Fair unemployment benefits even without the employer’s confirmation

The Ombudsman dealt with the case in which the employer failed to issue any documents to the complainant following termination of her employment. She was thus unable to prove her average monthly net earnings and the labour office granted her unemployment benefits in the minimum amount. Later, she managed to obtain copies of her payslips from the employer’s accounts. She therefore asked the labour office to increase the benefits and pay the outstanding amounts retroactively. The office refused to deal with any documents other than a form filled in by the employer and denied her the requested benefits. It stated that it would not perform any calculations itself and would merely check the amount of earnings confirmed by the employer.

According the Ombudsman’s view if the employer fails to confirm an employee’s average monthly net earnings using the relevant form and the labour office is unable to perform an inspection under the Employment Act, the office has to determine the amount of unemployment benefits even on the basis of other available documents that the applicant submits or proposes.

Remedy was ensured by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, which confirmed the Defender’s conclusion that a labour office has the duty to use also other underlying materials when setting the amount of the benefits.