Main and secondary employment

When you have a business, we need to assess whether it has the status of your main or secondary employment. This has a major impact on your ability to receive unemployment benefits.

Get an overview of the difference and what it means for you.

Main or secondary employment

It's considered secondary employment if you meet one of the following criteria:

1. You have started your business while receiving unemployment benefits.
2. You started the business before you became unemployed, but have the last six months prior to your unemployment:
   • Reported an average of 80 paid hours per month (or 53 hours as part-time insured).
   • Had at least one payroll hour reported in five of the last six months.

If your business does not meet one of the conditions, it is considered a main occupation.

What does this mean for your unemployment benefit options?

Bibi occupations

You can generally receive supplementary unemployment benefits, but it is a prerequisite that you are available for work.

Being available for work means that you must actively seek full-time paid employment, register your job search in your digital job log, and you must be able to start a full-time job with a day's notice.

Your company's interests should not stand in the way of you taking a job or participating in interviews or offers.

Main occupation

If your business is your main occupation, we can be your financial safety net so that you can receive unemployment benefits if you have to stop being self-employed for any reason.