Municipal employment subsidy to support residents of Tuusula
Tuusula has started to pay a municipal allowance to support employment from the beginning of June. The allowance, which is paid monthly, is available to employers who take on a jobseeker from Tuusula. The municipal subsidy amounts to €800 per month for full-time employment and €500 per month for part-time employment. The employment relationship must meet the employment condition, and the subsidy is paid for a maximum of one year.
The municipal allowance has been part of Tuusula’s employment toolkit before, but the level of support is now considerably higher than it was previously. The aim is to curb the sharp rise in long-term unemployment among Tuusula residents and the resulting costs to the municipality of unemployment benefits. At the same time, the aim is to create new jobs and make it easier for the long-term unemployed to enter the labour market. The aim is to support the employment of unemployed people by reimbursing employers for wage costs, rather than paying the municipality’s share of unemployment benefits, i.e. penalty charges.
The Municipal Executive Committee decided to introduce the municipal employment subsidy on 20 April 2026. The Municipal Executive Committee decided to approve the introduction of the municipal employment allowance, utilising the funds earmarked for the municipality’s share of unemployment benefits. The financial implications of the municipal employment allowance will be monitored and reported to the Municipal Executive Committee. Practical matters relating to the municipal employment subsidy are handled by the employment services.
Laura Knuutila, Head of Employment Services, explains that the longer a person has been unemployed, the harder it is for them to re-enter the labour market.
– If the support helps to get people who have been unemployed for a long time into work, the benefits for the client and the local authority’s finances are significant, Knuutila continues.
Employment adviser Timo Westman explains that the local authority subsidy is a good way for employers to hire skilled staff at a reasonable cost and take some of the pressure off the workload.
– ‘For a jobseeker, ending a period of unemployment and meeting the employment requirement are extremely valuable,’ Westman continues.
The reintroduction of the municipal supplement follows a reform implemented at the end of 2024, which changed the conditions for wage subsidies granted to promote employment. Responsibility for paying wage subsidies was transferred to local authorities, and at the same time, local authorities are no longer able to benefit from the subsidy themselves. Following the reform, work carried out with wage subsidies no longer counts towards the employment period requirement, with a few exceptions, which may affect the motivation of those who have been unemployed for a long time to apply for wage-subsidised jobs, meaning that many skilled workers remain out of reach for employers. Tuusula offers a municipal supplement as an incentive to employers, so that employees and the roles requiring their skills can be matched more smoothly than before.
Applications for the grant are made using an online form via the online services portal on the Tuusula municipal website. The municipal grant may be awarded to an employer who hires a jobseeker from Tuusula who has been unemployed for at least one year. For those aged 18–25, the period of unemployment must have lasted for half a year. The subsidy is not paid retrospectively, nor is it granted for an employment relationship that has already begun or does not meet the employment condition. Wage subsidies cannot be claimed at the same time as the municipal subsidy. The municipal subsidy is a de minimis aid, and its award is subject to EU state aid rules. A single employer may receive the municipal allowance for a maximum of nine employees. Further conditions, additional information and the application form are available on the Tuusula municipal website.
This content has been translated using AI