Positive That the Residency Requirement Will be Repealed

​The political majority behind the new Finance Act has decided to remove the controversial residency requirement for recipients of unemployment benefits with effect from 1 February 2020. Steen Lund Olsen, chairman of the FTFa and deputy chairman of Finansforbundet, applauded the decision as it removes a bureaucratic burden from the unemployment insurance funds and uncertainty on the part of several members.

"It is both fair and diligent to repeal the residency requirement. It will remove uncertainty on the part of several members, cut down on a number of administrative procedures and ultimately strengthen our labour market," says Steen Lund Olsen.

The residency requirement has not only led to administrative burdens for FTFa, such as more than 200 cases of documentation requests to other countries in 11 months. It has also resulted in up to 50 monthly inquiries from concerned members who did not know whether they had a financial safety net at the unemployment insurance fund they had been insured with over a number of years, as well as several appeals for legal treatment.

"The residency requirement has been a piece of legislation that has not passed the reality test, and I am very pleased that the consequence has been taken into account in the Finance Act. In concrete terms for us at FTFa, this means that we can use our resources on what we are here for instead - namely to help our members get back to work," says Steen Lund Olsen.

He hopes that the decision will be followed up by imposing a stop on the ongoing erosion of unemployment benefits, which automatically leads to an annual loss of money for unemployed members of unemployment insurance funds compared to normal wage developments.

"This would further decrease uncertainty on the part of several members. It would also strengthen the incentive to choose an unemployment insurance fund, which in turn would strengthen the general position of the unemployment insurance funds," says Steen Lund Olsen.