A-kasse for the self-employed - Is it necessary?

A-kasse and the self-employed - do they go hand in hand?

You probably didn't start your business with the expectation of becoming unemployed, but it can therefore be advantageous to be a member of a social security fund anyway.

A-kasse is an abbreviation for unemployment fund, where you as a self-employed person pay a fixed contribution to an unemployment fund in the same way as wage earners.

This quota secures you financially in the event that you have to close your business and thus become unemployed.

If you are not a member of a social security fund, you can receive unemployment benefit, where the benefit paid is significantly lower than the daily allowance rate. You can read more about daily allowance as a self-employed person in our previous post here.

Or if you e.g. are injured during work and therefore cannot keep your company running for a period, you can see more about insurance as an independent freelancer here.

So why should you, as a self-employed person, be a member of a social security fund? We give you the pros and cons below.

Side job or main job?

When it comes to social security funds for the self-employed, a distinction is most often made between whether you are self-employed as a part-time job or as your main job. 

If your business is assessed as your main occupation, you cannot receive unemployment benefit unless your business is closed. 

You are considered self-employed as a part-time job if you either start a business while receiving unemployment benefits or if you have run a business before becoming unemployed. 

In addition, if in the previous 6 months you have had a minimum of 80 hours of salaried work per month or have worked as a salaried employee for at least one hour in five of the six months. 

It is therefore of decisive importance whether you are self-employed as a secondary or main occupation when you are a member of a social security fund to receive unemployment benefit or supplementary unemployment benefit. 

Advantages of being a member of an unemployment fund as a self-employed person

• Financial security:

As a self-employed person, it can be uncertain how much you will earn from month to month - especially as a start-up where it can be reassuring to be financially secured if your business turns out not to be going well.

If you are self-employed as a part-time worker and a member of a social security fund, you can have your income supplemented up to the daily allowance rate.
Among other things, you can read more about supplementary daily allowance here.

As a member of a social security fund, you are therefore insured in the form of being able to receive unemployment benefits if your business were to close.

• Counseling:

It can be difficult to navigate the unemployment benefit system, rules for the self-employed and a number of other areas within the self-employed working life.

Several social security funds have set up departments specifically aimed at members with their own business, where job advisers are available and guide the self-employed in relation to independent working life.

You can read more about advice here.

• Sparring and knowledge sharing:

It could be that you are at a standstill, lack new ideas for your project or would like to gather inspiration.

Many unemployment insurance funds have meetings, webinars and events specifically targeted at self-employed people.

Here, as a self-employed person, you can, for example, learn more about creative processes for the self-employed, company internships or being self-employed on unemployment benefits.

Read more about various events here.

Disadvantages of being a member of a social security fund as self-employed

Economy:

As with everything else in the world, even in the self-employed, services are not free, nor is membership of an unemployment fund.

Membership in an unemployment fund costs between DKK 451/month. to DKK 591/month, which for the self-employed can be an expensive item if the money is already small.

You can see an estimate of prices for a-kasse memberships here.

The A-fund's rules for the self-employed:

If you are a member of an unemployment insurance fund as self-employed as a part-time job, you can receive supplementary daily allowance.

Here, as mentioned, you can have your income supplemented up to the daily allowance rate.

However, it is required by law that you, as a self-employed person, must also be an active job seeker and participate in conversations and activities with your job center and/or unemployment insurance fund.

In addition, as a self-employed person as a part-time job, you can receive unemployment benefit for a maximum of 30 weeks, and must register all activity in your company monthly and submit it to your social security office.

If, on the other hand, you are self-employed as your main occupation, you are forced to close your entire business and your CVR number in order to receive unemployment benefit from your unemployment fund, after which you will be registered as full-time unemployed.

You can read more about main and secondary occupation here.

Time and thinking power:

As you may be able to sense, as a self-employed person as a part-time job, you can spend a lot of time looking for a job, active in unemployment insurance and job center-related activities and at the same time maintaining the activity in your own company.

If you are self-employed as your main occupation, on the other hand, the dilemma may be having to weigh back and forth whether you should close your business and your heart child in order to be entitled to receive unemployment benefit or not.

Should you have a social security fund as a self-employed person?

As with everything else in independent life, being a member of a social security fund is about weighing up whether it can pay off in your particular business and situation, and it is of course up to you to assess the advantages and disadvantages of this.

Does it give you a good sense of security so that you sleep better at night? Or is your business particularly fragile? Then the money can go to a social security fund be well spent!

It can be said that the financial uncertainty as a self-employed person can be overriding, where a membership of a social security fund can help to minimize this.

On the other hand, being a member of a social security fund comes with requirements and rules. Here, as a self-employed person as a part-time job, you must be job-seeking and participate in employment-oriented activities if you would like to receive unemployment benefits, which can be time- and energy-consuming and take time away from your own business.

If you are self-employed as your main occupation, your financial security will be tied to the fact that you are guaranteed the right to unemployment benefits should you choose to close your business.

Regardless of whether you are self-employed as a secondary or main occupation, through membership of an unemployment fund you will have the opportunity to get advice, sparring, new knowledge and to participate in company-relevant courses.