- The TE Office or, in a local government pilot area, the municipality in cooperation with the immigrant and, if necessary, with the wellbeing services county, initiates the initial assessment of an immigrant who an unemployed jobseeker referred to in the Act on Public Employment and Business Service.
- The municipality initiates the initial assessment of an immigrant who receives social assistance referred to in the Act on Social Assistance on a non-temporary basis.
People’s life situations change and are complex, and it is not always quite clear whether drawing up the initial assessment of an immigrant is the responsibility of the municipality or TE Services.
However, the starting point in legislation is that TE Services draws up the initial assessment of customers aiming to participate in integration training and enter the labour market. The TE Office/ pilot municipality cannot transfer this responsibility to the municipality.
The municipality receives compensation (EUR 700 per assessment) only for drawing up the initial assessment of immigrants whose assessment the municipality is responsible for. Therefore, the municipality cannot apply for compensation for initial assessments of immigrants that TE Services is responsible for. The compensation is paid only once for each person.
Initial assessment conducted by TE Services
An initial assessment is drawn up for each immigrant customer using the TE services as part of the service process of jobseekers. Measures specifying the initial assessment (such as determining language skills and literacy) are areas of the initial assessment that are often obtained as a purchased service. However, even when the initial assessment of an immigrant registered as a jobseeker is mainly carried out as a purchased service, the initial interview related to the assessment is conducted as expert work by the TE Office/pilot municipality.
The interview related to the initial assessment is often conducted by an expert specialised in services for immigrants. This ensures that the service process in TE Services is initiated in line with the customer’s service needs.
Initial assessment conducted by the municipality
The municipality always draws up the initial assessment on those immigrants who are not unemployed jobseekers, who will not immediately register as jobseekers and whose income is mainly based on social assistance.
In addition, the municipality may draw up an initial assessment on an immigrant requesting this if it considers that the immigrant needs an initial assessment. In this case, the municipality has an opportunity for early identification of the needs for services promoting integration and other measures especially in those groups of people who may otherwise be excluded from measures that promote integration.
The initial assessment helps the municipality direct immigrants to municipal and other services available. The initial assessment drawn up by the municipality can also be used to support students and employees who are settling or staying in Finland.
Read more:
Act on Public Employment and Business Service
Act on the Local Government Pilot Promoting Employment (Only in Finnish and Swedish)
Social Assistance Act
