694 -623 -412 625 763
Net position 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Change EUR Change %
Investment assets and cash and cash equivalents 1,020 1,831 1,339 1,885 1,869 -16 -1%
Receivables,accrualsandfixedassets 725 593 679 818 859 42 5%
Short-term and long-term loans 0 1,287 1,299 1,299 599 -700 -54%
Unemployment insurance contribution and other liabilities 78 92 86 146 109 -38 -26%
Net position 1,668 1,045 633 1,258 2,021 763 61%
8Annual report 2023
Strategy, mission, vision and values
Strategy, mission, vision and values
The strategy of Employment
Fund comprises its mission,
vision, strategic goals and
values.
Our mission is to
provide security for
changes in working life
.Ourvisionistobe
asuperiorexecutorofsocialsecurity.
Ourvaluesare:ourcustomerscomefirst;
werenew,weevolve,weact;weareaunited
team.
In May 2023, the Fund’s Board of Direc-
tors approved our updated strategic goals,
which are based on the strategy and sce-
narioworkstartedin2022.Wesummarised
our strategic goals as follows:
We produce digital services reliably and
withhighquality.
Weincreaseproductivityandefficiency,
we create an excellent customer and
personnelexperience.
The emphasis in our objectives is on ef-
ficientandreliablemanagementofour
statutory tasks and utilisation of digitalisa-
tion.Theimportanceofthecurrentdevel-
opment projects and the aim of enhancing
ourITcapabilitiesarealsoreflectedinthe
objectives.
Providing security
for changes in
working life
9Annual report 2023
Employment Fund’s strategy
Values
Vision
Superior
executor of
social security
Our customers
come first
We renew
We evolve
We act
We are a
united team
Strategic goals
Mission
Providing security for
changes in working life
Forces of change
Evolving requirements for competences and education
Changes in the social security system
Fragmentation and unpredictability of political decision-making
Changes in education and study methods
Changes in work, working life and livelihood
Development, stability and requirements of the financial markets
Sosioeconomic polarisation of regions and citizens
Expectations of customers and stakeholders, changes in consumer behaviour
Requirements/expectations for public service integration − one-stop shop
We increase productivity and efficiency,
we create an excellent customer and
personnel experience
We produce digital services
reliably and with high quality
Strategy, mission, vision and values
10Annual report 2023 Strategy, mission, vision and values
We update the integrations and architec-
ture and implement the changes and meas-
uresspecifiedintheregulatoryframework.
We increase the level of automation in a
controlled manner to improve services and
toboostefficiency.
Thanks to our efforts, the customer expe-
rienceisnowatagoodlevel.Wearedeter-
minedtoimproveitfurther.Enhancingthe
employee experience is also a key objective
ofEmploymentFund.
In 2023, we promoted our objectives by
proceeding with strategic development
projects and by strengthening the IT capa-
bilitiesrequiredaspartofdigitalisation.
We monitored the achievement of these
goals,givingprioritytoefficiency,customer
experience, and staff satisfaction indica-
tors.TheFund’sBoardofDirectorsmoni-
tors progress on the objectives on a regular
basis and assesses the need to update the
strategyinitsstrategymeetingeachyear.
MISSION
Providing security for
changes in working life
VISION
Superior executor of social
security
VALUES
Ourcustomerscomefirst
We renew, we evolve, we act
We are a united team
Thanks to our efforts, the customer
experienceisnowatagoodlevel.
11
Report of
the Board of
Directors
12Report of the Board of Directors 2023
Duties of Employment Fund
Duties of Employment Fund
Employment Fund’s main
dutiesaretofinance
unemploymentbenefits,
determine and collect
unemployment insurance
contributions, and grant adult
educationbenefits.
We collect the unemployment insurance
contributions paid by employers and em-
ployees.Wedeterminetheunemployment
insurance contributions on the basis of the
information reported by the employers to
theIncomesRegister.Parliamentapproves
the contribution rates by passing a bill on
thecontributionseachyear.
The Fund maintains a business cycle
buffer arising from the difference between
its income and expenses, and its purpose
is to keep increases in contributions at
moderatelevels.Withthebuffer,wecan
ease the upward pressure on contributions
when unemployment security expenditure
increases.
ThebenefitsfinancedbyEmploymentFund
include the unemployment allowance paid
by unemployment funds and the Social
Insurance Institution of Finland as well as
the adult education allowances and schol-
arshipsforqualifiedemployeespaiddirect-
lybytheFund.EmploymentFundisalso
responsibleforfinancingthetransition
securityscheme.
According to the Programme of Prime Min-
ister Petteri Orpo’s Government, the adult
education allowance scheme will be abol-
ishedfrom1August2024.Thescholarship
schemeforqualifiedemployeeswouldalso
bediscontinuedfromthesamedate.
Wearealsoresponsibleforfinancingthe
earnings-related pensions accrued during
the periods when daily unemployment
allowances, job alternation compensation
andadulteducationallowancesarepaid.
We remit a payment amounting to the basic
daily allowance paid by the state to contrib-
ute to the daily unemployment allowances
paidbyunemploymentfunds.
Employment Fund’s operations are su-
pervised by the Financial Supervisory
Authority.
6.8%
7.7%
6.8%
7.2%
%
EUR
million
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Employment Fund’s financing
for unemployment funds
Financing contributions paid to
unemployment funds, EUR million
Unemployment rate, %
1
0
1,639
2,618
2,372
1,753
1,799
7.7%
13Report of the Board of Directors 2023 Duties of Employment Fund
14Report of the Board of Directors 2023 Cooperation with stakeholders
Cooperation with stakeholders
Employment Fund cooperates extensively
withabroadrangeofdifferentparties.Inthe
management of our statutory tasks, we work
closely with ministries, especially the Min-
istryofSocialAffairsandHealth,Ministryof
Economic Affairs and Employment, Ministry
of Education and Culture and the Ministry of
Finance.
We are part of Finland’s statutory social
insurancescheme.Inthesematters,we
cooperate with unemployment funds, Social
Insurance Institution of Finland, Finnish
Centre for Pensions, Finnish Workers’ Com-
pensation Center and pension insurance
companies.Ourroleasaguarantorofliquidi-
ty requires smooth and effective cooperation
withbanksandfinancialinstitutions.Labour
market central organisations participate in
the administration of Employment Fund and
wecooperatewiththeseorganisations.
In our role as the payer of adult education
allowances, we cooperate closely with
education institutions, and we also collab-
orate with the Service Centre for Contin-
uousLearningandEmployment(SECLE).
Last year, we took part in SECLE’s letter
campaign, which was directed at individuals
withonlybasiceducation.
Asthepartyresponsibleforfinancingthe
transition security scheme, we arranged a
transition security event for unemployment
funds in January, and in April, we provid-
ed information on transition security in an
event organised for entrepreneurs by the
Federation of Finnish Enterprises and the
Employment and Economic Development
Office.
We use a regular newsletter to communicate
with Members of Parliament and employers
paying unemployment insurance contribu-
tions.Overthepastfewyears,wehaveor-
ganised webinars for education institutions
and customers applying for adult education
allowance.Bymakingcustomeradvicemore
effective, webinars supplement other availa-
bleserviceschannels.
In spring 2023, we conducted a customer
surveytofindoutwhatpromptsrecipientsof
adulteducationallowancetotakeupstudies.
Nearly 5,000 persons took part in the survey,
whichwasthefirstofitskind.Wepublished
thesurveyfindingsontheperceivedimpact
of the adult education allowance in a semi-
narinHelsinkiinJune.Intheseminar,we
heard the views of adult education allowance
recipients and met with experts to deter-
mine what the results mean for individuals
andsocietyatlarge.Aftertheannouncement
that the adult education allowance scheme
would be abolished, it became essential to
findoutmoreaboutthematter,andthenum-
ber of information requests coming from
the media and stakeholder representatives
increasedsubstantially.Wealsoproduced
information on the use of adult education al-
lowanceforsocialmediaandpublicdebate.
Our goal is to act as an interesting source
of information for the media in matters
concerning employees’ social security, un-
employment insurance contributions and
competencedevelopment.Weprovideand
deliver information to the media and oth-
er stakeholders and publish regular press
releases.InAugust,weheldamediaeventon
unemployment insurance contribution rates,
financingofunemploymentinsurance,and
theadulteducationallowancescheme.
15Report of the Board of Directors 2023
Customer service at Employment Fund
We continued to develop
different aspects of the cus-
tomer experience and service
processes.
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
AT EXCELLENT LEVEL
In 2023, our focus was on enhancing the
customer experience based on the results
ofcustomerexperiencesurveys.Wealso
worked to ensure the best possible service
level, when it comes to our customer
servicechannelsandprocessingtimes.In
the background, we streamlined customer
service paths and internal processing and
increasedprocessautomationinbenefit
services.
As a result of these development measures,
customer satisfaction with our services re-
mained at an excellent level throughout the
year even though the announcement that
theadulteducationbenefitswouldbeabol-
ishedincreasedourworkload.Thecustom-
er satisfaction score (CSAT) indicating the
percentageofsatisfiedandhighlysatisfied
customers of all customers stood at 85% for
2023asawhole.
The highest customer satisfaction score
was recorded among the users of unem-
ploymentinsuranceandbenefitservice
telephoneservice.Forthem,CSATre-
mainedabove90%throughtheyear.The
unemployment insurance online service
and the submitting of information by
employers for adult education allowance
applications were the areas with the lowest
customersatisfactionscores.Bymaking
changes to the employer process of the
adult education allowance, we were able
toincreaseCSATfrom61%(in2022)to76%.
The service design process, which will start
Customer service at Employment Fund
16Report of the Board of Directors 2023
in2024,isthefirststageoftheunemploy-
mentinsuranceonlineservicereform.
MOST OF THE CUSTOMER SERVICE
WAS PROVIDED IN WRITING
The year 2023 did not bring major changes
to the volumes or priorities of customer
service.Mostofthecustomerserviceis
provided in writing through online ser-
vices.Thenumberoftelephonecontacts
remained at previous years’ levels or even
declined slightly whereas the usage of the
written customer service has remained
unchanged or decreased slightly, depend-
ingonthemonth.Theonlymajorpeakin
demand for customer service was expe-
rienced in August in connection with the
announcement of the abolition of the adult
education allowance scheme and the start
ofstudiesinautumn.Thatmonth,theben-
efitservicereceived7,117customermes-
sagesand4,766customercalls.
Mostofthecustomerserviceonbenefit
services was provided via the messaging
functionality.In2023,wereceivedatotalof
62,789(64,592)messages.Wecontinuously
developed the messaging functionality so
that we would be able to process all incom-
ingcontactseffectively.Customersatisfac-
tion with the messaging service increased
andstoodat81%(74%)in2023.
In advice on unemployment insurance
matters, the telephone channel is still more
popularthantheonlineservice.Onereason
is probably because judging from the cus-
tomer feedback, there is room for improve-
ment in the online service and we will meet
these needs in the overhaul of the online
service.
The telephone service for unemployment
insurance matters received a total of 12,033
(12,783)callsin2023.In12%ofthem,the
customer chose the callback option instead
ofwaitingonhold.Thenumberoftele-
phoneinquiriesconcerningbenefitsalso
remained at the same level as in previous
years.In2023,weanswered31,950(36,254)
callsconcerningbenefits.Thecustomer
may leave a callback request to avoid wait-
ingonhold.Atotalof14%ofthecustomers
callingthebenefitserviceschosethecall-
backoptionin2023.Inbenefitservices,our
averagecallbackratewas87%.
The amount of incoming paper mail has
been declining over the past few years
and it now mainly consists of additional
information sent in connection with adult
educationbenefitmatters,taxcardsand
documentssentbystakeholders.
In addition to customer service, we also
gave a high priority to customer com-
munications.Thiswaspromptedbythe
announcement that the adult education
benefitswouldbeabolished.Wearranged
several webinars on the adult education
allowance scheme, and they attracted a re-
cord number of participants during the last
monthsof2023.Wealsoproducedcontent
for our social media channels, developed
our website contents and sent newsletters
to such customer groups as educational
institutions.Successfulcustomercommu-
nicationshavemadeitsignificantlyeasier
for the Fund to manage its service capacity
incustomerserviceadvisorychannels.
Customer service at Employment Fund
17Report of the Board of Directors 2023
Unemployment insurance contributions
Unemployment insurance contributions
Employment Fund determines
and collects the unemployment
insurance contributions and
ensures that the employers
manage their obligations
concerning the unemployment
insurancecontributions.
The obligation to pay unemployment in-
surance contribution is based on the Act
onFinancingofUnemploymentBenefits
(555/1998).Unemploymentinsurancecon-
tributions are paid by employees aged be-
tween18and64aswellastheiremployers.
The employer was liable to pay the unem-
ployment insurance contributions if the
wages paid by it exceeded EUR 1,400 during
2023.Nounemploymentinsurancecon-
tributions are paid from an entrepreneur’s
earnings.Part-ownersasdefinedintheUn-
employment Security Act (1290/2002) are
obligated to pay unemployment insurance
contributions, but they pay the lower rate
paidbyemployees.
All wages, bonuses or similar compen-
sation that have been paid or have been
agreed to be paid during employment or a
service relationship as compensation for
work are considered income that can be
used as a basis for unemployment insur-
ancecontributions.
The employer deducts the employee’s un-
employment insurance contribution from
the employee’s wages when paying the
wages and reports the earnings payment
datatotheIncomesRegister.Wedetermine
the employer’s unemployment insurance
contributions on the basis of the earnings
payment data obtained from the Incomes
Register.Wecollectthecontributionsfour
times each year (in January, April, July and
October) on the basis of the wages paid in
thepreviousthreemonths.
18Report of the Board of Directors 2023
Thanks to the Incomes Register, the pro-
cess has been extensively automated: A
totalof99.1%(98.4%)ofthedecisionson
contributions were issued automatically in
2023.
UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE
CONTRIBUTION IN 2023
While the unemployment insurance contri-
butions remained at 2022 levels, a separate
0.03percentagepointincreasewasinclud-
ed in the employer’s average contribution
tofinancethetransitionsecurityscheme
thatenteredintoforceon1January2023.
In 2023, the unemployment insurance con-
tribution income collected from employers
totalled EUR 1,413 (1,327) million and the lia-
bility components and transition security
contributions paid by employers amounted
toEUR20(22)million.Theunemployment
insurance contributions paid by employees
totalledEUR1,490(1,424)million.
Unemployment insurance contributions
EUR
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Unemployment insurance
contributions collected
Employers
Employees
2,657
1,379
1,073
1,241
1,424
1,490
1,433
1,349
1,183
1,019
1,278
2,092
2,424
2,773
2,923
0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
2019 2020
2021
2023
2021
2022
Employers
Employees
%
Unemployment insurance
contribution rates
1.50%
1.50%
1.25%
1.42%
1.51%
1.54%
1.25%
1.40%
1.50%
1.50%
19Report of the Board of Directors 2023
UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE
CONTRIBUTION RATES WILL
BE LOWERED IN 2024
In August 2023, we proposed that the un-
employment insurance contributions for
theyear2024shouldbeloweredby1.4per-
centagepoints.Theproposalforlowering
the contributions was made possible by the
outlook for the economy and employment,
the assets that had accumulated in the
Fund’s business cycle buffer and the fact
that the measures set out in the Govern-
ment Programme are estimated to decrease
expenditure.PresidentoftheRepublicap-
proved the act on the contributions for 2024
inDecember2023.
Unemployment insurance contribution rates (%) 2022 2023 2024
Employee’s unemployment insurance contribution 1.50 1.50 0.79
Employer’s unemployment insurance contribution, lower (1) 0.50 0.52 0.27
Employer’s unemployment insurance contribution, higher (2) 2.05 2.06 1.09
Employer’s average unemployment insurance contribution 1.51 1.54 0.82
Employee’s unemployment insurance contribution for part-owners 0.74 0.75 0.43
Employer’s unemployment insurance contribution for part-owners 0.50 0.52 0.27
Unemployment insurance contribution for unincorporated state
enterprises, lower (1) 0.50 0.52 0.27
Unemployment insurance contribution for unincorporated state
enterprises, higher (2) 1.18 1.22 0.65
Unemployment insurance contribution for universities, lower (1) 0.50 0.52 0.27
Unemployment insurance contribution for universities, higher (2) 1.49 1.52 0.71
(1)UptoapayrollofEUR2,197,500(2022);EUR2,251,500(2023);andEUR2,337,000(2024).
(2)ExceedingthepayrollofEUR2,197,500(2022);EUR2,251,500(2023);andEUR2,337,000(2024).
20Report of the Board of Directors 2023
SUPERVISION OF UNEMPLOYMENT
INSURANCE CONTRIBUTIONS
Employment Fund supervises that the
employers meet their obligations to pay the
unemploymentinsurancecontributions.
The purpose of the supervision is to ensure
that the earnings payment data reported by
the employers as a basis for the unemploy-
ment insurance contributions correspond
to the actual wage payments and that we
are able to collect the unemployment insur-
ancecontributionsincorrectamounts.
We check the accuracy of the earnings pay-
mentdatareportedtotheIncomesRegister.
If we notice that an employer has report-
ed earnings payment data to the Incomes
Register incorrectly we contact the employ-
er in question and examine the earnings
paymentdatainmoredetail.Inaddition
to the Incomes Register data, Employment
Fund also uses information on employers
received from other authorities and social
insurance providers in its supervisory
activities.
We provide employers with advice on
matters concerning the payment obligation
andthereportingofwages.Theincorrect
earnings payment data is usually the result
of errors in the payroll system, misunder-
standings concerning the payment obliga-
tion,orothererrors.
In 2023, we investigated 894 (640) cases
forsupervision.Basedonthesupervision,
we ordered additional payments totalling
EUR 289,646 (EUR 251,050) and paid refunds
amountingtoEUR16,087(EUR16,087).
Unemployment insurance contributions
In 2023, we investigated 894 (640)
casesforsupervision.
21Report of the Board of Directors 2023
EMPLOYER’S LIABILITY COMPONENT
If an employee close to the retirement age
has been dismissed or laid off and is fac-
ing long-term unemployment or a long-
term lay-off, Employment Fund can order
the employer in question to pay a liability
component and collect it from this employ-
er.Weuseliabilitycomponentpayments
tofinanceunemploymentbenefitexpens-
esresultingfromdismissalsandlay-offs.
Provisions on determining the liability
component and the collection procedure
are laid down in chapter 8a of the Act on
theFinancingofUnemploymentBenefits
(555/1998).
Under the legislative changes approved by
Finnish Parliament in 2022, the right to the
additional days of unemployment security
willbeabolished.Thisalsomeansthatthe
collectionofliabilitycomponentswillend.
The new statutory transition security con-
tribution for employers dismissing employ-
ees will replace the liability components
duringatransitionperiod.Employeesborn
in 1964 are the last age group eligible for
the additional days and for whom the em-
ployer is obliged to pay the liability compo-
nent.Thetransitionperiodfortheliability
componentwillendbytheyear2035.
We received about 6,700 (9,700) new liabil-
itycomponentcasesin2023.Weimposed
a liability component on the employer in
about1,000(1,300)cases.Thenumberof
cases decreased because the transition pe-
riod preceding the abolition of the liability
componentbegan.
We recorded about EUR 14 (22) million in
liabilitycomponentsin2023.Theaverage
processing time in cases that led to a pay-
mentdecisionwas46(50)days.
TRANSITION SECURITY CONTRIBUTION
FOR EMPLOYERS DISMISSING EMPLOYEES
We started to collect the transition security
contribution from employers dismissing
employeesinJanuary2023.Provisions
on determining the transition security
contribution and the collection procedure
are laid down in chapter 4a of the Act on
theFinancingofUnemploymentBenefits
(555/1998).
Unemployment insurance contributions
The transition period for the liability component
willendbytheyear2035.
22Report of the Board of Directors 2023
The employer may be obliged to pay the
transition security contribution if the em-
ployer has dismissed an employee aged 55
oroveronproduction-relatedorfinancial
grounds and the employee had been em-
ployed by the employer in question for at
leastfiveyears.Wecollectthetransition
securitycontributionstofinancetheem-
ployee’stransitionsecuritypackage.The
transition security package consists of
transition security training and transition
securityallowance.TheEmploymentand
EconomicDevelopmentOfficeprovidesthe
dismissed employee with transition secu-
rity training corresponding to two months’
pay.TheSocialInsuranceInstitutionof
Finland or the unemployment fund will
also pay the employee a transition security
allowance corresponding to one month’s
pay.
We received about 1,000 transition security
casesin2023.Weorderedtheemployerto
pay a transition security contribution in
about500cases.
We recorded about EUR 6 million in tran-
sitionsecuritycontributionsin2023.The
average processing time in cases that led to
apaymentdecisionwas75days.
RECONCILIATION BASED ON THE
EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS ACT
An employer that has laid off an employee
or ended an employee’s employment con-
tract in violation of the provisions of the
Employment Contracts Act is liable to pay
compensationtotheemployee.Atotalof
75% of the compensation is deducted from
the earnings-related daily unemployment
benefitspaidtotheemployeeafterthe
employment relationship has ended when
compensation is paid for salary losses due
tounemployment.Theemployerpaysthe
deductiontoEmploymentFund.
The reconciliation based on the Employ-
ment Contracts Act is made when a court
orders payment of compensation or when
the parties to the dispute agree on a com-
pensation.ThecourtmustconsultEmploy-
ment Fund if after the end of the employ-
ment relationship or for the duration of
the lay-off, the plaintiff has received earn-
ings-relatedunemploymentallowance.We
issued 718 (640) statements and contract
commentsin2023.
Unemployment insurance contributions
23Report of the Board of Directors 2023
TRAINING COMPENSATION
The purpose of the training compensation
is to improve the employer’s opportuni-
ties to organise training for its employees
so that they can enhance their vocational
competence.Thetrainingcompensation
can be paid to employers that are not eli-
gible for employer’s training deduction in
taxation (such as municipalities, wellbeing
services counties, parishes, associations
andfoundations).
An employer may apply for training com-
pensation from Employment Fund each in-
surance year by the end of January follow-
ingtheinsuranceyear.EmploymentFund
grants and pays the training compensation
based on the application submitted by the
employer.
In2023,wepaidEUR10.2(8.8)millionin
training compensation to 616 (591) employ-
ersfortrainingdaysin2022.Theemploy-
ers eligible for the compensation applied
for compensation on the basis of 451,522
(407,738)trainingdays.Oftheemployers
that received training compensation, 304
(308)werecitiesandothermunicipalities.
Unemployment insurance contributions
In2023,wepaidEUR10.2(8.8)million
in training compensation to 616 (591)
employersfortrainingdaysin2022.
24Report of the Board of Directors 2023
EUR
1,490
1,433
were paid by empolyers
51% 49%
Uncollected contributions
accounted for
0.2%
Our aim is to have efficient digital services and satisfied customers
UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE CONTRIBUTIONS
WERE PAID BY
employers and other parties
liable to pay them
133,510
AMOUNT OF UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE
CONTRIBUTIONS COLLECTED
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
(CSAT)
77%
CUSTOMER CONTACTS FOR UNEMPLOYMENT
INSURANCE CONTRIBUTIONS (PCS)
95,641
12,033
Phone calls
6,106
Calculators
were used
21,632
Emails
21,208
Logins to
online service
4,289
Messages in
online service
EUR 2,923 million
NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE
DECISIONS
520,880 pcs
were automated
decisions
TRAINING COMPENSATIONS WERE
REFUNDED TO
616 employers
And they
totalled
EUR 10 million
NUMBER OF CASES FOR SUPERVISION
Decisions based on
supervision
1,234 pcs
894 pcs
of which
99%
million million
EUR
were paid by employees
of the total
times*
Website visits*
All figures are from the period 1 January – 31 December 2023. *Use of calculators and website visits are estimates from the same time period.
Unemployment insurance contributions
25Report of the Board of Directors 2023
Adult education benefits
Adulteducationbenefits
Employment Fund grants
and pays adult education
allowances and scholarships for
qualifiedemployeestosupport
professional capabilities as well
ascompetencedevelopment.
Adult education allowance is granted by
Employment Fund to entrepreneurs and
employees for full-time or part-time train-
ing.Scholarshipsforqualifiedemployees
are granted to persons that have received
vocationaluppersecondarylevelqualifica-
tions, completed further vocational educa-
tion or received specialist vocational qual-
ifications.Thegrantingofadulteducation
allowancesandscholarshipsforqualified
employees is based on the Act on Adult
EducationBenefits(1276/2000).
Wefinancetheemployees’adulteducation
allowances and the scholarships for qual-
ifiedemployeesfromtheunemployment
insurance contributions that we have col-
lected.Thestateisresponsibleforfinanc-
ing adult education allowances for entre-
preneursandscholarshipsforqualified
employeesworkingforcentralgovernment.
In 2023, we granted a total of EUR 201 (189)
million in adult education allowances and
scholarshipsforqualifiedemployees.The
amountoftheadulteducationbenefits
grantedincreasedby6.4%comparedto
2022.
ADULT EDUCATION ALLOWANCE
TO SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT OF
PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE
Adult education allowances have been
grantedsince2001.Employeesandentre-
preneurs who have been working for at
least eight years may apply for adult educa-
tionallowance.Theallowanceisintended
for maintaining and developing profes-
sional competence and may be granted for
studies conducted under public oversight
inFinland.Thesestudiesmayleadtoafull
degree, a partial degree or be further or con-
tinuingvocationaltraining.
26Report of the Board of Directors 2023
MORE AND MORE PEOPLE
COMBINE WORK AND STUDIES
Under the current legislation on the adult
education allowance scheme, which en-
tered into force on 1 August 2020, there is
moreroomforflexiblecombinationofwork
andstudiesthaninthepast.Moreand
more allowance recipients work alongside
studies.Atotalof19%(15%)oftherecipients
madeuseofthisoptionin2023.Thus,the
number of allowance recipients combining
workandstudiesisincreasingsteadily.
THE POPULARITY OF ADULT EDUCATION
ALLOWANCE CONTINUED TO INCREASE
WepaidatotalofEUR189.3(177.9)million
in adult education allowances to 32,518
(30,124)persons.Theamountpaidwas
about6.4%higherthanin2022.Ofthere-
cipients, 1,079 received entrepreneurs’ adult
education allowance and 31,439 received
employees’adulteducationallowance.
In recent years, most of the recipients of
adult education allowance have been wom-
enagedunder40.Thegenderdistribution
remained unchanged in 2023: 76% were
womenand24%weremen.
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Recipients, persons
Adult education allowances paid,
EUR million
adult education allowances paid
EUR
million
persons
27,066
28,322
30,124
32,518
25,701
175.3
177.9
200
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
176.6
186.9
189.3
Adulteducationbenefits
Moreandmoreallowancerecipientsworkalongsidestudies.
27Report of the Board of Directors 2023 Adulteducationbenefits
The age distribution of the recipients also
remainedunchanged.Thebreakdownof
the age groups (from the largest to the
smallest) was as follows:
30–34,26.7%
35–39,24.6%
40–44,18.6%
45–49,12.8%
50–54,6.8%
25–29,5.6%
over55,4.9%
In 2023, about 47% (45%) of the recipients
studied in universities of applied sciences,
23% (26%) in vocational institutions, 27%
(26%) in universities and 3% (3%) in other
educationinstitutions.
24%
76%
Recipients of adult education allowance by gender in 2023
Men
Women
26.7%
18.6%
Recipients of adult education allowance by age in 2023
30
34 years
40–44 years
24.6%
35
39 years
5.6%
25
29 years
12.8%
45–49 years
6.8%
50–54 years
4.9%
55 and over
28Report of the Board of Directors 2023 Adulteducationbenefits
Themajorityoftherecipients(82.8%)used
the adult education allowance for educa-
tionleadingtoadegree.Atotalof13.7%of
the recipients used the allowance for stud-
ies leading to a partial degree or further or
continuingvocationaltraining,and3.5%
useditforothertraining.
Themostpopularfieldsstudiedbythere-
cipients were the social, health and sports
sector33.2%(33.0%)andsocialsciences,
businessandadministration19.0%(18.5%).
They were followed by technology and
transport,16.0%(15.6%)andhumanitiesand
education14.0%(14.4%).
MORE THAN A THIRD OF ALL APPLICANTS
FOR ADULT EDUCATION ALLOWANCES
WORK IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
In terms of employment, persons work-
ing in public administration and national
defence were the largest single group using
theadulteducationallowance.Theyac-
countedfor31.1%(27.2%)ofallrecipients.
Fields where recipients study
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
%
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
Social welfare,
healthcare
and sports
Social
sciences,
business and
administration
Technology
and transport
Humanities
and education
Culture
Natural
resources and
environment
Natural
sciences
Tourism,
hospitality
and business
Other
education
General
education
29Report of the Board of Directors 2023 Adulteducationbenefits
The proportion of applicants working in
thesesectorshasincreasedby17.9%over
thepastfiveyears.Personsworkingin
healthcareandsocialservices(17.4%)and
wholesale and retail trade (11%) were the
next largest group of recipients in terms
ofemployment.Thenumberofrecipients
working in healthcare and social services
hasdecreasedby8.4%overthepastfive
years.Thedecreaseinpartlyexplainedby
statistical change because in the statistics,
the wellbeing services counties are entered
under public administration and national
defence.Therehasbeenasteadydecline
in the proportion of persons working in the
education sector: in 2023, they accounted
for3.5%ofallapplicants(comparedto9.7%
fiveyearsago).
Sectors where recipients work
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
%
Public
administration,
national defence
and mandatory
social insurance
Healthcare
and social
services
Wholesale and
retail, motor
vehicle and
motorcycle
repair
Industry
Professional,
scientific and
technical
activities
Administration
and support
services
Transportation
and storage
Education
Other
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
30Report of the Board of Directors 2023 Adulteducationbenefits
ANNOUNCEMENT THAT THE ADULT
EDUCATION ALLOWANCE SCHEME WOULD
BE ABOLISHED PROMPTED THE FUND
TO START A MAJOR CHANGE PROJECT
According to the Programme of Prime Min-
ister Petteri Orpo’s Government published
in June 2023, the adult education allowance
scheme would be abolished from 1 August
2024.InAugust,theMinistryofSocialAf-
fairsandHealthsetupalegislativeproject
topreparefortheabolition.Abolishingthe
scholarshipschemeforqualifiedemploy-
eeswasalsoincludedintheproject.The
Government proposal for abolishing the
adulteducationbenefitswascirculatedfor
comments between 12 December 2023 and
5January2024.TheGovernmentbillwas
submitted to Parliament on 15 February
2024.
The announcement that the adult educa-
tionbenefitswouldbeabolishedprompted
thebenefitserviceandEmploymentFund
to start a major change project, which will
progress in accordance with the abolition
timetableproposedbytheministry.
THE ANNOUNCEMENT THAT ADULT
EDUCATION BENEFITS WOULD BE
ABOLISHED LED TO RECORD NUMBER
OF APPLICATIONS DURING THE
SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR
The application procedure for employee’s
adult education allowance is a two-step
process.Basedontheinitialapplication,
the applicant receives eligibility for adult
education allowance for the period speci-
fiedintheapplication.Afterthis,theappli-
cant can apply for an allowance payment
retrospectively for each month on a sep-
aratepaymentapplication.Theapplicant
can apply for allowance extension by sub-
mittinganewapplicationforeligibility.
In 2023, the number of applications was
againatrecordlevels.Thepublicationof
the Government Programme had an impact
on the number of applications during the
secondhalfoftheyear.In2023,wereceived
41,096 (33,615) initial and extension ap-
plications and 144,608 (133,689) payment
applications.Asin2022,thelargestnum-
ber of initial and extension applications
was received in August (6,275, compared to
3,612 in August 2022), which has been one
of the busiest periods for such applications
formanyyears.November,with16,389
(14,874) applications, and December, with
16,982 (15,270) applications, were the busi-
estmonthsforpaymentapplications.The
number of applications received in Novem-
ber and December 2023 were the highest
everinthehistoryofEmploymentFund.
Despite the larger number of applications,
we were able to shorten the processing
times.In2023,theaverageprocessingtime
for initial and extension applications was
13.8(17.1)daysandforpaymentapplica-
tions0.5(0.8)days.
31Report of the Board of Directors 2023 Adulteducationbenefits
AUTOMATION OF THE EXTENSION
APPLICATION PROCESS INCREASED
THE AUTOMATION LEVEL
Most of the applications for the payment
ofadulteducationbenefits(about80%)are
submittedtoourbenefitserviceinthefirst
week of the month, which puts pressure
onourresources.Toensureourservice
capacity, we have developed the automated
applicationprocessinginrecentyears.In
2023, automated payment decisions already
accountedfor83.5%(78%)ofallpayment
decisions.Weincreasedtheautomation
level by introducing automated process-
ingofextensionapplications.Forthefirst
time, we implemented the legislation on
automated decision-making that entered
intoforceon1May2023.In2023,atotalof
20.1%oftheextensionapplicationswere
processedautomatically.Whenthisfigure
is examined, it should be noted that the au-
tomation solution was put into production
useinJune.
In 2023, we achieved further progress in the
automation in scholarship processing, and
40.6%oftheapplicationsforthesebenefits
wereprocessedautomatically.
Applications for adult education allowances
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
applications
2022
2023
January February March
April
May June July August September
October
November
December
32Report of the Board of Directors 2023 Adulteducationbenefits
SCHOLARSHIPS FOR QUALIFIED
EMPLOYEES ON THE BASIS OF A
VOCATIONAL QUALIFICATION
Scholarshipsforqualifiedemployeeswere
introducedin1996.Apersonresidingin
Finland is eligible for the scholarship if
they have completed a vocational upper
secondaryqualification,afurthervocation-
alqualificationoraspecialistvocational
qualification,areunder68yearsofage,and
havebeenworkingforatleastfiveyears
bythedatetheycompletethenewqualifi-
cation.Thescholarshipforqualifiedem-
ployees is a tax-exempt lump sum payment
ofEUR414(qualificationsreceivedafter1
January2022).
POPULARITY OF THE SCHOLARSHIP
INCREASED SLIGHTLY
Wegrantedscholarshipsforqualifiedem-
ployeesto28,485(27,755)personsin2023.
WepaidatotalofEUR11.8(11.5)millionin
scholarships.
The application for the scholarship can be
submitted after graduation and therefore
oftenattheendofthesemester.In2023,
the highest number of applications was
received in June (5,715), December (3,882),
andMay(3,699).Thenumberofapplica-
tions received during these three months
accounted for 41% of the total number of
applicationsreceivedduringtheyear.We
were able to shorten the process times from
the previous year by using automation in
theprocessingofapplications.Theaverage
processing time for scholarship applica-
tions was 7 days, compared to 10 days in
2022.
A total of 43% of the scholarships were
granted on the basis of a further vocational
qualification,33%onthebasisofasecond-
aryvocationalqualification,and25%onthe
basisofaspecialistvocationalqualifica-
tion.Asinpreviousyears,in2023,themost
commonqualificationscompletedbyschol-
arship recipients were the further vocation-
alqualificationinsupervisorywork10.1%
(9.1%),vocationaluppersecondaryquali-
ficationinsocialwelfareandhealthcare
9.6%(9.1%),andaspecialistqualificationin
businessmanagementandleadership7.4%
(7.7%).Asubstantialmajority(64%)ofthe
scholarshiprecipientswerewomen.
Approvals and scholarships paid
to qualified employees
EUR
million
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
Approvals
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Approvals
Scholarships paid, EUR million
26,187
26,511
26,257
27,678
29,124
10.5
10.6
10.4
11.5
11.8
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
33Report of the Board of Directors 2023 Adulteducationbenefits
APPEALS AND RECOVERY OF BENEFITS
PAID WITHOUT JUSTIFICATION
Applicantswhoarenotsatisfiedwiththe
outcome of their application for scholar-
shipsforqualifiedemployeesoradultedu-
cation allowances have the right to appeal
thedecision.Thefirstappellatebodyisthe
SocialSecurityAppealBoard.Thesecond
andfinalappellatebodyistheInsurance
Court.In2023,theAppealBoardreceived
248(288)complaints.TheInsuranceCourt
received30(17)complaints.Thecomplaints
mainly concerned the recovery of bene-
fitsortherevisionofbenefits,takinginto
account additional income based on their
timeofpayment.
Ifabenefithasbeenpaidwithoutjustifica-
tion or the amount paid out was too high,
the excess must be recovered from the
recipient.Atotalof1,318(1,198)recovery
decisionsweremade.
THANKS TO CONTINUOUS
IMPROVEMENTS, CUSTOMER
SATISFACTION REACHED RECORD LEVELS
In spring 2023, we continued the custom-
er-orienteddevelopmentofourbenefit
servicesonthebasisofcustomerfeedback.
Our aim was to speed up processing times
andstreamlinetheservices.Thefocusin
the development work was on the online
service and increasing automation in ap-
plicationprocessing.Inservices,themost
important improvements were achieved in
thebenefitapplicationprocess,asaresult
of which the customer satisfaction score
(CSAT) for online service again reached
anewlevel(85%).Withthedevelopment
ofautomation,overallbenefitprocessing
automation level exceeded the 70% limit for
thefirsttimeinthehistoryofthebenefit
service.
During the spring, we conducted an exten-
sive survey to examine the reasons why our
customers apply for adult education allow-
ances and the perceived impact of the adult
educationallowance.Nearly5,000custom-
erstookpartinthesurvey.Thefindings
could provide several inputs for developing
thebenefitanditsimpact.
After the publication of the Government
Programme, we shifted the development
focus to more relevant matters, considering
theabolitionoftheallowancescheme.
34Report of the Board of Directors 2023 Adulteducationbenefits
CUSTOMER CONTACTS FOR ADULT
EDUCATION ALLOWANCE (PCS)
32,518
persons of whom
96.7% were employees
and 3.3% entrepreneurs
ADULT EDUCATION ALLOWANCES
WERE GRANTED TO
NUMBER OF ADULT EDUCATION ALLOWANCE DECISIONS
FOR EMPLOYEES
41,048 pcs
Allowance right decisions
144,659 pcs
Payment decisions
84%
of all decisions were
automatic decisions
11 days
Average
processing time
0.5 days
Average
processing time
1,415 pcs
15 days
Average
processing time
2,117,196
36,540
278,356
8,076
661,844 62,789
Aiming for efficient digital services and customer satisfaction
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
(CSAT)
85%
Phone calls
Calculators
were used
Emails
Logins to online
service
Messages in
online service
NUMBER OF ADULT EDUCATION ALLOWANCE DECISIONS
FOR ENTREPRENEURS
10%
of all decisions were
automatic decisions
Website visitors*
times*
All figures are from the period 1 January – 31 December 2023. *Use of calculators and website visits are estimates from the same time period.
35Report of the Board of Directors 2023
Finance
Finance
NET POSITION OF THE BUSINESS CYCLE
BUFFER NOW SIGNIFICANTLY STRONGER
Under section 3 of the Act on the Financing
ofUnemploymentBenefits,Employment
Fund maintains a business cycle buffer to
ensure liquidity and balance out changes in
unemployment insurance contributions
duetoforeseeableeconomicfluctuationsin
thenationaleconomy.Thebusinesscycle
buffer accrues on the basis of the difference
between Employment Fund’s assets and
liabilities.Whentheunemploymentinsur-
ance contributions are set, the forecast for
the maximum amount of assets or liabili-
ties in the buffer may not exceed liabilities
corresponding to an unemployment rate of
sixpercentagepoints.Whenthedecision
on the level of unemployment insurance
contributions is made, the forecast for the
business cycle buffer may by law exceed
the maximum amount of assets over two
years during a three-year review period in
ordertoensureasteadypaymenttrend.In
that case, however, unemployment insur-
ance contributions may not be set higher
thaninthepreviousyear.Themaximum
amount of the business cycle buffer is
calculatedonthebasisofthefiguresinthe
annualfinancialstatements.
The maximum value of the buffer is cal-
culated by dividing the annual expenses
for which Employment Fund is liable (EUR
2,233 million in 2023) by the average unem-
ploymentratefortheyear(7.2%),andmul-
tiplyingtheresultbysix.Themaximum
EUR
million
1,868 1,861
-2,062 -2,078
-2,220
-2,500
-2,000
-1,500
-1,000
-500
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Development of the business cycle buffer
Net position Maximum amount Minimum amount
1,668
1,045
633
1,258
2,021
2,062
2,078
2,220
-1,868
-1,861
36Report of the Board of Directors 2023 Finance
amount of the business cycle buffer al-
lowed under the Act on the Financing of
UnemploymentBenefitswasEUR1,861
(1,868)millionin2023.
In our half-year report, we estimated that
the change in Employment Fund’s net
position would be positive to the amount of
about EUR 780 million in 2023, and positive
to the amount of about EUR 2,040 million at
theendof2023.ThechangeinEmployment
Fund’s net position was EUR 763 (625) mil-
lionin2023.EmploymentFund’snetposi-
tion was EUR 2,021 (1,258) million positive
attheendof2023.
According to the budget for 2024, which we
submitted to the Ministry of Social Affairs
andHealthinAugust2023,thechangein
Employment Fund’s net position in 2024
would be negative to the amount of EUR
338 million and its net position would be
positive to the amount of EUR 1,701 million
on31December2024.Whenpreparingour
financialstatementsfor2023,weestimated
that the change in Employment Fund’s net
position would be negative to the amount
of about EUR 570 million in 2024, which
would mean a positive net position of about
EUR1,450millionattheendof2024.
EUR
million
-800
-600
-400
-200
0
200
400
600
800
1,000
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Change in net position
694
-623
-412
625
763
37Report of the Board of Directors 2023 Finance
LIQUIDITY AND DEBT FINANCING
Under the investment principles approved
by Employment Fund’s Supervisory Board,
infixed-incomeinvestmentswithlessthan
one year’s maturity, the Fund must keep
an amount that covers at least one month’s
expenses.In2023,thisamountwasabout
EUR300million.Onaverage,theliquidity
bufferdescribedabovewas2.6timesthe
minimumamountin2023.
For liquidity purposes, the Fund also has
a EUR 300 million commercial paper pro-
gramme(31Dec2022:EUR300million).In
addition, the Fund also has EUR 600 million
in committed revolving credit facilities
(RCF) with four banks (31 Dec 2022: EUR 600
million).Thecommercialpaperprogramme
and the revolving credit facilities remained
unused at the end of 2023 (31 Dec 2022:
commercial papers with a value of EUR 100
millionwereinuse).
At the end of 2023, Employment Fund had
a bond of EUR 600 million issued in 2020,
whichisdueon16June2027.
In 2023, Employment Fund repaid the bond
of EUR 600 million withdrawn in 2020 on
itsduedateinJune2023.Employment
Fund also repaid commercial papers with
avalueofEUR100millionduringthefirst
halfof2023.
The credit rating agency S&P Global Rat-
ings has given Employment Fund a credit
ratingofAA+(stableoutlook)/A-1+.S&P
Global Ratings has given the same rating to
theStateofFinland.
TheFundrepaidloanstotallingEUR700millionasplanned.
38Report of the Board of Directors 2023
Investment activities
Investment activities
Employment Fund carries out
investment activities to the
extent necessary to manage the
timing differences in the cash
flowsgeneratedbyitsincome
and expenses, and for liquidity
managementpurposes.
We manage our investment activities in
accordance with the investment principles
approved by the Fund’s Supervisory Board,
and the investment plan set by the Board of
Directors.EmploymentFund’sinvestment
andfinancialassetstotalledEUR1,869
(1,885)millionattheendof2023.
FINANCIAL OPERATING ENVIRONMENT
The war in Ukraine and geopolitical ten-
sions continued to slow down global eco-
nomicgrowthin2023.TheFinnishecono-
my contracted slightly, but the employment
situationremainedrelativelystablein2023.
Rapidaccelerationofinflationandthe
raising of key interest rates, a measure
takenbycentralbankstocombatinfla-
tion,continueduntillate2023.Thecycleof
raising key interest rates came to an end
in the USA in July, and the European Cen-
tral Bank stopped using this instrument in
October2023.
THE INVESTMENT MARKET
For the most part, the stock market grew
stronglyduring2023.InNorthAmerica,
stock indices increased by about 22% and
inEuropebyabout17%.Theperformanceof
the domestic stock exchange was modest
andtheindexyieldwas-0.5%.
Thereturnsonfixed-incomeinvestments
inEuropeanbondswerehigh.Thiswasdue
to stronger pricing of credit risks and (es-
pecially towards the end of the year) lower
interestonbonds;thisdevelopmentwas
mainly prompted by the statements issued
by central banks and reports on a substan-
tialslowdownofinflationinboththeUSA
andEurope.
39Report of the Board of Directors 2023
Market trends of alternative investments
during the year depended to a great extent
ontheinvestmentcategoryconcerned.For
example, investments in the domestic real
estate sector yielded low returns during
2023, whereas investments in the forest-
ry sector were characterised by strong
returns.
ALLOCATION OF INVESTMENTS
We actively invested our assets in money
market instruments, bonds, equities and
alternativeinvestments.Dependingonthe
asset class, the Fund made direct invest-
mentsorinvesteditsassetsthroughfunds.
We increased the weight of bonds in the
2023investmentplan.InJune2023,we
reduced the weight of money market in-
vestments to facilitate repayment of a bond
of EUR 600 million that we had taken out in
2020.Attheendofthefinancialperiod,EUR
820 (1,098) million of the Fund’s assets were
invested in money market instruments,
EUR 958 (669) million in bonds, EUR 39 (36)
million in equities, and EUR 83 (75) million
inalternativeinvestments.
In 2023, the return on our investments was
4.1%(-2.9%).Thereturnexceededtheexpec-
tationenteredinourinvestmentplan(2.8%)
and was at the level of the reference return
onourinvestmentactivities.
Our investment plan for 2024 was approved
by Employment Fund’s Board of Directors
on28November2023.Onlyminorchanges
weremadetotheweightingoftheplan.
They included a slight increase in the size
of the alternative investment category and
a slight reduction in the weight of short-
termfixed-incomeinvestments.
Sustainability issues are also a considera-
tion when we make our investment deci-
sions.SustainabilityintheFund’sinvest-
ment activities is described in more detail
inthesectiononsustainabilityonpage41.
1.9
0.8
0.1
-4
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
4
5
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Return on investments
Return on investments Reference return
%
0.7
0.5
-0.7
-2.9 -2.8
4.1 4.1
43%
50%
4%
Asset allocation
Money market
Bonds
Alternative
investments
2%Equities
Investment activities
40Report of the Board of Directors 2023 Investment activities
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
EUR million
Largest investments
Finnish Government bond
German Government bond
Dutch Government bond
OP Corporate Bank bond
SEB bond
Svenska Handelsbanken certificate of deposit
North-Rhine Westphalia Bond
SEB Euro Short Rate Fund IC fixed-income fund
OP Euro II A fixed-income fund
Nordea Mortgage Bank bond
EUR 157.0 million
EUR 88.5 million
EUR 66.4 million
EUR 51.5 million
EUR 48.7 million
EUR 39.6 million
EUR 32.7 million
EUR 32.0 million
EUR 30.3 million
EUR 30.1 million
41Report of the Board of Directors 2023 Sustainability
Sustainability
We promote sustainable
development and sustainability
in the areas where we can
maximiseourinfluence
throughourcoreactivities.
In our role as an executor of social
security, we put great emphasis on social
responsibilitythemes.In2022and2023,
we prepared a sustainability concept for
the Fund to support the achievement of
the sustainable development goals set by
theUNinits2030Agenda.Inadditionto
our sustainability concept, sustainability is
alsoreflectedinourinvestmentactivities,
acquisitionofdebtfinancingandour
equalityanddiversitywork.
During 2023, we also made use of a variety
of different networks to develop our sus-
tainabilitycompetence.Wejoinedthecor-
porate responsibility network FIBS, which
organises events on topical sustainability
themes and provides news and information
servicesonrelatedtopics.Wealsotook
part in the events organised by the sustain-
ability network maintained by the State
Treasury, in which public administration
organisations share information on such
matters as best practices of sustainability
andsustainabilityreporting.
42Report of the Board of Directors 2023 Sustainability
WE DEFINED OUR SUSTAINABILITY GOALS
In 2022 and 2023, we carried out a materiality analysis to create the basis for the Fund’s
ownsustainabilityconcept.Thepurposeoftheanalysishasbeentoidentifythesustaina-
bledevelopmentgoalsoftheUNonwhichwecanexertmaximumpositiveinfluencewith
ourowncoreactivities.Weselectedthefollowingkeygoalsofthe2030Agendaassuch
objectives:
Qualityeducation
Decent work and economic growth
Peace, justice and strong institutions
ThesekeygoalsaredirectlylinkedtotheFund’scoretasks,suchasthefinancingofun-
employmentsecurityandadulteducationbenefits.TheworkontheFund’sconcretesus-
tainability measures and indicators is still under way and the work will continue during
2024.Ouraimistobuildafoundationforsystematicsustainabilityworksothatwecan
reportonoursustainabilityactivitiesonaregularbasisinthecomingyears.
43Report of the Board of Directors 2023 Sustainability
FRAMEWORK FOR SOCIAL FUNDING
The Fund prepared a framework for social
fundinginspring2023.Theframework
was prepared in accordance with the social
bond principles of the International Capi-
tal Market Association (ICMA) updated in
2021 and the social loan principles of the
European Loan Market Association (LMA)
updatedin2023.Withintheframework,the
Fund is able to acquire different types of
debtfinancingspecificallypromotingsocial
improvements.
It also enables us to establish a close link
betweenourdebtfinancingandpositiveso-
cialimpacts.Usingtheframework,wecan
alsopromote‘Qualityeducation’and‘De-
cent work and economic growth’, two of the
UN sustainable development goals selected
bytheFundforitssustainabilitywork.The
financingtakenoutinthismannerwill
be used to cover the expenses that meet
the eligibility criteria (provide security for
changesinworkinglife).Theyincludethe
fundingofunemploymentbenefitsandthe
adult education allowance scheme, which
supports the maintenance and develop-
mentofvocationalcompetence.Attheend
of 2023, Employment Fund did not have any
debtfinancingtowhichthesocialfunding
frameworkwouldhavebeenapplied.
EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY WORK
In spring 2023, the Fund established a di-
versity working group the aim of which is
to identify and discuss issues concerning
the diversity of the work community and
definethepracticaldevelopmentmeasures
that may be needed in our work communi-
ty.Thetaskoftheworkinggroupisalsoto
promote the experience of all our employ-
ees of an open and equal work communi-
ty.Withourequalityanddiversitywork,
we can contribute to the achievement of
the objective ‘Decent work and economic
growth’, one of the key goals of the UN 2030
Agenda that we have selected for our sus-
tainabilitywork.
During 2023, we assessed the current state
of the Fund using the diversity manage-
ment self-assessment tool developed by
theFIBScorporatesustainabilitynetwork.
Intheassessment,weidentifiedanumber
ofpreliminarydevelopmentpriorities.The
aim of the diversity working group is to
prepare an updated non-discrimination,
equality and diversity plan for the Fund
during2024.
44Report of the Board of Directors 2023 Responsibility
SUSTAINABLE INVESTING
Sustainability in our investment activ-
ities means that we take responsibility
and sustainability matters into account in
ourinvestmentdecisions.Whenwemake
investment decisions, we take environ-
mental, social and governance (ESG) factors
intoconsiderationinadditiontofinancial
indicators.Withtheexceptionofindex
investments, we integrate ESG factors into
allourinvestmentsinsofarasispossible.
We do our part to ensure that ESG factors
are taken into consideration by commis-
sioning an external party to review our
investments two times per year and report
anydeviations.
We exclude companies whose operating
methods are considered irresponsible with
regard to factors such as corruption, child
labour, employees’ rights and human rights
fromourlistofpotentialinvestments.We
also invest in companies that comply with
theUNGlobalCompactwhereverpossible.
Numerical methods of assessment are used
to monitor and analyse the sustainability
ofEmploymentFund’sinvestments.The
goal is to provide a picture of the Fund’s
sustainabilityprofileandmapitsdevelop-
ment as comprehensively and diversely as
possible.Similarmetricshavebeenused
formonitoringsince2019.Thesustainabili-
ty analysis includes a review of operational
sustainability metrics for the investment
items and the companies behind them,
such as commitment to equality, good gov-
ernance, and the development of variables
usedtomeasureenvironmentalimpact.
The assessment is based on SFDR and Mi-
FIDIIregulationandEUtaxonomy.Accord-
ing to the latest sustainability assessment,
our investments performed well against the
ESGcriteria.
45Report of the Board of Directors 2023 Responsibility
The ESG analysis of Employment Fund’s
investments covers 54% of the Fund’s
investmentassets.Theanalysedassets
do not include such items as investments
in government bonds, which account for
a substantial proportion of the Fund’s
investmentassets.Accordingtoananal-
ysis assessing the sustainability of our
investments in December 2023 conducted
by an asset management institution, the
environmental indicators of our invest-
ments (carbon footprint, carbon intensity,
weighted carbon intensity and water use)
have increased compared to the analysis
conductedinJune2023.Theincreasehas
been driven by a growing proportion of the
bonds issued by energy companies and for-
estindustrycompaniesinourinvestments.
However,thecarbonfootprintofourinvest-
mentsstillremainssignificantlylowerthan
thebenchmarkindex.
Some 79% of our liquid fund investments
are investments promoting sustainability
factors (in funds meeting the requirements
of Article 8 of SFDR), and 16% are invest-
ments meeting the requirements of Article
9 of SFDR (in funds for sustainable invest-
ments).Wehavegiven80%ofourinvest-
ments ambitious goals in climate work
andemissionreductions.Some77%ofour
investments are estimated to have a posi-
tive impact on the sustainable development
goalsoftheUN.
The social factor indices relevant to our
investments (gender equality, independent
governance, equal pay and higher employ-
ment) showed a negative trend compared to
the year 2019 when the monitoring started,
but they are nevertheless in line with the
benchmarkindex.Inparticular,theequal
payindexissignificantlyabovethebench-
markindex.
There are no non-compliant companies (as
classifiedbyISS)inthedirectinvestments
madebyEmploymentFund.Aspartof
indexfundinvestments,0.1%oftheFund’s
investments have been directed at such
companies.
46Report of the Board of Directors 2023
Risk management
Risk management
Risk management is part of
Employment Fund’s internal
control.Itsaimistoensurerisk
awareness in decision-making
and to support the Fund in the
achievementofitsobjectives.
Risk management produces
high-quality information
on risks and threats facing
the Fund and provides
recommendations for measures
topreventthem.
WE USE EXTENSIVE RISK
MANAGEMENT TO ENSURE THE
CONTINUITY OF OUR ACTIVITIES
We monitor and manage such risks as stra-
tegic and operational risks, regulatory, eco-
nomicandfinancialrisksaswellasrisks
arisingfromouroperatingenvironment.
Identifying strategic-level risks and man-
aging them on a systemic basis help the
Fund to achieve its goals within the frame-
workofaspecificriskappetitelevel.In
2024, we took further measures to develop
ourstrategic-levelriskmanagement.
The purpose of operational risk manage-
ment is to safeguard the continuity of our
key functions and statutory activities and
to ensure that the Fund can also operate
duringemergencies.Overthepastfew
years we have focused on building digi-
talisation to improve our services and to
boosttheefficiencyofouroperations.By
increasing automation, we have been able
to reduce operational risks and to speed up
implementationprocesses.Providingthe
personnel with training and instructions
on information security matters are also an
important part of the prevention of cyber
risks.
47Report of the Board of Directors 2023 Risk management
By managing regulatory risks, we can en-
sure that Employment Fund acts in compli-
ance with the law and other requirements
andinanethicalandresponsiblemanner.
Active monitoring of legislative changes is
ankeypartofthisprocess.Wealsoactive-
ly monitor developments in information
securitylegislation.Wedevelopeddata
protectionprocesses,especiallyinthefield
of impact assessment, and provided our
personnel with training in personal data
processing.
Tomanagefinancialrisksarisingfrom
changes in the operating environment, we
rely on such means as diverse forecast-
ing methods and timely adjustments of
unemploymentinsurancecontributions.
To safeguard our liquidity, we make low-
risk investments and strive to secure good
borrowingpossibilities.EmploymentFund
also has a statutory business cycle buffer
to reduce the need for changes in the level
of unemployment insurance contributions
duetocyclicalfluctuations.Financialrisk
management in Employment Fund has
reliedonthesameprinciplesasbefore.
Employment Fund has an anonymous
channel for reporting misconduct where
mattersspecifiedintheWhistleblowerAct
and violations of ethical guidelines can be
reported.
48Report of the Board of Directors 2023
At the end of 2023, the Fund had 175 (167)
employees.Whenmeasuredinperson-
years, the number of personnel was
159(147)attheendof2023.
We paid EUR 9,842 thousand in wages, in-
cludingEUR59thousandinfringebenefits.
Our pay system is based on the complexity
of work, and we also use a bonus system
supporting the achievement of our strate-
gicobjectives.
Men accounted for 56 (54) and women
for119(113)ofthepersonnel.Theaverage
employeeagewas41.5(41)years,andthe
average duration of employment in Em-
ploymentFundwas6.3years.Voluntary
staffturnoverwas8.53%andsickleave
percentage3.23%.
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
persons
30 Jun
2022
31 Dec
2022
30 Jun
2023
Number of personnel
2022—2023
174 175
167
31 Dec
2023
186
persons
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
20—29
years
30—39
years
40—49
years
50—59
years
60—65
years
Women Men
21
4
6
8
26
18
27
18
3
37
Personnel
Personnel
49Report of the Board of Directors 2023
WE ANALYSED AND DEVELOPED
EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE
Employee wellbeing is a key priority in the
Fund, and it is constantly monitored and
developed.Inspring2023,weconductedan
extensive personnel survey to examine the
employeeexperienceofourpersonnel.We
also carried out two pulse surveys to moni-
torprogressinmattersidentifiedasdevel-
opmentpriorities.Attheendoftheyear,we
also carried out an Aisti wellbeing survey
to analyse the resource and workload fac-
torsinourworkcommunityinmoredetail.
The results showed that our staff members
appreciatetheFund’sflexiblehybridwork
model, opportunities for combining work
with other aspects of life and the friendly
andencouragingworkatmosphere.The
work in the Fund is considered interest-
ing and meaningful, and the view is that
the values of the Fund are also applied in
practice.
Personnel
Our People Power Index decreased slight-
ly,from68.3to66.5.Basedontheperson-
nelsurvey,weidentifiedclarityofdeci-
sion-making and availability of information
needed in the work as key development
priorities.Basedonthefollow-upsurveys,
we achieved improvements in both areas
during2023.Wehavealsodeterminedthat
improvements are needed in workload
managementandcognitiveergonomics.
In the spring personnel survey, we also ex-
amined the experiences of diversity, equity
andinclusionamongFundemployees.The
findingsindicatethattheoverallsituation
is good, but at the same time, we also iden-
tifiedtheneedformoresystematicman-
agementoftheabove-mentionedthemes.
Accordingly, in early summer, the Fund set
up a diversity working group, which will
participate in the development work and
promote diversity, equity and inclusion in
ourworkcommunity.
50Report of the Board of Directors 2023 Personnel
WE TRAINED OUR PERSONNEL
AND STRENGTHENED OUR
TECHNOLOGICAL COMPETENCE
The work to update and develop our organ-
isationcontinuedduring2023.Themost
extensive development measures were
carried out in the Technology and Develop-
ment service area, which we are strength-
ening with new roles and expertise so that
it can better meet our current and future
needs.
In 2023, the focus in the work to develop the
competence of the Fund’s personnel was
on organizational communication, service
design, coaching, accessibility and system
development.AllFundemployeeshave
access to the continuously expanding con-
tents of our internal learning environment
and the training provided by our external
partnertoimprovedigitalandotherskills.
The average number of training hours
duringtheyearwas14.09(9.93)perperson.
The increase in the time invested in train-
ing compared to 2022 supports our goal of
establishing a closer link between compe-
tence development and the work of each
employee.
SUPPORT IN CHANGES
The uncertainties arising from the discon-
tinuation of the adult education allowance
schemehavebeenreflectedintheemploy-
eeexperience.Thisisbecauseifimple-
mented, the legislative change will mean
that the tasks of the personnel processing
adulteducationbenefitswillbereduced
andultimatelyabolished.Inautumn,we
provided supervisors with coaching for
supervisoryworkinchangesituations.All
employees were provided with support in
the handling of the emotions arising from
the change situation and in ensuring that
the resources and the motivation are not
affectedbythechange.Inachallenging
situation, Fund employees have shown
excellent capacity for change and they are
prepared for a smooth implementation of
thelegislativechange.
Theworktoupdateanddevelopourorganisationcontinuedduring2023.
51Report of the Board of Directors 2023
Events after the financial period
Eventsafterthefinancialperiod
NosignificantchangesoccurredinEmploymentFund’sfinancialpositionaftertheendofthereviewperiod.
Helsinki27February2024
Employment Fund
Board of Directors
52Report of the Board of Directors 2023
Corporate governance
Corporate governance
The corporate governance statement of
Employment Fund for 2023 has been pre-
pared in accordance with the Securities
Market Act and the recommendation on re-
porting contained in the Finnish Corporate
Governance Code for Listed Companies,
whichtookeffecton1January2020.
COMPLIANCE WITH THE FINNISH
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE CODE
2020 AND DEVIATIONS FROM
THE RECOMMENDATIONS
Employment Fund is an independent stat-
utory agency supervised by the Financial
SupervisoryAuthority.EmploymentFund
has issued bonds quoted on Nasdaq OMX
HelsinkiLtd,someofwhichwereduefor
repayment in 2023, while the remainder
willmaturein2027.
Employment Fund has a commercial pa-
per programme of EUR 300 million (31 Dec
2022:EUR300million).Thecommercial
paper programme remained unused at the
endof2023.
Where applicable, Employment Fund con-
ducts its operations in compliance with the
Finnish Corporate Governance Code, which
is publicly available on the Securities Mar-
ketAssociation’swebsite(www.cgfinland.
fi).
The operations of Employment Fund and
the responsibilities of its organs are based
on the Act on the Financing of Unem-
ploymentBenefits(555/1998),Government
Decree on the Financing of Unemployment
Benefits(1227/2014)andtheDecreeonthe
Rules of Procedure of Employment Fund
(862/1998).
Due to Employment Fund’s form of activity
and background, its operations differ from
the Finnish Corporate Governance Code on
the following recommendations:
Recommendations 1, 2, 3 and 4:
Employment Fund is not a limited
liability company and its most senior
decision-making body is not a general
meeting or similar organ as this task
is carried out by the Supervisory
Board appointed by the Government,
in accordance with the Decree on the
Rules of Procedure of Employment
Fund(862/1998).TheDecreecontains
provisions on matters to be decided
in the meetings of the Supervisory
Board and the related procedures as
wellasthenoticeofthemeeting.For
this reason, the recommendations
concerning the general meeting,
notice of the general meeting,
proposals for decisions, initiatives
of the shareholders, attendance at
the general meeting and documents
discussed at the general meeting are
not directly applicable to the operations
ofEmploymentFund.
Recommendations 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9:
Employment Fund’s Supervisory
Board elects the members of the Board
of Directors in accordance with the
principles set out in the Decree on the
Rules of Procedure of Employment
Fund(862/1998).UndertheDecree,
the Supervisory Board approves the
appointment of the members, chair
53Report of the Board of Directors 2023
and vice chair of the Board of Directors
forthefollowingcalendaryear.Seven
of the Board of Directors’ members
represent employer organisations and
sevenareemployeerepresentatives.
For this reason, the recommendations
concerning the election, term of
office,composition,diversityand
independence of the Board members
are not fully applicable to Employment
Fund’soperations.
Recommendations 10 and 19:
Employment Fund’s Supervisory
Board elects the members of the Board
of Directors in accordance with the
principles set out in the Decree on the
Rules of Procedure of Employment
Fund(862/1998).EmploymentFund
has no shareholders or similar owners,
and thus there is no evaluation of
whether the Board of Directors or
management is independent of
significantshareholders.Likewise,
the recommendation concerning the
shareholders’ nomination committee is
notapplicable.
Recommendations 16, 17 and 18: The
regulations governing Employment
Fund’s operations do not impose
an obligation to establish special
committees.Therefore,theFunddoes
not have any committees other than an
auditcommittee.AsEmploymentFund
is not a limited liability company, there
is no evaluation of whether the audit
committee members are independent of
significantshareholders.
Recommendation 21: Under the
Decree on the Rules of Procedure of
Employment Fund, the Supervisory
Board elects the members and chair
oftheBoardofDirectors.Thechair
is elected from among the Board of
Directors members (in alternating years
from among the representatives of the
employers or employees) and thus the
recommendation on the restriction
concerning the Managing Director is
notapplicable.
Recommendation 22: The Ministry of
SocialAffairsandHealthdecideson
the remuneration for meetings for the
Supervisory Board and the principles of
compensationfortravellingexpenses.
The Supervisory Board decides on the
remunerationoftheBoardofDirectors.
The Board of Directors decides on
the remuneration and the terms and
conditions of the service contract of
the Managing Director as well as the
principles of remuneration for other
managementstaff.
Recommendation 23: Employment
Fund has no shareholders or similar
owners, and thus the recommendations
concerning shares and share-based
remuneration for the members of the
BoardofDirectorsarenotapplicable.
Recommendation 27: Employment
Fund is not a limited liability company
and thus the regulation on related-
party transactions is not applicable
to Employment Fund’s operations
within the meaning of the Finnish
CorporateGovernanceCode.However,
Employment Fund complies with IFRS
standards and monitors related-party
transactionsasdescribedbelow.
Corporate governance
54Report of the Board of Directors 2023
SUPERVISORY BOARD
Under the Decree on the Rules of Procedure
of Employment Fund (862/1998), the Super-
visory Board, which has between 10 and
18 members, is Employment Fund’s most
seniordecision-makingbody.
Halfofthemembersrepresentemployers
andtheotherhalfrepresentemployees.
The term of the members of Employment
Fund’s Supervisory Board is three calendar
years.
On 22 October 2020, on the proposal of
theMinistryofSocialAffairsandHealth,
the Government appointed the members
of Employment Fund’s Supervisory Board
for the term 1 January 2021–31 December
2023.Atotalof18memberswereappointed
totheSupervisoryBoard.Sixofthemem-
bers were appointed on the proposal of the
Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK),
three on the proposal of the Local Govern-
ment and County Employers (KT), three on
the proposal of the Central Organisation
of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK), three on
the proposal of the Finnish Confederation
of Professionals (STTK) and three on the
proposal of the Confederation of Unions
for Professional and Managerial Staff in
Finland(Akava).In2022,theGovernment
appointed two new members to the Super-
visory Board for the rest of the current term
(until31December2023).Inautumn2023,
the Government appointed the members
of Employment Fund’s Supervisory Board
for the three-year period 1 January 2024–31
December2026.
The Supervisory Board elects from among
its members a chair and a vice chair for one
calendar year at a time, one of whom is an
employer representative and the other one
anemployeerepresentative.Thechairman-
ship is held in turn by representatives of
employers and employees, alternating an-
nually.In2023,theSupervisoryBoardwas
chairedbyAnnikaRönni-Sällinen.
Corporate governance
55Report of the Board of Directors 2023
Meeting practice and access to information
The ordinary meeting of the Supervisory
Board is held twice a year, in the spring
before the end of May and in the autumn no
laterthaninOctober.Anadditionalmeet-
ing of the Supervisory Board is held when-
ever the chair of the Supervisory Board or
the Board of Directors deems it necessary,
or when at least two members of the Su-
pervisory Board request in writing that an
additional meeting be held for a reason
specifiedintherequest.Thenoticeofthe
meetingmustbedeliveredinaverifiable
manner to the members of the Supervisory
Board no later than eight days before the
meeting.
The meeting of the Supervisory Board
constitutes a quorum when the chair or the
vice chair and at least half of the members
arepresent.Thosepresentmustinclude
both employer and employee represent-
atives.ThedecisionsoftheSupervisory
Boardarebasedonasimplemajority.In
the event of a tie, the decision is based on
the opinion supported by the chair of the
meeting.
In the event of an election in which the
voting ends in a tie, the result is decided
bydrawinglots.Ifthequestionconcernsa
proposal for unemployment insurance con-
tributions and the voting ends in a tie, the
opinion supported by both the chair and
thevicechairbecomesthedecision.
The Supervisory Board elects the chair and
the vice chair of the Supervisory Board for
onecalendaryearatatime.Onemustbe
an employer representative and the other
anemployeerepresentative.Thechair-
manship is held in turn by representatives
of employers and employees, alternating
annually.
TheSupervisoryBoardmettwicein2023.
Corporate governance
56Report of the Board of Directors 2023
The members of the Supervisory Board in 2023 were:
Name
Year of
birth Education Main occupation
Attendance at
meetings of the
Supervisory Board
Annika Rönni-Sällinen,
chair 1976 Master of Laws President, Service Union United (PAM ry) 2/2
Antti Zitting, vice chair 1956 Master of Science (Technology) Board chair, Sacotec Oy 2/2
Riku Aalto 1965 Master of Administrative Sciences President, Industrial Union 2/2
Jari Jokinen 1967 Master of Science (Technology) Executive Director, Tekniikan Akateemisten Liitto (TEK ry) 2/2
Teemu Kokko 1961
Doctor of Science (Business
Administration) President,CEO,Haaga-HeliaUniversityofAppliedSciences 2/2
Antti Korpiniemi 1961
Master of Agriculture and Forestry
Sciences CEO, Berner Ltd 2/2
Tomi Lantto 1970 Master of Economic Sciences CEO, Antell Oy 2/2
Kirsi-Marja Lievonen 1962
Licentiate of Laws trained on the
bench HumanResourcesManager,CityofVantaa 1/2
Petri Lindroos 1965 Master of Education
Director of Negotiations, Trade Union of Education in Finland
(OAJ ry) 2/2
Salla Luomanmäki 1963 Master of Arts Executive Director, Akava Special Branches (Ae ry) 1/2
Jorma Malinen 1959 Automation Designer President, Trade Union Pro 1/2
Matti Mettälä 1963 Master of Laws trained on the bench EVP,KeskoCorporation 2/2
Taina Niiranen 1966 Master of Administrative Sciences HRDirector,PirkanmaaWellbeingServicesCounty 2/2
Olli Nikula 1967 Master of Economic Sciences CEO, Saint-Gobain Finland Ltd 2/2
Silja Paavola 1956 Assistant Nurse Chair, the Finnish Union of Practical Nurses (SuPer ry) 2/2
Juha Rostedt 1963 Trade Technician Vice-chair,LocalGovernmentandCountyEmployers(KT) 2/2
Saila Ruuth 1981 Master of Political Science
VicePresident,TradeUnionforthePublicandWelfare
Sectors(JHLry) 1/2
Millariikka Rytkönen 1975
Midwifery, Bachelor's Degree,
Nursing, Master's Degree
Chair,UnionofHealthandSocialCareProfessionalsin
Finland (Tehy ry) 2/2
Corporate governance
57Report of the Board of Directors 2023 Corporate governance
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Under the Decree on the Rules of Procedure
of Employment Fund (862/1998), Employ-
ment Fund must have a Board of Directors
composedof14members.Themembersare
nominated by the Supervisory Board and
seven of the members must be representa-
tives of employer organisations and seven
employeerepresentatives.
The Board of Directors must have a chair
and vice chair, one of whom must be an
employer representative and the other one
anemployeerepresentative.Thechair-
manship is held in turn by representatives
of employers and employees, alternating
annually.
The Board of Directors constitutes a quo-
rum when the chair or the vice chair and
atleastsevenothermembersarepresent.
Those present must include both employer
andemployeerepresentatives.Thedeci-
sions of the Board of Directors are based on
asimplemajority.Intheeventofatie,the
decision is based on the opinion supported
bythechairofthemeeting.Ifthequestion
concerns a proposal for unemployment
insurance contributions and the voting
ends in a tie, the opinion supported by both
the chair and the vice chair becomes the
decision.
The Board of Directors is responsible for
Employment Fund’s administration and
theproperorganisationofitsoperations.
The Board of Directors follows the develop-
ment of Employment Fund with the help
of monthly reports and other information
deliveredbythemanagement.Thekey
tasks and operating principles of Employ-
ment Fund’s Board of Directors are set out
in the Decree on the Rules of Procedure of
Employment Fund (862/1998) and in the
Board’swrittenrulesofprocedure.The
Board carries out a self-assessment of its
activitieseachyear.
58Report of the Board of Directors 2023
The members of the Board of Directors in 2023 were:
Name
Year of
birth Education Main occupation
Attendance at
meetings of the
Board of Directors
VesaRantahalvari,chair 1967 Master of Administrative Sciences
Chief Policy Adviser, Confederation of Finnish Industries
(EK) 11/11
Pekka Piispanen, vice chair 1960 Master of Arts
Director, Confederation of Unions for Professional and
Managerial Staff in Finland (Akava ry) 11/11
Tuomas Aarto 1973
Master of Laws trained on the
bench CEO, Management, Service Sector Employers (PALTA ry) 11/11
Jarkko Eloranta 1966 Master of Political Science
President, Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions
(SAK ry) 10/11
Minna Etu-Seppälä 1972
Master of Laws trained on the
bench Director, Chemical Industry Federation of Finland (KT ry) 9/11
RiikkaHeikinheimo 1963 Doctor of Philosophy Director, Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK) 11/11
MinnaHelle 1972 Master of Laws Executive Director, Technology Industries of Finland 11/11
Markku Jalonen 1960 Licentiate of Social Sciences
Managing Director, Local Government and County
Employers (KT) 11/11
Patrizio Lainà 1985
Doctor of Political Science, Master
of Economic Sciences
Chief Economist, Finnish Confederation of Professionals
(STTK ry) 11/11
HenrikaNybondas-Kangas 1974
Master of Laws trained on the
bench
Director of Negotiations, Local Government and County
Employers (KT) 11/11
Antti Palola 1959 Sea Captain President, Finnish Confederation of Professionals (STTK ry) 11/11
Saana Siekkinen 1972 Master of Social Sciences
Director, Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions
(SAK ry) 10/11
HeikkiTaulu 1973 Master of Social Sciences
Economist, Confederation of Unions for Professional and
Managerial Staff in Finland (Akava ry) 11/11
PirjoVäänänen 1971 Bachelor in Social Services
HeadofSocialAffairs,CentralOrganisationofFinnish
Trade Unions (SAK ry) 10/11
Corporate governance
59Report of the Board of Directors 2023 Corporate governance
Meeting practice and access to information
The chair convenes the meeting of the
BoardofDirectors.Thenoticeconcerning
the meeting of the Board of Directors must
be delivered to all members in good time
before the meeting in order to ensure that
the members of the Board of Directors are
abletoattendthemeeting.TheBoardof
Directors meets 8–12 times each year and,
ifnecessary,moreoften.Ifallthemembers
approve, the meeting of the Board of Direc-
tors may be held as a telephone conference
orviaemailincaseofurgentandspecific
matters.
Chair’s duties
The Supervisory Board elects the chair and
the vice chair of the Board of Directors for
onecalendaryearatatime.In2023,the
BoardofDirectorswaschairedbyVesa
Rantahalvari.
Chair of the Board
convenes the meetings of the Board of
Directors
approves the agenda prepared by the
Managing Director for the meetings of
the Board of Directors
is responsible for ensuring that minutes
are drafted of every meeting of the
Board of Directors
maintains contacts with the Managing
Director and members of the Board
of Directors between meetings, as
necessary, and is responsible for
ensuring that these rules of procedure
are complied with in the work of the
Board of Directors
approves the invoices of the Managing
Director.
Operations of the Board of Directors
In2023,theBoardofDirectorsmet11times.
The Board of Directors also held two strat-
egy seminars, for which no remuneration
ispaid.TheBoardofDirectorsassessesits
own activities and operating practices as
well as the activities and operating prac-
ticesoftheauditcommitteeeachyear.In
2023, the assessment was carried out as a
self-assessment and its results were dis-
cussedattheBoardmeetinginDecember.
60Report of the Board of Directors 2023 Corporate governance
AUDIT COMMITTEE
On the basis of the rules applying to Em-
ployment Fund, the Board of Directors
doesnothaveanypermanentcommittees.
However,itcandecidetoestablishwork-
ing groups or committees for the purpose
of assisting the Board of Directors with
the preparation of certain matters falling
within the competence of the Board of Di-
rectors.TheBoardofDirectorshashadan
auditcommitteesince2019.Themembers
of the audit committee are appointed by
the Fund’s Board of Directors from among
itsmembers.Undertheauditcommittee’s
rules of procedure, the committee must
have at least four members, half of whom
represent employees and half represent
employers.
The audit committee assists the Board
ofDirectors.Theauditcommitteehasno
decision-making powers, but it can submit
proposals and reports to the Board of Direc-
torsonthetasksassignedtoit.Theaudit
committee is primarily responsible for pre-
paringmattersrelatedtofinancialreport-
ing, internal control, risk management and
theselectionofauditors.In2023,theaudit
committeemetsixtimes.
Audit committee
Attendance at
meetings
HenrikaNybondas-Kangas,chair 6/6
HeikkiTaulu,vicechair 6/6
MinnaHelle 6/6
PirjoVäänänen 6/6
MANAGING DIRECTOR
Employment Fund has a Managing Director
who is responsible for the Fund’s manage-
ment in accordance with the guidelines
andordersissuedbytheBoardofDirectors.
The Managing Director is responsible for
ensuring that Employment Fund’s accounts
are in accordance with the law and that its
financialaffairshavebeenarrangedinare-
liablemanner.TheManagingDirectormust
provide the Board of Directors and its mem-
bers with the information necessary for the
BoardofDirectorstoperformitsduties.
Employment Fund’s Managing Director is
JanneMetsämäki,LL.M.(b.1960).
61Report of the Board of Directors 2023
MANAGEMENT GROUP
The Management Group assists the Managing Director in the
management of Employment Fund’s operations and in achieving
EmploymentFund’sstrategicandoperationalgoals.TheManage-
mentGroupmeetsonaweeklybasis.In2023,themembersofthe
Management Group were:
Name
Year of
birth
Education
Duties/
responsibilities
Janne Metsämäki 1960 Master of Laws Managing Director
Tapio Oksanen,
until 31 July 2023 1958
Master of Economic
Sciences
Chief Financial
Officer
VirpiHalme 1976 Master of Laws
Director, Technology
and Development
Katja Knaapila, 1966
Master of Business
Administration
Director,HRand
Communication
Karo Nukarinen,
from 18 July 2023 1976
Master of Economic
Sciences
Chief Financial
Officer
Tuulikki Saari 1979 Master of Arts
Director, Customer
Relations
In addition to the Management Group, the Managing Director is
also assisted in operational management by the extended Man-
agement Group, which in addition to the Management Group, has
thefollowingmembers:PaulaKuntsi-Ruuska,RiskManager;Antti
Lähde,HeadofPMO;JohannaRahunen,ServiceManager;Terhi
Savikko,CommunicationsManager;PekkaRäsänen,CISO;and
Emma Siekkinen, Development Specialist (personnel representa-
tive).TheextendedManagementGroupsmeetsonceeachmonth.
The Fund’s projects are also steered and monitored by the portfolio
managementgroup.
LEGALITY AND COMPLIANCE OF OPERATIONS
Employment Fund’s operations comply with the law, the guide-
lines and regulations applying to the Fund, and the requirements
ofgoodgovernance.
INTERNAL CONTROL AND RISK MANAGEMENT
Employment Fund’s Board of Directors decides on the criteria for
the Fund’s internal control and risk management, approves the
Fund’s risk management principles and requires that Employment
Fund’s operations are organised so as to enable adequate internal
control and risk management across every level of the organisa-
tionandinallitsactivities.TheprinciplesofEmploymentFund’s
internal control and risk management apply to all functions of the
Fundandeachemployeeisresponsibleforimplementingthem.
Corporate governance
62Report of the Board of Directors 2023
Risk management and compliance are
partofinternalcontrol.Riskmanagement
means the systematic and proactive way
of identifying, analysing and managing
threats and opportunities arising from the
operations.Thepurposeofthecompliance
is to ensure that Employment Fund com-
plies with existing regulation, external
instructions binding on the Fund and the
Fund’sowninternalguidelines.Thefocus
isonpreventiveactivities.
Corporate governance
EmploymentFund’sinternalcontrolisbasedonthe‘threelinesofdefence’model.
Managing Director and Management Group
Audit
and
supervisory
authorities
Operatiivisen
johdon
sisäinen
valvonta
Board of Directors and Audit Committee
Supervisory Board
Internal
control of
operational
management
Internal
control
procedures
Risk
management
Compliance Internal audit
1.
Line of defence
2.
Line of defence
3.
Line of defence
63Report of the Board of Directors 2023 Corporate governance
Internal audit
The Board of Directors of Employment
Fund decides on the operating model and
criteriafortheFund’sinternalaudit.The
Fund’s internal audit operates on the basis
of the plans discussed by the audit commit-
teeandapprovedbytheBoardofDirectors.
In 2023, the internal audit of Employment
Fund was purchased from Pricewater-
houseCoopersOy.TheFund’sinternalaudit
reports on its operations to the Board of
Directors and the audit committee on a
regularbasis.
Principles of organising
insider administration
Employment Fund has issued publicly
quotedbonds.EmploymentFundcomplies
with the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR)
and other applicable legislation, insider
guidelines and the rules for issuers of other
instrumentsofNasdaqHelsinkiLtd.Em-
ployment Fund also has insider guidelines
approved by the Board of Directors, which
describe the most important principles
governing the insider matters of Employ-
mentFund.
In accordance with MAR requirements,
Employment Fund maintains a list of
persons in management positions and
theirrelatedparties.Themembersofthe
Supervisory Board, members of the Board
of Directors, the Managing Director and the
ChiefFinancialOfficerhavebeendefined
by Employment Fund as persons holding
managementpositions.Apersonholdinga
management position in Employment Fund
may not, directly or indirectly, trade with an
EmploymentFund’sfinancialinstrument
for their own account or for the account of
a third party during a closed period, regard-
less of whether the person in question has
insideinformationatthattime.
For the duration of the closed period, Em-
ployment Fund also imposes trading re-
strictionsonallseparatelydefinedpersons
participating in the preparation of Employ-
mentFund’sinterimfinancialreportand
financialstatementrelease.Theclosedpe-
riod lasts for 30 days before the publication
ofthestatutoryinterimfinancialreportor
thefinancialstatementrelease,including
thedateofthepublication.
Employment Fund establishes an insider
list for each individual project, in which the
details of the persons with access to that
particular insider information is entered
(project-specificinsiderlists).Employment
Fund does not maintain the insider list’s
supplementary section listing permanent
insiders,butonlytheproject-specificlists
areused.
Employment Fund has a person responsi-
ble for insider issues who carries out the
duties of Employment Fund’s insider ad-
ministration.EmploymentFundhasapro-
cedure by which one can report a suspect-
edbreachoffinancialmarketprovisions
and regulations through an independent
channel.EmploymentFund’sanonymous
whistleblowing system serves as the
Fund’s reporting channel and it is accessi-
ble on Employment Fund’s internal intranet
websiteandonitspublicwebsite.
64Report of the Board of Directors 2023 Corporate governance
Principles concerning related parties
The regulations on related-party transac-
tions set out in the Limited Liability Com-
panies Act are not applicable to Employ-
mentFund’soperations.However,theFund
complies with IFRS standards and guide-
lines regarding related-party transactions
(IAS24).TherelatedpartiesofEmployment
Fund comprise the members of the Su-
pervisory Board, members of the Board of
Directors, the Managing Director, the main
auditor, the members of the Management
Group and their spouses, trustees, and con-
trolledundertakings.
Transactions involving related parties are
handled in accordance with the guidelines
on related-party transactions approved
bytheBoardofDirectors.Thelistofrelat-
ed parties is maintained by Employment
Fund’sComplianceOfficer.
AUDITOR AND AUDITOR’S FEES
The Supervisory Board of Employment
Fund selected KPMG Oy as the Fund’s
auditorfor2023.MarcusTötterman,Au-
thorisedPublicAccountant,KHT,actedas
themainauditor.Theauditor’sfeesfor2023
comprise EUR 91,297 in audit-related costs
paid to KPMG Oy and EUR 0 paid for other
services.
65Report of the Board of Directors 2023 Remuneration report
Remuneration report
Employment Fund is not a limited liabil-
ity company and thus the regulations on
remuneration principles and reporting are
not directly applicable to the Fund’s opera-
tions.Therefore,EmploymentFund’sremu-
neration report for 2023 has been drawn
up, where applicable for Employment Fund,
in compliance with the Finnish Corporate
GovernanceCode2020(www.cgfinland.
fi),publishedbytheSecuritiesMarket
Association.
FEES AND OTHER BENEFITS PAID TO THE
MEMBERS OF THE SUPERVISORY BOARD
On 22 October 2020, on the proposal of the
labour market parties, the Government
appointed the members of Employment
Fund’s Supervisory Board for the term
1January2021–31December2023.
TheMinistryofSocialAffairsandHealth
decides on the remuneration for meet-
ings for the Supervisory Board and the
principles of compensation for travelling
expenses.
On 22 October 2021, the Ministry of Social
AffairsandHealthdecidedthatthefeesfor
the members of the Supervisory Board are
as follows: for the chair, EUR 310 per month
and EUR 410 per meeting, for the vice chair
andothermembers,EUR310permeeting.
TheSupervisoryBoardmettwicein2023.
66Report of the Board of Directors 2023
In 2023, the fees for the members of the Supervisory Board were paid as follows:
Name
Meeting fee of the
Supervisory Board
members
Annual fee of the
Supervisory Board
chair Travel expenses
Total on 31
December 2023
Attendance at meetings
of the Supervisory Board
Annika Rönni-Sällinen, chair 820 3,720 4,540 2/2
Antti Zitting, vice chair 620 0 106 726 2/2
Riku Aalto 620 0 620 2/2
Jari Jokinen 620 0 620 2/2
Teemu Kokko 620 0 620 2/2
Antti Korpiniemi 620 0 620 2/2
Tomi Lantto 620 0 620 2/2
Kirsi-Marja Lievonen 310 0 310 1/2
Petri Lindroos 620 0 620 2/2
Salla Luomanmäki 310 0 310 1/2
Jorma Malinen 310 0 310 1/2
Matti Mettälä 620 0 620 2/2
Taina Niiranen 620 0 268 888 2/2
Olli Nikula 620 0 620 2/2
Silja Paavola 620 0 620 2/2
Juha Rosted 620 0 126 746 2/2
Saila Ruuth 310 0 310 1/2
Millariikka Rytkönen 620 0 620 2/2
Total 10,120 3,720 500 14,340
Remuneration report
67Report of the Board of Directors 2023
FEES AND OTHER BENEFITS PAID TO THE
MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The Supervisory Board decides on the remuneration of the Board
ofDirectors.On26August2021,theSupervisoryBoarddecidedthat
the fees for the members of the Board of Directors are as follows:
Task Fee EUR per month Fee EUR per meeting
ChairoftheBoard 1,030 410
VicechairoftheBoard 820 310
Other members of the Board of
Directors 515 255
No other remuneration or supplementary pension arrangements
areinplaceforthemembersoftheBoardofDirectors.
In2023,theBoardofDirectorsmet11times.TheBoardofDirectors
also held two strategy meetings, for which no remuneration is
paid.
In 2023, the fees for the members of the Board of Directors were
paid as follows:
Name
Annual fees
of the Board
of Directors
Meeting fees
of the Board
of Directors
Total on 31
December
2023
Attendance at
meetings of
the Board of
Directors
VesaRantahalvari,
chair
12,360 4,510
16,870
11/11
Pekka Piispanen,
vice chair
9,840 3,410
13,250
11/11
Tuomas Aarto
6,180 2,805
8,985
11/11
Jarkko Eloranta
6,180 2,550
8,730
10/11
Minna Etu-Seppälä
6,180 2,295
8,475
9/11
RiikkaHeikinheimo
6,180 2,805
8,985
11/11
MinnaHelle
6,180 2,805
8,985
11/11
Markku Jalonen
6,180 2,805
8,985
11/11
Patrizio Lainà
6,180 2,805
8,985
11/11
Henrika
Nybondas-Kangas
6,180 2,805
8,985
11/11
Antti Palola
6,180 2,805
8,985
11/11
Saana Siekkinen
6,180 2,550
8,730
10/11
HeikkiTaulu
6,180 2,805
8,985
11/11
PirjoVäänänen
6,180 2,550
8,730
10/11
Total 96,360 40,815 136,665
Remuneration report
68Report of the Board of Directors 2023
ThefeesfortheauditcommitteewereEUR410permeetingforthe
chairandEUR255permeetingforthemembersofthecommittee.
In2023,theauditcommitteemetsixtimes.
In 2023, the fees for the members of the audit committee were paid
as follows:
Name
Meeting fees
for the audit
committee
Total on 31
December
2023
Attendance at audit
committee meetings
HenrikaNybondas-
Kangas, chair 2,460 2,460 6/6
HeikkiTaulu,vice
chair 1,530 1,530 6/6
MinnaHelle 1,530 1,530 6/6
PirjoVäänänen 1,530 1,530 6/6
Total 7,050 7,050
REMUNERATION SCHEME FOR THE MANAGING DIRECTOR
A separate remuneration scheme approved by the Board of Di-
rectorsappliestotheManagingDirector.TheBoardofDirectors
decidesonthepaymentofanybonuses.Thebonusesoftheother
management members are based on a remuneration scheme ap-
provedbytheBoardofDirectors.BasedonaproposaloftheMan-
aging Director, and in accordance with approved bonus criteria, the
BoardofDirectorsdecidesonthepaymentofbonuses.
ThesalariesandotherbenefitsandfeespaidtotheManaging
Directorfor2023areshowninthefollowingtable.Socialsecurity
contributionsareexcluded.
Position
Salary
and fringe
benefits
Variable
performance-
related bonus
1 Jan–31 Dec
2023
1 Jan–31 Dec
2022
Managing
Director 174,739 13,162 187,901 178,559
TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT OF THE MANAGING DIRECTOR
The Managing Director’s terms of employment have been deter-
mined by the Board of Directors and they are stated in a written
employmentcontract.TheremunerationoftheManagingDirec-
torconsistsofafixedsalaryandavariableperformance-related
bonus.Performancetargetsandanyremunerationtobepaidare
approvedbytheBoardofDirectors.ThefixedsalaryoftheMan-
aging Director comprises a monetary compensation and taxable
benefits(meal,telephoneandcarbenefits).Theretirementageand
pension accrual of the Managing Director are based on the gener-
alemploymentpensionlegislation.TheFundhasnotprovideda
supplementarypensionarrangementfortheManagingDirector.
The Managing Director’s notice period is based on the Employment
ContractsActforbothparties.
Remuneration report
69Report of the Board of Directors 2023
REMUNERATION FOR THE MANAGEMENT GROUP
The remuneration of Employment Fund’s Management Group con-
sistsofafixedsalaryandatelephonebenefitaswellasavariable
performance-relatedbonus.In2023,themaximumbonuswasset
at12%oftheannualsalaryincludingfringebenefits.Thefixed
salarycomprisesamonetarycompensationandtaxablebenefits
(mealandtelephonebenefitsandcarbenefit).
The Management Group’s performance-related bonus is based on
a remuneration scheme approved by the Board of Directors each
year.BasedonaproposaloftheManagingDirector,andinaccord-
ance with approved bonus criteria, the Board of Directors decides
onthepaymentofbonuses.
ThesalariesandotherbenefitsandfeespaidtotheManagement
Groupduring2023areshowninthefollowingtable.Socialsecurity
contributionsareexcluded.
Position
Salary
and fringe
benefits
Variable
performance-
related bonus
1 Jan–31 Dec
2023
1 Jan–31 Dec
2022
Management
Group 515,224 30,413 545,637 567,749
TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT OF THE MANAGING GROUP
The terms of employment for Management Group members have
beendefinedinawrittencontract.Theretirementageandpension
accrual of the Management Group members are based on the gen-
eralemploymentpensionlegislation.TheFundhasnotprovideda
supplementary pension arrangement for the Management Group
members.TheManagementGroupmembers’noticeperiodisde-
finedintheemploymentcontractforbothparties.
Remuneration report
70
Financial
statements
71Financial statements 2023
Financial Statements (IFRS) 2023
Statement of changes in net position
STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN NET POSITION
ThefiguresareinEURthousand.
Change in net position Note 1 Jan–31 Dec 2023 1 Jan–31 Dec 2022
Contributions collected
Unemployment insurance contributions and other income 5 3,627,462 3,490,831
Total contributions collected 3,627,462 3,490,831
Financing contributions paid
Financing contributions paid 6 -2,900,224 -2,809,083
Administrative expenses 7 -33,528 -22,685
Total financing contributions paid -2,933,752 -2,831,768
Net fair value gains on investments 14 70,642 -36,155
Financing costs 8 -1,293 1,806
Total change in net position 763,059 624,714
72Financial statements 2023
STATEMENT OF NET POSITION
ThefiguresareinEURthousand.
Assets Note 31 Dec 2023 31 Dec 2022
Non-current assets
Property, plant and equipment
9 3,210 3,365
Intangible assets
10 872 2,581
Total non-current assets 4,083 5,946
Current assets
Receivables from unemployment
insurance contributions
11 16,158 13,626
Accruals of unemployment insurance
contributions
11 730,652 701,769
Other receivables
13 108,567 96,348
Investment assets
15 1,652,468 1,660,524
Cash and cash equivalents
16 216,479 224,711
Total current assets 2,724,324 2,696,977
Total assets 2,728,407 2,702,923
Net position and liabilities Note 31 Dec 2023 31 Dec 2022
NET POSITION
For previous periods 1,257,977 633,263
For the period 763,059 624,714
Total net position 2,021,036 1,257,977
Non-current liabilities
Bonds
17 598,638 598,205
Total non-current liabilities 598,638 598,205
Current liabilities
Loans
17 0 700,404
Unemployment insurance contribution
liabilities
11 1,444 1,533
Other liabilities
18 107,289 144,805
Total current liabilities 108,733 846,741
Total liabilities 707,371 1,444,946
Total net position and liabilities 2,728,407 2,702,923
Statement of net position
73Financial statements 2023
STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS
ThefiguresareinEURthousand.
Cash flows 1 Jan–31 Dec 2023 1 Jan–31 Dec 2022
Unemployment insurance contributions collected 3,516,887 3,484,581
Benefitspaid -2,856,752 -2,901,148
Interests paid -5,531 -2,186
Net cash flow from ordinary operations 654,603 581,247
Cash flows from investments
Purchases of intangible assets -212 -971
Investmentsinfinancialinstruments -3,794,334 -2,954,750
Sales of investment instruments and realised income 3,831,681 2,307,437
Net cash flow from investments 37,136 -648,283
Loans withdrawn and repaid -699,971 -578
Net cash flow from financing activities -699,971 -578
Net increase/decrease in cash and cash equivalents -8,232 -67,615
Cashandcashequivalentsatthebeginningofthefinancial
period 224,711 292,326
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the financial period 216,479 224,711
Statementofcashflows
74Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
Notes to the financial statements
1 GENERAL INFORMATION
Employment Fund (‘the Fund’) (business
identity code 1098099-7), established in
2019 by law, is an independent institution
managed by labour market parties and
supervised by the Ministry of Social Affairs
andHealthandtheFinancialSupervisory
Authority.Itsmaintaskistofinanceunem-
ploymentbenefitsandgrantadulteduca-
tionbenefits.TheFundalsodirects,devel-
ops and supervises the implementation of
the collection procedure of unemployment
insurance contributions and determines
and collects the employer’s liability compo-
nentandtransitionsecuritycontribution.
The Fund also grants and pays employ-
er’strainingcompensations.Thetrain-
ing compensation is based on the Act on
CompensationsforTraining(1140/2013).
EmploymentFundisdomiciledinHelsinki
and its address is Itämerenkatu 11–13, 00180
Helsinki.
The principal accounting policies applied
inthefinancialstatementsoftheFundare
setoutbelow.Thesepolicieshavebeen
consistentlyappliedtofinancialperiods
presentedunlessotherwisestated.
2 SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT
ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND
COMPARABILITY OF FINANCIAL PERIODS
2.1 Basis of preparation
EmploymentFund’sfinancialstatements
have been prepared in accordance with In-
ternational Financial Reporting Standards
(IFRS) as adopted by the European Union,
conforming with the IAS and IFRS stand-
ards as well as the SIC and IFRIC interpre-
tationsapplicableasper31December2023.
IFRS refers to the standards and interpreta-
tions applicable to corporations and set out
in the Finnish Accounting Act and the pro-
visions issued under it in accordance with
the procedure laid down in Regulation (EC)
No 1606/2002 of the European Parliament
andoftheCouncil.Thenotestothefinan-
cial statements also comply with Finnish
accounting and corporate legislation sup-
plementingIFRSstandards.
EmploymentFundisanon-profit,gov-
ernment-affiliatedfundwhoseoperations
are based on the Act on the Financing of
UnemploymentBenefits,theDecreeofthe
FinancingofUnemploymentBenefitsand
on the Decree on Rules of Procedure of
Employment Fund with amendments, as
statedinsection1.
Employment Fund collects and pays un-
employmentinsurancecontributions.The
Fund does not carry out business opera-
tions in which it would generate revenues
arising from the sale of goods or rendering
ofservices.DuetothenatureoftheFund’s
Accountingpoliciesofthefinancialstatements
75Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
operations, the Fund does not generate
revenues, and common revenue recognition
principlesdonotapply.IFRSstandardsdo
not directly regulate the structure of the
IFRSfinancialstatementsofafundlike
Employment Fund, or the basis for recog-
nitionandmeasurementoftransactions.
Employment Fund applied the framework
of IFRS standards and general principles
for recognition and measurement when it
prepareditsIFRSfinancialstatements.Due
to these factors, the primary statements of
theFund’sIFRSfinancialstatementsare
the statement of changes in net position,
the statement of net position, and the cash
flowstatement.
Thechangesinnetpositionforthefinan-
cial period consist of the sum of unemploy-
ment insurance contributions collected and
paid,gainsoninvestmentsandfinancial
items.ThedifferencebetweentheFund’s
assetsandliabilitiesreflectstheaccumu-
lated net position, which is also referred
toasthebusinesscyclebuffer.Amore
detailed description of the business cycle
bufferisprovidedinnote4.2.Employment
Fundhasnosharesorequity.Therefore,
theseIFRSfinancialstatementsdonot
includethestatementofchangesinequity.
However,thestatementofchangesinnet
position is presented as a separate primary
statement.
Duringthepresentedfinancialperiods,the
Fund did not have any such transactions
that should have been recognised in other
comprehensiveincome.Therefore,these
IFRSfinancialstatementsdonotincludea
statementofothercomprehensiveincome.
Employment Fund does not operate as an
insurer as it does not issue or hold insur-
anceorreinsurancecontracts.Therefore,
the Fund’s operations are not within the
scopeofIFRS17InsuranceContracts.The
principal valuation method used in the
financialstatementsistheacquisitioncost,
althoughfinancialassetsandliabilitiesrec-
ognisedatfairvaluethroughprofitorloss
aremeasuredatfairvalue.Thefinancial
statements are presented in euros unless
otherwisestated.
Thepreparationoffinancialstatementsin
conformity with IFRS requires the use of
certaincriticalaccountingestimates.Italso
requires management to exercise its judge-
ment in the process of applying the account-
ingpoliciesofthefinancialstatements.The
significantaccountingestimatesandjudg-
mentsaredescribedinnote3.
There are no new IFRS standards or IFRIC
interpretations that are not yet effective
and that would be expected to have a
materialimpactonEmploymentFund.
76Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
2.2 Foreign currency translation
Thefinancialstatementsarepreparedin
euros, which is Employment Fund’s func-
tionalandpresentationcurrency.The
Fund’s foreign currency transactions are
translated into the operating currency at
the exchange rates prevailing on the trans-
actiondates.Depositsdenominatedinfor-
eign currencies are measured at fair value
throughprofitandloss,andtheeffectsof
changes in exchange rates have been pre-
sentedaspartofthetotalfairvaluechange.
2.3 Unemployment insurance contributions
Employment Fund determines and col-
lects unemployment insurance contri-
butions based on chapter 7 of the Act on
theFinancingofUnemploymentBenefits.
Employers report the paid wages to the
IncomesRegister.Unemploymentinsur-
ance contributions are determined four
times per year based on the earnings pay-
ment data for the three preceding calendar
months.Unemploymentinsurancecontri-
butionincomeisrecognisedinthefinan-
cial statements on an accrual basis, and
the unemployment insurance contribution
incomeforthefinalquarteroftheyearis
recognised in the balance sheet under pre-
paymentsandaccruedincome.
Employer’s liability components and
transition security contributions
Employment Fund determines and collects
liabilitycomponentsfromemployers.The
liability component applies to employers
whose payroll, serving as the basis for the
calculation of the unemployment insurance
contribution, exceeds the minimum level
ofEUR2,251,500(in2023).Anemployer
may be obligated to pay the liability com-
ponent if it has dismissed or laid off an
aged employee whose employment rela-
tionship has lasted at least three years and
the employee has been unemployed or laid
offforalongtime.Unemploymentbenefit
expensesarefinancedwiththeliability
components.
Collected liability components that cover
the cost of daily unemployment allowanc-
es are recognised as income for the period
when the amount of income can be relia-
blymeasured.Inordertocoverthecostof
additional daily allowances, the collected
liability components are recognised as
incomewithinseveralfinancialperiods
based on the estimate of the realisation of
correspondingexpenses.
The statutory transition security scheme
enteredintoforceinJanuary2023.Em-
ployment Fund can collect the transition
77Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
security contribution from an employer dis-
missing an employee on production-relat-
edorfinancialgroundsiftheemployeein
question has reached the age of 55 and has
been employed by the employer in question
foratleastfiveyears.Thetransitionsecu-
rity contribution applies to large employers
whose payroll on which the unemployment
insurance contributions are based ex-
ceedsaspecificminimumlevelintheyear
precedingthedateofdismissal.In2023,the
minimumlevelstoodatEUR2,251,500.
The additional days of unemployment
allowancewillsoonbeabolished.The
persons born in 1964 are the last age group
eligiblefortheadditionaldays.Thisalso
means that the employer will no longer
be obliged to pay a liability component for
employees that they have dismissed or laid
off.Thismeansthatthetransitionperiod
for the liability component will end by the
year2035.
Transition security is intended for employ-
ees aged 55 or over dismissed on produc-
tion-relatedorfinancialgrounds,andit
contains a transition security allowance,
right to training and an extended job search
leave.Thetransitionsecuritytrainingis
provided by the Employment and Economic
DevelopmentOfficeanditcorrespondsto
the maximum of two months’ salary of the
dismissedemployee.Thetransitionsecuri-
ty allowance is paid by the unemployment
fund or the Social Insurance Institution of
Finland and it corresponds to one month’s
salaryofthedismissedemployee.
EmploymentFundwillfinancethetran-
sition security scheme with a transition
security contribution collected from the
employer.Thecontributioncomprisestwo
parts of equal size: a common part and a
portion collected from the employer dis-
missingtheemployee.Thecommonpartis
collected from all employers by raising the
unemploymentinsurancecontribution.A
commonpartof0.03percentagepointsis
included in the unemployment insurance
contributions collected by Employment
Fundfromemployers.Thecontributions
collected from individual employers are
recognisedintheresultsforthefinan-
cial period on an accrual basis under the
account category ‘Liability component
andtransitionsecuritycontribution’.The
non-invoiced part of the contributions is
recognised in the balance sheet under pre-
paymentsandaccruedincome.
78Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
Reconciliation based on chapter 12, section
3 of the Employment Contracts Act
Under the Employment Contracts Act,
when a court of law considers a reconcili-
ation matter, it must provide Employment
Fundwiththeopportunitytobeheard.As
a rule, 75% of the earnings-related daily
unemployment allowance received by the
employee during the indemnity period is
deducted from the indemnity imposed on
the employer for wrongful termination
ofemployment.Thecourtmustorderthe
employer to pay the amount deducted from
the compensation to Employment Fund
andinformitofthefinaljudgmentorruling
onthecase.Thepaymentofthededuction
to the Fund must also take place when the
employer and the employee reach a set-
tlement on the compensation payable for
wrongfulterminationofemployment.
Receivables subject to debt-collection
The Fund collects and monitors neglected
unemployment insurance contributions,
those subject to enforcement and the con-
tributions due by companies in bankruptcy
ordebtrestructuringproceedings.Asthe
receivablesdonotincludeanysignificant
financialcomponents,theFundhasused
thesimplifiedmodelpermittedbyIFRS9.
2.4 Subsidies to unemployment funds
Under the Act on the Financing of Unem-
ploymentBenefits(555/1998),withregard
tothefinancingofearnings-relatedunem-
ployment allowances, Employment Fund
is liable for the costs incurred from unem-
ployment allowances, employment pro-
motion measures and from job alternation
compensation, insofar as the state or indi-
vidual unemployment funds are not liable
forthese.Theabove-mentionedbenefitsare
paidfromtheunemploymentfunds.
Employment Fund is also liable for the
insurance contributions for unemployed
persons and recipients of the adult educa-
tion allowance that are paid through the
Finnish Centre for Pensions to the employ-
mentpensioninstitutions.
Under the Decree on the Implementa-
tion of the Act on Unemployment Funds
(272/2001), Employment Fund is tasked
with processing prepayment applications
and payment decisions and monitoring
thesufficiencyofprepayments.TheFund
makes prepayments to the unemployment
funds twice a month in accordance with
the budget approved at the end of the pre-
viousfinancialperiod.TheFundreceives
monthly statistics from the Financial
Supervisory Authority on the accumulat-
ed allowances paid by the unemployment
funds to their customers, and based on that,
the Fund has accrued the prepayments and
79Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
actual payments to each unemployment
fund either as a receivable or liability in
itsaccounts.Thisaccrualisrecognisedby
benefittype.Thetransitionsecurityallow-
ancewasaddedtothebenefittypesoffered
by the unemployment funds from the start
of2023.Transitionsecurityisusedtofi-
nance expenses arising from the transition
security allowance intended for dismissed
employeesaged55andover.
TheMinistryofSocialAffairsandHealth
pays to Employment Fund the government
contributions that the Fund pays to the
unemploymentfundsasfinancingcontri-
butions.TheFundtransferstheprepay-
ments of government contributions to the
unemploymentfundsonthefirstbanking
dayofeachmonth.In2023,theMinistryof
SocialAffairsandHealthpaidgovernment
contributionstotheFundasfixedmonthly
prepayments unless otherwise proposed by
EmploymentFund.
The income received from the ministries
and the expenditures paid to the unem-
ployment funds have been recognised
inamountscorrespondingtothebenefit
payments made by the funds to their cus-
tomers.TheMinistryofSocialAffairsand
Healthwillapprovethefinancialstate-
ments of the unemployment funds on the
basisoffinalinformationinsummer2024,
at which point the Fund will make equal-
isations in the account balances between
theunemploymentfundsandthestate.
Under section 4 of the Act on the Financing
ofUnemploymentBenefits,Employment
Fund has sole responsibility for funding the
increased earnings-related component laid
down in section 6 of the Unemployment
SecurityAct.Fromthebeginningof2015,
the means by which the higher income
earnings-related unemployment allowanc-
es are calculated was changed so that the
levelofallowancesdecreasedslightly.The
same change was carried out regarding the
supplementary earnings-related allowanc-
es.Thesechangesimplementthereduction
ofunemploymentallowancesasspecified
in the Finnish Government’s framework
decision.Thechangehasdecreasedex-
penditure related to earnings-related daily
unemploymentallowances.Toimplement
government savings, Employment Fund
pays the amount of savings (about EUR
50.3million)yearlytotheSocialInsurance
InstitutionofFinlandtofinancebasicso-
cial security under section 23 of the Act on
theFinancingofUnemploymentBenefits
(555/1998).
Payments to the Finnish Centre
for Pensions and State Pension
Fund and the interest on them
Employment Fund’s second-largest ex-
pense has been the contribution paid to the
Finnish Centre for Pensions to cover the
pension liabilities and expenses arising
from taking into account the time of un-
employment, education and job alternation
leave (sections 74 and 182 of the Employees
PensionsAct[395/2006]).Theamountof
this contribution is determined by estimat-
ing the average amount of pension contri-
butions that would be paid for the unpaid
periods that constitute the basis of the ac-
cruedpensionsecurity.Asstatedabove,the
Fund is liable to pay the contribution laid
down in sections 62 and 133 of the State
Employees’ Pensions Act (1295/2006) to the
StatePensionFund.
80Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
Payments made to the Finnish Centre for
Pensionsforthefinancialperiodinaccord-
ance with section 12c of the Employees
Pensions Act (561/1998) are based on an
estimate provided by the Finnish Centre
forPensionsandadjustedinthefinancial
statements.Thedifferencebetweenthe
payments made and the adjusted estimate
is recognised as prepayments and accrued
incomeoraccrualsanddeferredincome.
Thefinalpaymentamountisreceivedfrom
the Finnish Centre for Pensions in the
springoftheyearfollowingthefinancial
period,andthedifferencebetweenthefinal
payment and payment estimate used in
thefinancialstatementsispresentedasan
adjustment, an equalisation payment for
the previous year, in the following year’s
financialstatements.Therevisedpayment
for the year and the equalisation payment
forthepreviousyearhavebeenspecifiedin
thenotestothefinancialstatements.
The Finnish Centre for Pensions assigns
interest on the charges imposed on Em-
ployment Fund according to the TyEL
premiuminsuranceinterestrate.The
revisedpaymentincludedinthefinancial
statements accrues interest until the end of
thefinancialperiod(debitinginterest).The
Finnish Centre for Pensions refunds the
interest to Employment Fund according to
the actual payments and times of payment
(compensatoryinterest).
Thefinalpaymentamountdeterminedin
the following year accrues interest until the
clearance date agreed between the Finn-
ish Centre for Pensions and Employment
Fund(previousyear’sdebitinginterest).
Compensatory interest is correspondingly
calculated for all payments made by the
Fund in the previous year (compensatory
interestforthepreviousyear’spayments).
The debiting and compensatory interests
for payments to the State Pension Fund
are calculated in a manner identical to the
above.
Settlement to the Social Insurance
Institution of Finland of income
from the unemployment insurance
contributions of employees who are not
members of unemployment funds
Under sections 8 and 23 of the Act on
the Financing of Unemployment Bene-
fits(555/1998),theFundmakesanannual
prepayment to the Social Insurance Institu-
tion of Finland from the employees’ unem-
ployment insurance contribution income,
corresponding to the percentage of employ-
ees who are not members of an unemploy-
mentfund.Theamountofthesettlementis
estimated from data collected by Statistics
Finland, and the estimate is approved by
theMinistryofSocialAffairsandHealth.
Thefinalamountofthepaymentisbased
on a calculation prepared by the Ministry
ofSocialAffairsandHealthoftheamount
ofbenefitsfinancedinthismannerpaidby
the Social Insurance Institution of Finland
duringthefinancialperiod.Thetransition
security allowance was added to the ben-
efitsfinancedfrom1January2023.Tran-
sitionsecurityisusedtofinanceexpenses
arising from the transition security of
dismissed employees aged 55 and over who
arenotmembersofunemploymentfunds.
81Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
Adult education benefits
Employment Fund grants and pays adult
education allowances and scholarships
forqualifiedemployeesinaccordance
withtheActonAdultEducationBenefits
(1276/2000).EmploymentFundisalsore-
sponsibleforfinancingtheadulteducation
allowances for employees and scholarships
forqualifiedemployeesworkingforem-
ployersotherthancentralgovernment.The
stateisresponsibleforfinancingadulted-
ucation allowances for entrepreneurs and
scholarshipsforqualifiedemployeeswork-
ingforcentralgovernment.Theresponsi-
bilityforfinancingisspecifiedinsection30
oftheActonAdultEducationBenefits.
Financing of pay security
Under section 31 of the Pay Security Act
(866/1998), Employment Fund is responsi-
bleforthestate’spaysecurityexpenses.
Pay security expenses are paid once per
year, normally in the spring of the following
year, to the Ministry of Economic Affairs
and Employment, based on an invoice sent
bytheMinistry.
Transition security training
The transition security scheme that en-
tered into force from the start of 2023
includes transition security training for
employees aged 55 and over dismissed on
production-relatedorfinancialgrounds.
EmploymentFundisresponsibleforfi-
nancingthetraining.Employeescovered
by transition security are eligible for transi-
tion security training corresponding to pay
oftwomonthspurchasedbyaTEOffice.
The Development and Administration
CentreforELYCentresandTEOffices(KE-
HA)compilestheinformationontraining
expenses and invoices them on a quarterly
basis from Employment Fund in accord-
ancewithactualcosts.
Member State invoicing for
unemployment allowances
Article 65 of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004
of the European Parliament and of the
Council on the coordination of social se-
curity systems (basic regulation) provides
for situations in which a person becomes
unemployed after working in a Member
Stateotherthantheircountryofresidence.
In Finland, Employment Fund has been
designated as the competent body when
implementing this basic regulation with
regard to earnings-related unemployment
insurance.TheFund’sresponsibilities
include the payment and collection of the
compensation laid down in paragraphs 6
and 7 of Article 65, incurred from unem-
ployment allowance paid to the members of
unemploymentfunds.
The Fund applies for compensation from
Member States depending on how the
unemployment funds have paid the unem-
ployment allowances to those who have
beenworkinginanotherMemberState.In
turn, Member States apply for compensa-
tion from Employment Fund for citizens of
other Member States that have worked in
Finland.Thebenefitswillbefullyrepaid
but not more than the amount that would
have been paid in the country of employ-
ment.Incomeandexpensesarerecognised
onacashbasis.
82Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
Training compensation
Employment Fund manages employers’
trainingcompensation.Thetrainingcom-
pensation is based on the Act on Compen-
sationsforTraining(1140/2013).Thetrain-
ingcompensationisafinancialsupportto
develop competence for those employers
who are not eligible for a training deduc-
tion granted by the Business Income Tax
ActorAgriculturalIncomeTaxAct.These
employers include municipalities, parishes
andnon-profitorganisations.Thepurpose
of the training compensation is to improve
the employer’s opportunities to organise
training for its employees so that they can
enhancetheirvocationalcompetence.
Training compensation can be granted
for a maximum of three training days per
employeeannually.Thefinancingoftrain-
ing compensation has been designated so
that each calendar year, the Ministry of
Finance pays the amount that the Fund has
refunded to employers in the form of train-
ing compensation based on an application
fromEmploymentFund.
Pensions and employee benefits
EmploymentFundonlyhasdefinedcontri-
butionpensionschemes.Statutorypen-
sions are managed by a pension insurance
provider.Pensioncontributionsarerecog-
nisedasexpensesforthefinancialperiod
inwhichthepaymentsareincurred.The
Fund has a bonus system for its employ-
ees.TheBoardofDirectorsdecidesonthe
payment of any bonuses on the Managing
Director’s proposal and in compliance with
thebonuscriteria.Realisedbonusesare
recognisedasexpensesforthefinancial
periodrelevanttothebonussystem.
2.5 Property, plant and equipment
Property, plant and equipment comprises
the Fund’s machinery and equipment and
theleaseholdimprovements.Property,
plant and equipment are measured in the
statement of net position at the historical
cost minus the accumulated depreciation
andimpairmentcharges.
Leasehold improvements are added to the
premises improvement’s carrying value
when it is probable that future economic
benefitsassociatedwiththeitemwillflow
totheFund.Theexpensesofordinaryre-
pair and maintenance costs are reported in
theperiodinwhichtheyareincurred.
Depreciation on property, plant and equip-
ment is calculated using the straight-line
methodovertheirestimatedusefullives.
As a rule, the residual value is estimated to
bezero.Assets’residualvaluesanduseful
livesarereviewedwhenfinancialstate-
mentsareprepared.Depreciationperiods
areadjustediftheestimatechangessignifi-
cantly.Estimatedusefullivesbyassetclass
are as follows:
Leasehold improvements 5 years
Machines and equipment 3 years
Gains and losses on disposal and decom-
missioning of property, plant and equip-
ment are calculated as the difference be-
tweennetproceedsandthecarryingvalue.
Gains and losses on disposals are included
in the administrative expenses in the state-
mentofchangesinnetposition.
83Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
2.6 Intangible assets
Intangibleassetswithfiniteusefullife
comprise acquired or internally produced
computer software, and other intangible
assets when it is probable that future eco-
nomicbenefitsassociatedwiththeasset
willflowtotheFundandthecostcanbe
measuredreliably.Implementationcosts
related to the cloud computing service ar-
rangement, which is a service contract, are
primarily recorded as expenses incurred
when the relevant implementation service
isobtained.Implementationcostsrelated
to the cloud service arrangement are only
capitalised and amortised over a longer
period of time in cases where the imple-
mentation service is not distinct from the
service that allows access to the software,
or when the costs relate to the creation of a
separateintangibleasset.
The cost of an internally generated intan-
gibleassetisdefinedasthesumofdirectly
attributable production costs allocated to
theasset.
Costs associated with maintaining com-
puter software are reported as expenses
incurred.Researchcostsarerecognisedas
anexpenseinthefinancialperiodinwhich
theyareincurred.Developmentcoststhat
are attributable to the design and testing
ofnewsoftware,ortosignificantchanges
to existing software, are capitalised only
when they meet the above-mentioned cri-
teria of recognition to the statement of net
position.
Intangibleassetswithfiniteusefullifeare
measured at historical cost less amortisa-
tionandimpairmentcharges.Amortisation
of intangible assets is calculated using the
straight-linemethodovertheirusefullives.
Estimated useful lives by asset class are as
follows:
Computer software 3 years
Software development expenditure
3years
2.7 Impairment of non-financial assets
Attheendofeachfinancialperiod,itisas-
sessed whether there have been any events
or changes in circumstances that indicate
that the value of an intangible asset or
an item of property, plant and equipment
subject to amortisation or depreciation may
havechanged.Ifthereareanyindicators
of impairment, the recoverable amount is
determined.
The recoverable amount is the asset’s fair
value less the costs of disposal or the value
inuse,whicheverishigher.Valueinuse
refers to the asset’s expected future net
cashflowsthathavebeendiscountedto
net present value by using the determined
discountrate.Animpairmentlossisrec-
ognised in the statement of changes in
net position for the amount by which the
asset’s carrying value exceeds its recovera-
bleamount.Theusefullifeofadepreciated
asset is reviewed in connection with the
recognitionofimpairmentlosses.
Impairments are reversed if circumstances
change and an asset’s recoverable amount
84Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
changes after the recognition of the impair-
ment but not to an amount higher than the
carrying value would be without the im-
pairmentcharge.
2.8 Financial assets and liabilities
Financial assets
Employment Fund applies the IFRS 9 (Fi-
nancial Instruments) standard, which was
published by the International Accounting
Standards Board and took effect on 1 Jan-
uary2018.IFRS9specifieshowanentity
shouldclassifyandmeasurefinancial
assets.Italsoincludesamodelforimpair-
ment charges based on expected losses and
generalrequirementsforhedgeaccounting.
IFRS9requiresfinancialassetstobeclas-
sifiedintothreemeasurementcategories:
those measured at amortised cost, those
measured at fair value through other com-
prehensive income and those measured at
fairvaluethroughprofitandloss.Forfinan-
cial liabilities, the standard retains most of
theIAS39requirements.Forimpairment,
a model based on expected credit losses is
used.
EmploymentFund’sfinancialassetscon-
sist of investments as well as cash and
cashequivalents.Onthedateofacquisi-
tion,themanagementoftheFundclassifies
thefinancialassetsintoclassesthatdeter-
minethebasisofvaluation.Allfinancial
assets are recognised on the trade date (the
day when the Fund commits to buy or sell
theasset).
Investments are presented in the statement
of net position as current assets unless
their maturity is over 12 months and the
management intends to dispose of them
more than 12 months after the reporting
date.
Investments are initially recognised at fair
value.Transactioncostsarerecogniseddi-
rectlyasexpenses.Afterinitialrecognition,
the investments are measured at fair value
on each reporting date, and realised and
unrealised changes in fair value are recog-
nised in the statement of changes in net
positionintheperiodinwhichtheyarise.
Net changes in fair value are presented in
the statement of changes in net position
on the line ‘Net income from measuring
investmentsatfairvalue’.Allinterestand
dividend income from investments are
includedinthenetchangeofthefairvalue.
Thebasisfordefiningfairvalueispresent-
edinnote13.
Financial assets are de-recognised when
therightstoreceivecashflowshaveex-
pired or have been transferred to another
party such that all the risks and rewards
havebeentransferred.
85Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
Cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash
in hand and deposits held at call with
banks.
Loans
Loans are recognised initially at fair value,
thenetofthetransactioncostsincurred.
Loans are subsequently carried at amor-
tisedcost.Anydifferencebetweenthe
proceeds (net of transaction costs) and
the redemption value is recognised in the
statement of changes in net position over
the period of the loan using the effective
interestmethod.
Fees paid on loan facilities are recognised
as the transaction costs of the loan to the
extent that it is probable that some or all of
thefacilitywillbewithdrawn.Inthiscase,
the fee is deferred and recognised in the
statement of net position until the loan is
withdrawn.Totheextentthereisnoevi-
dence that it is probable that some or all
the loans of the facility will be withdrawn,
the fee is capitalised as a prepayment for
liquidity services and amortised over the
periodofthefacility.
2.9 Rental agreements
As a lessee, the Fund has applied the IFRS
16Leasesstandardsince1January2019.
IFRS16specifiestherequirementscon-
cerning recognition, valuation and informa-
tiontobepresentedinthefinancialstate-
ments.Thestandardintroducesasingle
lesseeaccountingmodel.Inprinciple,all
leases with a term of more than one year
are recognised in the balance sheet unless
theunderlyingassetisoflowvalue.Onthe
firstdayofthelease,thelesseerecognises
a liability for its obligation to make lease
payments and an asset item for its right to
usetheasset.Thelesseemustrecognise
the interest expenses on the liability and
theplanneddepreciationontheassetitem.
Inaddition,thelesseemustredefinethe
amount of the lease liability in conjunc-
tion with certain events (such as a change
in the term of the lease or changes to the
leasepaymentsduetoindexadjustments).
The Fund uses the transition relief permit-
ted by IFRS 16 with regard to short-term
leases (with terms of less than 12 months)
andleasesoflow-valueassets.
86Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
3 CRITICAL ACCOUNTING
ESTIMATES AND JUDGEMENTS
Thepreparationoffinancialstatementsin
conformity with IFRS requires the manage-
ment to make estimates and assumptions
that have affected the income, expenses,
assetsandliabilitiespresentedinthefinan-
cialstatements.Judgementisalsoneeded
intheapplicationofaccountingpolicies.
The estimates are based on the best infor-
mationavailableonthereportingdate.The
evaluation is based on both earlier experi-
ence and assumptions about the future that
aremostprobableonthereportingdate.
Actual results may differ from these deci-
sionsbasedonestimatesandassumptions.
Possible changes in estimates are recog-
nised in the period in which the estimate
isadjustedandallsubsequentperiods.The
planning and management of Employment
Fund’sfinancesarelargelybasedonfore-
casts of changes in the unemployment rate,
unemployment expenses, employment rate
andpayroll.Undernormalconditions,the
Fund must set the insurance contributions
atasufficientlevelsothatallprojected
expenses can be covered with the insur-
ancecontributions.Theunemployment
insurance contributions (contribution rates)
are determined for one calendar year at a
time.Whenthecontributionsarechanged,
the employers’ and employees’ contribu-
tionsarechangedbythesamepercentage.
The forecast deviation in the change in net
position between the budget prepared in
Augustintheprecedingyearandthefinan-
cial statements, which are prepared more
thanayearlater,wassignificantlyabove
long-termaveragein2023.
If necessary, the Fund exercises judgement
in applying the valuation methods used in
the measurement of fair value insofar as
the fair values are not received as direct
pricesfromactivemarkets.
Fair value determination of current mon-
ey market investments is based on the
discountedcashflows,andmanagement
has used judgement when it has conclud-
ed that the change of credit risk does not
have a material impact on the change of
fair values of investments due to their short
durationandhighcreditrating.TheFund’s
critical assumptions concerning the future
and key uncertainties in the reporting date
arerelatedtothefactorsmentionedabove.
87Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
Credit losses
Employment Fund applies the IFRS 9
standard model for expected losses when
estimating impairment charges associated
with uncertain unemployment insurance
contributionreceivables.Inthismodel,ex-
pected losses are recognised for the entire
validityperiodofthefinancialasset,and
the model is based on the amount of the
outstanding receivables and the time peri-
odforwhichtheyremainoutstanding.The
parameters applied in the model are based
on an estimate of the amount of unemploy-
ment insurance contribution receivables,
liability component receivables, reconcilia-
tion receivables based on the Employment
ContractsAct,benefitreceivablesandin-
terest receivables to be recognised as credit
lossesonthereportingdate.Expected
credit losses throughout the entire period
of validity are calculated by multiplying
the gross carrying value of the unpaid
receivables by the expected proportion of
loss.Changestoexpectedcreditlossesare
recognisedthroughprofitandloss.
Segment reporting
The IFRS 8 Operating Segments standard
requires entities to disclose information to
enableusersoftheirfinancialstatementsto
evaluatethenatureandfinancialeffectsof
the business operations in which the entity
engages and the economic environments in
whichitoperates.Asdefinedinthestand-
ard, an operating segment is a component
of an entity
A. that engages in activities from which it
may earn revenues and incur expenses
B. whose operating results are regularly
reviewed by the entity’s most senior
executive decision-maker to make deci-
sions about resources to be allocated to
the segment and assess its performance,
and
C. onwhichdiscretefinancialinformation
isavailable.
Further,accordingtothedefinitionofthe
standard, the function of the most senior
executive decision-maker is to allocate
resources to and assess the performance of
theoperatingsegmentsofanentity.
Employment Fund is tasked with collecting
unemployment insurance contributions,
the level of which has been determined by
thepublicauthorities.TheFundpaysthe
collected contributions onwards, mainly to
unemploymentfunds.
Employment Fund uses the collected con-
tributions for conservative investment
activitiesinordertocovercurrentfinancing
contributions.TheFundalsocoversany
deficitsitincurswithloanfinancing.
EmploymentFundisanon-profit,govern-
ment-affiliatedfund.Themanagement
monitors the Fund’s operations as a single
entity, which consists of the contributions
collectedandbenefitspaid,resultingina
changeinnetposition.TheFund’smanage-
ment does not actually allocate resources
to the entity’s activities or review the effec-
tivenessofoperations.
88Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
For these reasons, Employment Fund’s
management has made the assessment
that the presentation of segment informa-
tionisnotappropriate.Presentingsegment
information would not improve the ability
ofareaderofthefinancialstatementsto
assess the Fund’s operations, nature of
theoperatingenvironmentandfinancial
effects.AccordingtoEmploymentFund’s
management, the nature of the Fund’s oper-
ations and operating environment and the
financialimpactsarefairlypresentedinthe
IFRSfinancialstatements.
4 FINANCIAL RISK MANAGEMENT
TheFundseekstolimitfinancialandin-
vestment risks to a level where their real-
isationwillnotresultinsignificantlosses
for the Fund to the extent of creating pres-
sure to increase contributions or endanger
theliquidityoftheFund.Theinvestment
andfinancingactivitiesandrisklimits
of Employment Fund are provided for in
more detail in the investment principles
approved by the Supervisory Board and the
investment plan and debt-management
planapprovedbytheBoardofDirectors.
The market risk of investments is primarily
measured by using the stress-test meth-
od, in which a risk indicator expressed as
annual volatility is assigned to each in-
vestment class on the basis of historical
fluctuationsinvalue.EmploymentFund’s
financialrisksmainlyrelatetoinvest-
ments, and they comprise market risk,
credit and counterparty risk and liquidity
risk.Investmentsarediversifiedinac-
cordance with the investment principles
approved by the Supervisory Board across
variousassetclassessoastoreducefinan-
cialrisks.Risklimitsaresettosuchalevel
that their realisation would not result in the
Fund incurring losses that would give rise
to pressures to increase the level of contri-
butions.TheFundmayenterintoderivative
contractsforhedgingpurposes;however,
derivatives were not used during the peri-
odspresented.
The Fund measures all its investments at
fair value because they have been designat-
edasfinancialassetsatfairvaluethrough
profitandloss.Theinvestmentsareitem-
ised in note 15, along with their fair values
byassetclassandthebasisfordefiningfair
value.
4.1Financial risk factors
Market risk
The main market risk factor for
Employment Fund’s investments and
liabilitiesistheinterestraterisk.The
Fund’s investment portfolio is dominated
byfixed-incomeinvestments(bondsand
moneymarketinvestments).
Employment Fund may make investments
directly, or indirectly through investment
funds.Attheendofthereviewperiod,17%
(31 Dec 2022: 14%) of the investments were
indirect.
89Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
On 31 December 2023 and 31 December 2022, the
market risks for the investments were as follows:
Investment item,
31 Dec 2023
Risk,
per cent
Capital,
EUR thousand
Risk,
EUR thousand
Bank deposits 0.50% 247,468 1,237
Money market 1.00% 572,186 5,722
State and municipal bonds 4.00% 419,124 16,765
Bank bonds 4.50% 289,759 13,039
Corporate bonds 5.00% 249,064 12,453
Equities 25.00% 38,997 9,749
Alternative investments 10.00% 83,333 8,333
Total risk 3.54% 1,899,931 67,298
Investment item,
31 Dec 2022
Risk,
per cent
Capital,
EUR thousand
Risk,
EUR thousand
Bank deposits 0.50% 218,108 1,091
Money market 1.00% 830,516 8,305
State and municipal bonds 4.00% 231,058 9,242
Bank bonds 4.50% 307,430 13,834
Corporate bonds 5.00% 180,450 9,023
Equities 25.00% 36,111 9,028
Alternative investments 10.00% 74,958 7,496
Total risk 3.09% 1,878,632 58,019
Thetotalriskwas3.54%(31Dec2022:3.09%)oftheFund’sassets
and1.9%(31Dec2022:1.7%)oftheFund’sincomein2023.Therisk
posed by the investment portfolio is moderate due to its conserva-
tive structure and moderately low risk level of the securities in the
portfolio.
All money market investments carry variable interest rates (31
Dec2022:100%).Ofthebonds,7%(31Dec2022:8%)wereatvariable
rates.Variable-rateinvestmentsexposetheFundtoacashflow
interestraterisk,whileinvestmentsatfixedratesexposetheFund
toafairvalueinterestraterisk.
If, on 31 December 2023, the Euribor rates and interest rate curve
(swaprates)hadbeen0.5percentagepointshigherwhilealloth-
er variables remained constant, the total change in net position
wouldhavebeenEUR9.8million(31Dec2022:EUR9.4million)
smaller.Respectively,ifon31December2023theEuriborratesand
interestratecurve(swaprates)hadbeen0.5percentagepoints
lower,thetotalchangeinnetpositionwouldhavebeenEUR9.8
million(31Dec2022:EUR9.4million)higher.
90Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
Credit risk
The credit risk of the investments is man-
agedbyissuercreditlimits.Limitsforeach
issuer are determined by taking account
of the absolute size, economic position
andfutureoutlookoftheissuer.TheFund
continuously monitors the credit stand-
ing and future outlook of the issuers, and
when changes occur, the limits are either
increasedordecreased.TheFundmainly
invests in banks in the Nordic countries
that have high credit ratings, states with
strong credit ratings (Finland, Germany, the
Netherlands, Belgium, France, Austria and
Sweden), companies mainly in Finland and
someinSweden,andmunicipalities.Cash
and cash equivalents are only held at banks
withhighcreditratings.
The spread duration of the credit risk in-
cluded in the investments at the end of the
reviewperiodwas1.63years(31Dec2022:
1.28years).
The average credit rating of the investment
portfolio is evaluated on Standard & Poors’
rating scale, which is based on historical
probabilitiesofcreditlosses.Theinvest-
ment portfolio credit rating is estimated to
beapprox.BBB+on31December2023(31
Dec2022:BBB+).
The Fund’s investments mainly consist
of state and bank bonds as well as money
marketinvestments.Theircreditworthi-
ness has been determined using the S&P
creditrating.Mostofthebanksthatthe
Fund has invested in have good credit rat-
ings.However,noteveryregionalbankand
companyhasanofficialcreditrating,so
the credit quality of these entities is deter-
mined using credit ratings received from a
thirdparty.
91Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
ThefollowingtabledescribesEmploymentFund’sfixed-incomeinvestmentsandcredit-
worthinessbygroup.
Investments distributed by the
issuer’s rating
31 Dec 2023,
EUR thousand
31 Dec 2023,
per cent
31 Dec 2022,
EUR thousand
31 Dec 2022,
per cent
AAA 272,696 15.3% 112,814 6.4%
AA+ 250,698 14.1% 130,509 7.4%
AA 13,148 0.7% 7,391 0.4%
AA- 404,829 22.8% 555,907 31.5%
A+ 174,641 9.8% 348,434 19.7%
A 77,990 4.4% 47,589 2.7%
A- 91,922 5.2% 145,574 8.2%
BBB+ 106,350 6.0% 102,284 5.8%
BBB 213,420 12.0% 176,883 10.0%
BBB- 82,110 4.6% 67,250 3.8%
BB+ 29,363 1.7% 40,965 2.3%
BB 9,196 0.5% 4,678 0.3%
BB- 4,959 0.3% 0 0.0%
B+ 0 0.0% 0 0.0%
B 215 0.0% 0 0.0%
B- 0 0.0% 0 0.0%
CCC+ 0 0.0% 0 0.0%
CCC 0 0.0% 0 0.0%
NR 46,061 2.6% 27,280 1.5%
Total 1,777,598 100.0% 1,767,560 100.0%
The amount of Employment Fund’s unem-
ployment insurance contribution receiva-
bles, liability component receivables, ECA
receivables, and interest receivables, are
includedinthecreditrisk.Themostimpor-
tant factor in the realisation of the afore-
mentioned credit risk is related to cases in
which customers liable for paying unem-
ployment insurance contributions become
insolvent (due to bankruptcy, corporate
restructuringordebtrestructuring).
In 2023, the number of corporate restruc-
turings and bankruptcies increased sub-
stantially,comparedto2022.Businesses
declared bankrupt in 2023 included a large
number of construction companies with
wage payments subject to unemployment
insurancecontributions.Thiswasalso
reflectedintheworkloadofEmployment
Fund’s collection activities, which in-
creasedbyabout35%from2022.However,
this has not yet had any corresponding
impact on the effectiveness of the Fund’s
collectionprocess.Especiallyincorpo-
rate restructurings, several years will pass
before it becomes clear whether or not the
paymentplanshavebeenrealistic.The
92Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
actual credit losses on unemployment insurance contributions in
2023totalledEUR4.6(4.0)million.
Liquidity risk
The Fund aims to manage liquidity risk as follows:
1. Liquid realisable investments
2. Short-term loans
3. Maintaining unemployment insurance contributions at a rea-
sonable level and increasing them as necessary
Tosecureitsliquidity,infixed-incomeinvestmentswithlessthan
one year’s maturity, the Fund keeps an amount that covers at least
onemonth’sexpenses.Whentheliquiditybufferdecreasesbelow
this limit, the Fund can also use short-term borrowing to cover the
temporaryliquiditydeficit.Forthispurpose,theFundalsohasa
EUR 300 million commercial paper programme (31 Dec 2022: EUR
300million).Inaddition,theFundalsohasEUR600millionin
committed revolving credit facilities (RCF) with four banks (31 Dec
2022:EUR600million).Thecommercialpaperprogrammeandthe
revolving credit facilities remained unused at the end of 2023 (31
Dec 2022: commercial papers with a value of EUR 100 million were
inuse).
ThefiguresinthetablesareinEURmillion.
Unused committed revolving credit facilities 31 Dec 2023 31 Dec 2022
RCF due in more than one year 600 600
Total 600 600
Unused uncommitted revolving credit facilities 31 Dec 2023 31 Dec 2022
Commercial paper programme 300 200
Total 300 200
Employment Fund has also taken measures to safeguard its debt
financingcapacitybymeansofcreditratings.TheFundhasthe
followingissuercreditratingsasconfirmedbyStandard&Poors(4
July 2023):
Long-term credit rating AA+, stable outlook
Short-term credit rating A-1+, stable outlook
EmploymentFundalsosecureditsliquiditythroughdebtfinancing
during2023.Attheendofthereviewperiod,EUR600million
in bonds (31 Dec 2022: EUR 1,200 million) and EUR 0 million in
commercialpapers(31Dec2022:EUR100million)wereinuse.No
short-term bank loans were in use on 31 December 2023 (31 Dec
2022:EUR0million).
93Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
Fixed interest rate periods for loans
Thefixedinterestrateperiodsforloansinthestatementofnetpositionwereaspresentedinthetable.
Loans, 31 Dec 2023
Nominal value EUR
million
Fixed interest rate period
in years Interest rate Due date Credit rating
Bond 2027 600 3.46 0.01% 16 June 2027 AA+
Total 600 3.46
Loans, 31 Dec 2023
Nominal value EUR
million
Fixed interest rate period
in years Interest rate Due date Credit rating
Bond 2023 600 0.46 0.00% 16 June 2023 AA+
Bond 2027 600 4.46 0.01% 16 June 2027 AA+
Commercial papers 100 0.25 -0.05% 1–12 months No rating
Total 1,300 2.28
94Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
Maturities of financial liabilities
ThefollowingtablesshowEmploymentFund’sfinancialliabilitiesbygroupbasedonthematuritiesofoutstandingcontracts.Thefigures
areinEURthousand.
Financial liabilities,
31 Dec 2023
Less than
6 months
6–12
months
1–3
years
4–7
years
Total cash flow
based on contracts
Book value assets(-)/
liabilities
Accounts payable 2,319 0 0 0 2,319 2,319
Loans 60 0 120 600,060 600,240 598,638
Liabilities associated with right-
of-use assets 377 375 1,482 1,446 3,680 3,419
Total 2,756 375 1,602 601,506 606,239 604,376
Financial liabilities,
31 Dec 2022
Less than
6 months
6–12
months
1–3
years
4–7
years
Total cash flow
based on contracts
Book value assets(-)/
liabilities
Accounts payable 881 0 0 0 881 881
Loans 700,060 0 120 600,120 1,300,300 1,298,609
Liabilities associated with right-
of-use assets 346 346 1,372 2,047 4,111 3,588
Total 701,287 346 1,492 602,167 1,305,292 1,303,077
95Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
4.2 Business cycle buffer
Under section 3 of the Act on the Financing of Unemployment
Benefits,EmploymentFundmaintainsabusinesscyclebufferto
ensure liquidity and balance out changes in unemployment in-
surancecontributionsduetoforeseeableeconomicfluctuations
inthenationaleconomy.Whenthedecisiononthelevelofun-
employment insurance contributions is made, the forecast for the
business cycle buffer may by law exceed the maximum amount of
assets over two years during a three-year review period in order to
ensureasteadypaymenttrend.Inthatcase,however,unemploy-
ment insurance contributions may not be set higher than in the
previousyear.Themaximumamountofthebusinesscyclebuffer
iscalculatedonthebasisofthefiguresintheannualfinancial
statements.Theinvestmentoftheassetsaccruedinthebufferis
regulated by the Fund’s investment principles and the investment
planapprovedonanannualbasis.Theuseofdebtfinancingisalso
regulatedbythedebtservicingplan.
The maximum amount of the buffer is calculated by dividing
Employment Fund’s annual expenditure by the average unemploy-
mentratefortheyearandmultiplyingtheresultbysix.Thefol-
lowing table presents the amount of the business cycle buffer and
theminimumandmaximumamountsofthebufferasspecifiedin
theAct.
ThefiguresareinEURmillion.
Business cycle buffer
1 Jan–31 Dec
2023
1 Jan–31 Dec
2022
Amount 2,021 1,258
Maximum amount 1,861 1,868
Minimum amount -1,861 -1,868
96Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
5 UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE CONTRIBUTIONS
ThefiguresareinEURthousand.
Unemployment insurance contributions by
contribution type
1 Jan–31 Dec
2023
1 Jan–31 Dec
2022
Employers unemployment insurance contributions
Employer’s insurance contributions 1,409,566 1,323,956
Training compensation reimbursements -10,244 -8,765
Training compensation settlements paid by
the Ministry of Finance 10,244 8,765
Employer’s insurance contributions, co-owners 2,012 2,021
Total 1,411,578 1,325,977
Employee’s unemployment insurance contributions
Employee’s insurance contributions 1,486,405 1,420,828
Employee’s insurance contributions, co-owners 2,876 2,979
Total 1,489,281 1,423,808
Collection fee income and credit losses
Interest on overdue employer contributions 513 299
Interest on overdue employee contributions 502 330
Collection fee income 439 275
Total 1,455 905
Employers liability components and transition security contributions
Liability components 15,637 19,595
Transition security contributions 5,970 0
Accruals -1,188 2,729
Total 20,419 22,324
Unemployment insurance contributions by
contribution type
1 Jan–31 Dec
2023
1 Jan–31 Dec
2022
Deductions under the Employment Contracts Act (ECA)
Deductions and lay-off income under ECA 915 974
Settlement to the Ministry of Social Affairs and
Health -538 -489
Total 377 484
Contributions from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health
Earnings-related unemployment allowance 690,817 703,550
Job alternation compensation 10,507 11,012
Equalisation payment for the previous year -1,056 -121
Adulteducationbenefits 4,084 2,892
Total 704,352 717,334
Total unemployment insurance contributions 3,627,462 3,490,831
97Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
6 FINANCING CONTRIBUTIONS PAID
ThefiguresareinEURthousand.
Financing contributions
1 Jan–31 Dec
2023
1 Jan–31 Dec
2022
Employment Fund contributions paid to unemployment funds
Other earnings-related unemployment
allowance -653,539 -684,505
Additional days of allowance -147,060 -138,902
Transition security allowance -5,037 0
Lay-off allowance -270,200 -191,114
Job alternation compensation -13,358 -14,481
Compensation for administrative
expenses -10,873 -10,732
Equalisation payment for the previous
year 1,615 822
Total -1,098,453
-1,038,912
Government contribution paid to unemployment funds
Other earnings-related unemployment
allowance -676,196 -688,419
Job alternation compensation -10,507 -11,012
Unemployment allowance/
entrepreneurs -6,261 -6,963
Compensation for administrative
expenses -8,360 -8,169
Equalisation payment for the previous
year 1,056 386
Total -700,268
-714,176
Financing contributions
1 Jan–31 Dec
2023
1 Jan–31 Dec
2022
Finnish Centre for Pensions
Equalisation payment for the previous
year 31,310 36,872
Paymentforthecurrentfinancial
period -631,000 -633,000
Total -599,690 -596,128
State Pension Fund
Equalisation payment for the previous
year 378 505
Paymentforthecurrentfinancial
period -7,942 -8,570
Total -7,564 -8,065
98Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
Financing contributions
1 Jan–31 Dec
2023
1 Jan–31 Dec
2022
Social Insurance Institution of Finland
Equalisation payment for the previous year 29 1
Basic allowance, additional component, employment
programmeadditionalbenefit -262,910 -242,700
Social Insurance Institution of Finland, transition
security -65 0
Total -262,947
-242,699
Adult education benefits
Scholarshipsforqualifiedemployees -11,827 -11,467
Adult education allowances -189,303 -177,871
Collectionexpensesforbenefits -5 -8
Total -201,135
-189,347
Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment
Equalisation payment for the previous year 0 0
Paymentforthecurrentfinancialperiod -29,779 -19,786
Transition security from the Development and
AdministrationCentreforELYCentresandTEOffices -381
0
Total -30,159 -19,786
Member State invoicing for unemployment allowances
Invoiced by Member States -52 -61
Invoiced by the Fund 43 92
Total -9 31
Total financing contributions paid -2,900,224 -2,809,083
99Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
7 ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES
ThefiguresareinEURthousand.
Administrative expenses by expense
type
1 Jan–31 Dec
2023
1 Jan–31 Dec
2022
Personnel expenses
Salaries,bonuses,andbenefits -10,073 -8,474
Pensionexpenses–defined
contribution plans -1,730 -1,494
Socialsecurityexpenses -395 -297
Total -12,198 -10,265
Other administrative expenses
IT expenses -7,798 -3,258
Other personnel expenses -763 -450
Expensesforofficepremises -109 -232
Officeexpenses -1,751 -1,528
Other expenses -8,450 -4,177
Amortisation -2,361 -2,689
Total -21,231 -12,335
Auditor’s fee
Statutory audit -98 -85
Total -98 -85
Total administrative expenses -33,528 -22,685
Number of personnel 31 Dec 2023 31 Dec 2022
Permanent employees 168 151
Fixed-term employees 7 16
Total 175 167
100Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
8 FINANCING COSTS
ThefiguresareinEURthousand.
Financing costs by expense type 1 Jan–31 Dec 2023 1 Jan–31 Dec 2022
Loan financing expenses
Revolving credit facility fees -899 -1,400
Accrued expenses from loans -163 -262
Interest expenses from loans 11 690
Total loan financing expenses -1,051 -972
Interest on the contributions paid to the Finnish
Centre for Pensions -394 2,673
Interest on the contributions paid to the State Pension
Fund 151 106
Total financing costs -1,293 1,806
101Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
9 PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT
ThefiguresareinEURthousand.
Changes in property, plant and equipment IFRS 16 Right-of-use asset Total
Acquisition costs, 1 Jan 2023 3,933 3,933
Additions 498 498
Acquisition costs, 31 Dec 2023 4,431 4,431
Accumulated depreciation, 1 Jan 2023 568 568
Depreciation during the period 653 653
Accumulated depreciation, 31 Dec 2023 1,221 1,221
Book value, 1 Jan 2023 3,365 3,365
Book value, 31 Dec 2023 3,210 3,210
Changes in property, plant and equipment IFRS 16 Right-of-use asset Total
Acquisition costs, 1 Jan 2022 3,735 3,735
Additions 198 198
Acquisition costs, 31 Dec 2022 3,933 3,933
Accumulated depreciation, 1 Jan 2022 0 0
Depreciation during the period 568 568
Accumulated depreciation, 31 Dec 2022 568 568
Carrying value, 1 Jan 2022 3,735 3,735
Carrying value, 31 Dec 2022 3,365 3,365
102Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
10 INTANGIBLE ASSETS
ThefiguresareinEURthousand.
Changes in intangible assets Software Software development expenses Intangible assets in progress* Total
Acquisition costs, 1 Jan 2023 910 13,892 1,088 15,891
Additions 0 0 0 0
Transfers between items 0 1,088 -1,088 0
Acquisition costs, 31 Dec 2023 910 14,981 0 15,891
Accumulated depreciation, 1 Jan
2023 897 12,412 0 13,309
Depreciation during the period 13 1,695 0 1,708
Accumulated depreciation, 31
Dec 2023 910 14,107 0 15,017
Book value, 1 Jan 2023 13 1,479 1,088 2,581
Book value, 31 Dec 2023 0 872 0 872
Changes in intangible assets Software Software development expenses Intangible assets in progress Total
Acquisition costs, 1 Jan 2022 910 13,892 0 14,802
Additions 0 0 1,088 1,088
Transfers between items 0 0 0 0
Acquisition costs, 31 Dec 2022 910 13,892 1,088 15,891
Accumulated depreciation, 1 Jan
2022 856 10,331 0 11,187
Depreciation during the period 41 2,081 0 2,122
Accumulated depreciation, 31
Dec 2022 897 12,412 0 13,309
Book value, 1 Jan 2022 54 3,560 0 3,614
Book value, 31 Dec 2022 13 1,479 1,088 2,581
*Theitem‘Intangibleassetsinprogress’consistsofcapitaliseddevelopmentcosts,givingrisetoaninternallygeneratedintangibleasset.
Therewerenocapitaliseddevelopmentcostsin2023.
103Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
11 RECEIVABLES AND PAYABLES FROM UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE CONTRIBUTIONS
ThefiguresareinEURthousand.
Receivables from unemployment insurance contributions 31 Dec 2023 31 Dec 2022
Receivables from employer’s unemployment insurance contribution 13,948 11,768
Receivables from employer’s unemployment insurance contribution, credit loss provision -2,119 -1,856
Receivables from employee’s unemployment insurance contribution 7,774 7,363
Receivables from employee’s unemployment insurance contribution, credit loss provision -4,412 -4,209
Overdue contribution and collection fee receivables 1,377 1,065
Overdue contribution and collection fee receivables, credit loss provision -410 -505
Receivables from unemployment insurance contributions 16,158 13,626
Deferred unemployment insurance contribution receivables 730,652 701,769
Total unemployment insurance contribution receivables 746,810 715,394
Unemployment insurance contribution liabilities 31 Dec 2023 31 Dec 2022
Prepayments 290 401
Refunds 1,154 1,132
Total unemployment insurance contribution liabilities 1,444 1,533
104Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
12 LIFETIME EXPECTED CREDIT LOSSES FROM THE UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE CONTRIBUTION
RECEIVABLES AND FROM THE ADULT EDUCATION BENEFITS TO BE RECOVERED (IFRS 9)
ThefiguresareinEURthousand.
Changes in
expected credit
losses
Receivables
from employer’s
unemployment
insurance contribution
Receivables from
employee’s unemployment
insurance contribution
Overdue contribution and
collection fee receivables
for unemployment
insurance contributions
Liability component
and receivables
specified in ECA
Adult education
benefits to be
recovered Total
1 Jan 2023 -1,856 -4,209 -505 -457 -156 -7,183
Change -263 -203 95 186 -65 -250
31 Dec 2023 -2,119 -4,412 -410 -271 -221 -7,433
Changes in
expected credit
losses
Receivables
from employer’s
unemployment insurance
contribution
Receivables from
employee’s unemployment
insurance contribution
Overdue contribution and
collection fee receivables
for unemployment
insurance contributions
Liability component
and receivables
specified in ECA
Adult education
benefits to be
recovered Total
1 Jan 2022 -2,654 -5,442 -600 -297 -139 -9,132
Change 798 1,233 95 -160 -17 1,949
31 Dec 2022 -1,856 -4,209 -505 -457 -156 -7,183
105Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
13 OTHER RECEIVABLES
ThefiguresareinEURthousand.
Current other receivables 31 Dec 2023 31 Dec 2022
Receivables from unemployment funds 28,948 30,995
Transition security receivables 3,080 0
FinnishCentreforPensions,capitalaccruals 0 25,500
FinnishCentreforPensions,compensatoryinterest 11,853 8,211
Education allowance receivables 1,474 1,875
Adulteducationbenefits,creditlossprovision -221 -156
Receivables from the Government related to training compensation 0 3
Employer’s liability component receivables and compensation under the Employment Contracts Act 939 2,302
LiabilitycomponentandreceivablesspecifiedinECA,creditlossprovision -271 -457
Receivables from the State Pension Fund 151 1,343
ReceivablesfromtheMinistryofSocialAffairsandHealth 1,326 292
Receivables from the Social Insurance Institution of Finland 17,514 24,341
Prepayments 776 1,020
Securities in settlement 42,979 20
Taxassets 17 10
Pay security (Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment) 0 1,049
Total current other receivables 108,567 96,348
106Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
14 NET FAIR VALUE GAINS FROM INVESTMENTS
ThefiguresareinEURthousand.
Types of income and expenses 1 Jan–31 Dec 2023 1 Jan–31 Dec 2022
Dividendincome 2,438 1,753
Gainsondisposals 6,528 5,263
Otherincome 4,381 671
Net interest income 29,859 7,034
Net foreign exchange gains 0 391
Net change in value 36,768 -35,402
Losses on disposals -9,034 -15,667
Other expenses -298 -199
Total net gains on investments 70,642 -36,155
107Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
15 INVESTMENT ASSETS
Investmentsinfinancialassetshavebeendesignatedasfinan-
cialassetsatfairvaluethroughprofitandloss,andaremeasured
atfairvalue.Measurementoftheseassetsisprimarilybasedon
eitherquotedpricesorvaluationsbasedonavailablemarketdata.
Financial instruments carried at fair value have been divided into
three hierarchy levels based on whether they are traded in active
markets, and to what extent the inputs are based on observable
market data, as follows:
Level 1 The valuation is based on quoted prices in active markets
foridenticalfinancialassetsandliabilities.
Level 2 The inputs used in valuations are also based, either directly
or indirectly, on using valuation techniques on observable inputs
otherthanthoseonLevel1.
Level 3 The valuation is based on information other than observa-
blemarketdata.
108Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
Investments by financial instrument class divided into fair value hierarchy levels
Noreclassificationshavebeenmadebetweenthehierarchylevelsduringthefinancialperiod.ThefiguresareinEURthousand.
Financial instrument classes,
31 Dec 2023 Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Total
State and municipal bonds 419,124 29,828 0 448,952
Bank bonds 279,951 0 0 279,951
Corporate bonds 234,375 0 0 234,375
Investments in funds and equities 177,513 13,810 0 191,323
Mezzanine funds 0 0 829 829
Deposits 0 62,180 0 62,180
Certificatesofdeposit 0 154,908 0 154,908
Municipal papers 0 19,452 0 19,452
Commercial papers 0 177,994 0 177,994
Alternative investments 0 0 82,504 82,504
Total 1,110,963 458,172 83,333 1,652,468
Financial instrument classes,
31 Dec 2022 Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Total
State and municipal bonds 181,471 49,587 0 231,058
Bank bonds 297,854 0 0 297,854
Corporate bonds 166,536 0 0 166,536
Investments in funds and equities 146,135 13,795 0 159,931
Mezzanine funds 0 0 1,030 1,030
Deposits 0 168,165 0 168,165
Certificatesofdeposit 0 372,754 0 372,754
Municipal papers 0 7,979 0 7,979
Commercial papers 0 181,288 0 181,288
Alternative investments 0 0 73,928 73,928
Total 791,997 793,568 74,958 1,660,524
109Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
ChangesinLevel3financialassetsmeasuredatfairvalue.ThefiguresareinEURthousand.
Financial instrument
classes 1 Jan 2023 Unrealised profit/loss Realised profit/loss Purchases Sales 31 Dec 2023
Mezzanine funds 1,030 218 0 2 -421 829
Alternative investments 73,928 -4,061 51 12,637 -51 82,504
Total 74,958 -3,843 51 12,639 -472 83,333
Financial instrument
classes 1 Jan 2022 Unrealised profit/loss Realised profit/loss Purchases Sales 31 Dec 2022
Mezzanine funds 1,988 -130 0 17 -845 1,030
Alternative investments 40,877 2,312 0 30,739 0 73,928
Total 42,865 2,182 0 30,756 -845 74,958
Deposits,certificatesofdeposit,commer-
cial papers and municipal papers at Level
2 have been valued using the discounted
cashflowmethodbasedontheEuriboror
swap curve and on the forward rate, insofar
as elements of foreign currencies are in-
volved.Basedonthemanagement’sjudge-
ment, the discount factor has been adjusted
for the effect of changes in the credit risk
oftheinvestment.However,theadjustment
hasnothadanymaterialimpact.
InvestmentsclassifiedatLevel 3 are mez-
zanine funds that are valued based on
valuationspreparedbytheissuer.Alter-
nativeinvestmentsareinvestmentfunds.
Investment funds have been measured at
the net asset value of the fund as reported
by the fund manager as of the reporting
date,andtheyhavebeenclassifiedasLevel
1, 2 or 3 assets by their market activity and
marketability.
EquityinvestmentsarequotedontheHel-
sinki Stock Exchange, and they have been
classifiedatLevel1.Theamountofequity
investmentsisminor.Noreclassifications
have been made between levels during the
financialperiod.
110Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
16 CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
ThefiguresareinEURthousand.
Cash and cash equivalents 31 Dec 2023 31 Dec 2022
Bankdeposits 216,479 224,711
Total cash and cash equivalents 216,479 224,711
17 LOANS
ThefiguresareinEURthousand.
Long-term loans 31 Dec 2023 31 Dec 2022
EmploymentFundbonds 598,638 598,205
Total long-term loans 598,638 598,205
Short-term loans 31 Dec 2023 31 Dec 2022
EmploymentFundbonds 0 600,358
Commercialpapers 0 100,046
Total short-term loans 0 700,404
18 OTHER LIABILITIES
ThefiguresareinEURthousand.
Other liabilities 31 Dec 2023 31 Dec 2022
Accounts payable 2,319 881
Accruals 12,574 7,112
Accruals of adult education allowance 18,593 16,290
Accrualsofliabilitycomponentincome 9,668 8,482
FinnishCentreforPensions,capitalaccruals 3,000 0
FinnishCentreforPensions,debitinginterest 11,975 6,299
Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, pay
securityaccruals 29,779 20,835
MinistryofSocialAffairsandHealth,liability 0 72,788
ECA Ministry share 540 534
Administrative expense accruals 1,009 439
Liabilities to unemployment funds 8,866 2,641
Holidaypayaccruals 1,378 1,213
Lease liability 3,419 3,588
Adulteducationbenefits,withholdingtaxliability 4,137 3,733
Interest accruals 33 -29
Total other liabilities 107,289 144,805
111Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
19 LIABILITIES AND RECEIVABLES NOT RECOGNISED
IN THE STATEMENT OF NET POSITION
ThefiguresareinEURthousand.
Investment commitments 31 Dec 2023 31 Dec 2022
Committed capital 5,250 5,250
Realised -5,058 -5,056
Total investment commitments 192 194
Investmentfundsacquirecallinvestmentsbasedonthefinancing
needsoftheinvestmentfund.Thecommitmentshavenomaturity
date.
Operating lease commitments
TheFundhasrenteditsofficeandwarehousepremisesandthree
carsonnon-cancellableleasecontracts.Theremainingleasepe-
riods for the cars are 10 months, 2 years and 8 months, and 2 years
and11months.Onthebalancesheetdate,thereare2yearsand3
monthsremainingontheleaseoftheofficeandwarehouseprem-
ises, after which the contract becomes cancellable and subject to
anoticeperiodof9months.Someoftheoffice’spremisescanbe
released by cancelling the respective part of the contract effective
31December2024.TheFundalsohasasubordinatedrighttolease
vacantpremisesunderthetermsoftheleasecontract.
112Financial statements 2023 Notestothefinancialstatements
20 RELATED PARTIES
Related parties of the Fund comprise the Supervisory Board, the
BoardofDirectorsandtheManagementGroup.EmploymentFund’s
Supervisory Board is appointed by the Government on the proposal
ofthelabourmarketparties.TheSupervisoryBoardpreparesthe
proposal for the level of unemployment insurance contributions in
itsautumnmeeting.TheBoardofDirectorsisappointedbytheSu-
pervisoryBoard.TheoperationsofEmploymentFundaresupervised
bytheFinancialSupervisoryAuthority.TheMinistryofSocialAffairs
andHealthalsohastherighttoreceiveinformationabouttheFund’s
operations.
The government contributions payable to the unemployment funds
arereceivedfromtheMinistryofSocialAffairsandHealth.TheFund
regularly pays contributions to the Finnish Centre for Pensions, State
Pension Fund, Social Insurance Institution of Finland and the Minis-
tryofEconomicAffairsandEmployment.
The regulations on related-party transactions set out in the Limited
Liability Companies Act are not applicable to Employment Fund’s op-
erations.However,EmploymentFundcomplieswithIFRSstandards
andguidelinesregardingrelated-partytransactions(IAS24).The
related parties of Employment Fund comprise the members of the
Supervisory Board, members of the Board of Directors, the Managing
Director, the main auditor, the members of the Management Group,
andtheirspouses,trustees,andcontrolledundertakings.Transac-
tions involving related parties are handled in accordance with the
guidelines on related-party transactions approved by the Board of
Directors.Therewerenomajorrelated-partytransactionsin2023.
Thesalaries,bonusesandbenefitspaidtotherelatedpartiesare
summarisedinthetablebelow.ThefiguresareinEURthousand
andtheydonotincludesocialsecuritycontributions.Morede-
tailed breakdowns by each body can be found in the section pre-
sentingEmploymentFund’sremunerationreport.
Fees and other benefits paid to the Board
of Directors and the Supervisory Board
1 Jan–31 Dec
2023
1 Jan–31 Dec
2022
Salaries,bonuses,andbenefits 158 152
Pensionexpenses–definedcontribution
plans 28 28
Total 185 180
Remuneration of the Management Group
members (excluding the Managing
Director)
1 Jan–31 Dec
2023
1 Jan–31 Dec
2022
Salaries,bonusesandbenefits 546 568
Pensionexpenses–definedcontribution
plans 97 100
Total 643 668
Managing Director’s salaries and bonuses
1 Jan–31 Dec
2023
1 Jan–31 Dec
2022
Salaries,bonusesandbenefits 188 179
Pensionexpenses–definedcontribution
plans 33 31
Total 221 209
113Financial statements 2023
SIGNATURES ON THE ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Helsinki27February2024
Pekka Piispanen,
chair
VesaRantahalvari,
vice chair
Tuomas Aarto
Jarkko Eloranta
Minna Etu-Seppälä
RiikkaHeikinheimo
MinnaHelle
Markku Jalonen
Patrizio Lainà
HenrikaNybondas-Kangas
Antti Palola
Saana Siekkinen
HeikkiTaulu
PirjoVäänänen
Janne Metsämäki,
Managing Director
Signatures
114Financial statements 2023
AUDITOR’S STATEMENT
Anauditreporthasbeenprovidedtoday.
Helsinki28February2024
KPMG Oy Ab
Marcus Tötterman
Authorised Public Accountant,
KHT
Auditor’s statement
115Financial statements 2023
Auditor’s report
To the Supervisory Board of Employment Fund
REPORT ON THE AUDIT OF THE
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Opinion
Wehaveauditedthefinancialstatementsof
Employment Fund (business identity code
1098099-7)forthefinancialperiod
1January–31December2023.Thefinancial
statements comprise the statement of net
position, the statement of changes in net
positionandstatementofcashflowsand
notes including the material information
ontheaccountingpolicies.
Inouropinionthefinancialstatementsgive
atrueandfairviewoftheFund’sfinan-
cialperformanceandfinancialposition
in accordance with International Finan-
cial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as adopt-
ed by the EU and comply with statutory
requirements.
Our opinion is consistent with the addi-
tional report submitted to the Board of
Directors.
Basis for Opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with
goodauditingpracticeinFinland.Ourre-
sponsibilities under good auditing practice
are further described in the Auditor’s Re-
sponsibilities for the Audit of the Financial
Statementssectionofourreport.
We are independent of the Fund in accord-
ance with the ethical requirements that
are applicable in Finland and are relevant
toouraudit,andwehavefulfilledourother
ethical responsibilities in accordance with
theserequirements.
We have not provided any non-audit servic-
estotheFund.
We believe that the audit evidence we have
obtainedissufficientandappropriateto
provideabasisforouropinion.
Materiality
Thescopeofourauditwasinfluencedby
ourapplicationofmateriality.Thematerial-
ity is determined based on our professional
judgement and is used to determine the na-
ture, timing and extent of our audit proce-
duresandtoevaluatetheeffectofidentified
misstatementsonthefinancialstatements
asawhole.Thelevelofmaterialitywesetis
based on our assessment of the magnitude
of misstatements that, individually or in
aggregate, could reasonably be expected to
haveinfluenceontheeconomicdecisions
oftheusersofthefinancialstatements.
We have also taken into account misstate-
ments and/or possible misstatements that
in our opinion are material for qualita-
tivereasonsfortheusersofthefinancial
statements.
Auditor’s report
116Financial statements 2023 Auditor’s report
Key Audit Matters
Key audit matters are those matters that, in
our professional judgement, were of most sig-
nificanceinourauditofthefinancialstate-
mentsofthecurrentperiod.Thesematters
were addressed in the context of our audit of
thefinancialstatementsasawhole,andin
forming our opinion thereon, and we do not
provideaseparateopiniononthesematters.
Thesignificantrisksofmaterialmisstate-
ment referred to in point (c) of Article 10(2)
of EU Regulation No 537/2014 are included in
thedescriptionofkeyauditmattersbelow.
We have also addressed the risk of man-
agementoverrideofinternalcontrols.This
includes consideration of whether there was
evidence of management bias that repre-
sented a risk of material misstatement due to
fraud.
Key audit matters How the matter was addressed in the audit
Determination and collection of unemployment insurance contributions (accounting policies and note 5 to
the financial statements)
The determination and collection of unemploy-
ment insurance contributions by Employment
Fundisbasedonlegislation.Theunemployment
insurance contributions which have been pre-
sented in the statement of changes in net position
fortheyear2023,amountedtoEUR3.6billion.
The unemployment insurance contributions must
be determined in such a way so that Employment
Fund is able to meet the obligations being respon-
siblefor.Unemploymentinsurancecontributions
are determined once per calendar year, in the
precedingyear.
Employment Fund determines the contribution
amounts and makes the prepayment decisions,
and collects the prepayments based on the
contribution rates approved by Parliament and
payroll data reported by employers to the Incomes
Register.
Employment Fund monitors defaults concerning
the obligation to pay unemployment insurance
contributions.
As the amount of unemployment insurance
contributionsissignificantinthefinancialstate-
ments and the determination and collection of the
contributions is subject to legal requirements, it
hasbeenidentifiedasakeyauditmatter.
Our audit has included assessing the process to
determine the unemployment insurance contribu-
tionsandevaluatingthecontrolenvironment.
We have evaluated the process of invoicing, col-
lecting and managing unemployment insurance
contributions and have performed substantive
testingonchainsoftransactions.
We have assessed and tested the controls for
determining and receiving contributions and for
monitoringofpaymentsreceived.
Wehaveverifiedthecorrectnessoftherelevant
contribution rates applied in Employment Fund’s
systemenvironment.
In addition, we have familiarised ourselves
with the methods for accruing unemployment
insurance contributions in accordance with the
accruals principle and accounting for impairment
ofunemploymentinsurancereceivables.
The audit has also included testing of the controls
inplaceovertheflowofkeydata,changeman-
agement and the transfer of information between
systems.
117Financial statements 2023 Auditors report
Responsibilities of the Board of Directors
and the Managing Director for the Financial
Statements
The Board of Directors and the Managing
Director are responsible for the preparation
ofconsolidatedfinancialstatementsthat
give a true and fair view in accordance with
International Financial Reporting Stand-
ards (IFRS) as adopted by the EU, and of
financialstatementsthatgiveatrueand
fair view in accordance with the laws and
regulations governing the preparation of
financialstatementsinFinlandandcomply
withstatutoryrequirements.TheBoardof
Directors and the Managing Director are al-
so responsible for such internal control as
they determine is necessary to enable the
preparationoffinancialstatementsthatare
free from material misstatement, whether
duetofraudorerror.
Inpreparingthefinancialstatements,the
Board of Directors and the Managing Direc-
tor are responsible for assessing the Fund’s
ability to continue as a going concern,
disclosing, as applicable, matters relat-
ing to going concern and using the going
concernbasisofaccounting.Thefinancial
statements are prepared using the going
concern basis of accounting unless there is
an intention to liquidate the Fund or cease
operations, or there is no realistic alterna-
tivebuttodoso.
Auditor’s Responsibilities for the Audit of
the Financial Statements
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable
assuranceaboutwhetherthefinancial
statements as a whole are free from mate-
rial misstatement, whether due to fraud or
error, and to issue an auditor’s report that
includesouropinion.Reasonableassur-
ance is a high level of assurance, but it is
not a guarantee that an audit conducted
in accordance with good auditing practice
will always detect a material misstatement
whenitexists.Misstatementscanarise
from fraud or error and are considered
material if, individually or in the aggregate,
theycouldreasonablybeexpectedtoinflu-
ence the economic decisions of users taken
onthebasisofthefinancialstatements.
As part of an audit in accordance with good
auditing practice, we exercise professional
judgement and maintain professional scep-
ticismthroughouttheaudit.Wealso:
Identify and assess the risks of
materialmisstatementofthefinancial
statements, whether due to fraud
or error, design and perform audit
procedures responsive to those risks,
and obtain audit evidence that is
sufficientandappropriatetoprovide
abasisforouropinion.Theriskofnot
detecting a material misstatement
resulting from fraud is higher than for
one resulting from error, as fraud may
involve collusion, forgery, intentional
omissions, misrepresentations, or the
overrideofinternalcontrol.
Obtain an understanding of internal
control relevant to the audit in order
to design audit procedures that are
appropriate in the circumstances but
not for the purpose of expressing an
opinion on the effectiveness of the
Fund’sinternalcontrol.
118Financial statements 2023 Auditors report
Evaluate the appropriateness of the
accounting policies used and the
reasonableness of accounting estimates
and related disclosures made by
management.
Conclude on the appropriateness of the
Board of Directors’ and the Managing
Director’s use of the going concern
basis of accounting and based on the
audit evidence obtained, whether a
material uncertainty exists related
to events or conditions that may cast
significantdoubtontheFund’sability
tocontinueasagoingconcern.Ifwe
conclude that a material uncertainty
exists, we are required to draw attention
in our auditor’s report to the related
disclosuresinthefinancialstatements
or, if such disclosures are inadequate, to
modifyouropinion.Ourconclusionsare
based on the audit evidence obtained
uptothedateofourauditorsreport.
However,futureeventsorconditions
may cause the Fund to cease to
continueasagoingconcern.
Evaluate the overall presentation,
structureandcontentofthefinancial
statements, including the disclosures,
andwhetherthefinancialstatements
represent the underlying transactions
andeventssothatthefinancial
statementsgiveatrueandfairview.
We communicate with those charged with
governance regarding, among other mat-
ters, the planned scope and timing of the
auditandsignificantauditfindings,includ-
inganysignificantdeficienciesininternal
controlthatweidentifyduringouraudit.
We also provide those charged with govern-
ance with a statement that we have com-
plied with relevant ethical requirements
regarding independence, and communicate
with them all relationships and other mat-
ters that may reasonably be thought to bear
on our independence, and where applica-
ble,relatedsafeguards.
From the matters communicated with
those charged with governance, we de-
termine those matters that were of most
significanceintheauditofthefinancial
statements of the current period and are
thereforethekeyauditmatters.Wede-
scribe these matters in our auditor’s report
unless law or regulation precludes public
disclosure about the matter or when, in ex-
tremely rare circumstances, we determine
that a matter should not be communicated
in our report because the adverse conse-
quences of doing so would reasonably be
expected to outweigh the public interest
benefitsofsuchcommunication.
119Financial statements 2023 Auditor’s report
Other Reporting Requirements
Information on our audit engagement
Employment Fund was established in 2019
and became a public interest entity during
2020.WehavebeentheFund’sauditors
sinceitsestablishment.
Other Information
The Board of Directors and the Managing
Director are responsible for the other infor-
mation.Theotherinformationcomprises
the report of the Board of Directors and the
information included in the Annual Report
butdoesnotincludethefinancialstate-
mentsandourauditor’sreportthereon.
Ouropiniononthefinancialstatements
doesnotcovertheotherinformation.
Inconnectionwithourauditofthefinan-
cial statements, our responsibility is to
read the other information and, in doing so,
consider whether the other information is
materiallyinconsistentwiththefinancial
statements or our knowledge obtained in
the audit, or otherwise appears to be mate-
riallymisstated.Withrespecttothereport
of the Board of Directors, our responsibil-
ity also includes considering whether the
report of the Board of Directors has been
prepared in accordance with the applicable
lawsandregulations.
In our opinion, the information in the re-
port of the Board of Directors is consistent
withtheinformationinthefinancialstate-
ments and the report of the Board of Direc-
tors has been prepared in accordance with
theapplicablelawsandregulations.
If, based on the work we have performed,
we conclude that there is a material mis-
statement of the other information, we are
requiredtoreportthatfact.Wehavenoth-
ingtoreportinthisregard.
Helsinki 28 February 2024
KPMG OY AB
Marcus Tötterman
AuthorisedPublicAccountant,KHT