What's the difference between an unemployment insurance fund and a union?

Many do not know the difference between unemployment insurance funds and unions and therefore confusion often arises when you need one or the other. There is a widespread understanding that an unemployment insurance fund and a union are the same and therefore people often only join one of them and therefore cannot receive the right help and advice when necessary. Due to confusion and an unclear understanding of the concepts, you can read and learn more about the meaning of the two concepts and learn the difference between unemployment insurance and trade union.

A-Boxes

An unemployment insurance fund is a financial security when you are hit by unemployment or for any other reason unable to take care of your work for a period of time. The unemployment insurance fund pays unemployment benefits. It can be maternity benefits, sickness benefits and the most well-known; unemployment benefits. The latter is the most frequently mentioned form of unemployment benefit when it is mentioned in the case of unemployment insurance funds. Unemployment insurance fund stands for an unemployment fund. That is, you will be paid money from the unemployment insurance fund if you are terminated. In this way, you are assured of financial stability even in uncertain times. Without an unemployment insurance fund you will have to go through the municipality’s job center and seek other social services such as cash assistance and resource courses. The conditions for being able to receive unemployment benefits are that you must have been a member one year, be a jobseeker and ready to work.

Trade unions

While the a-Box aims to secure you financially, the unions aim to secure you legally. The unions can negotiate agreements and negotiate with your employer about any disagreements. It could be disagreements regarding working conditions and wages. In Denmark, we have no legislation that refers to minimum wages. In other countries such as Germany, the minimum wage is set by law and therefore this should not be negotiated. In Denmark, the minimum wage is fixed by collective agreements. This means that it is different from union to union what this is.

In addition to the legal assistance, the employees in the union can also advise you and help you in job search processes and report your job search activities to the municipality. Various unions also offer courses that help to strengthen your CV in the job search process.

Know the difference between yellow and red unions

You may have heard the concept of yellow unions? It is for good reason, but neither is this concept familiar to many. The red unions are fighting for better conditions for the workers, and if disagreements do not come to an agreement, then they enter into a strike. The yellow trade unions have chosen not to do this, which means that they almost do not negotiate agreements, which is the basic purpose of a trade union. Furthermore, the yellow unions are not associated with a particular profession, as the red ones are, which is not strengthening in terms of negotiation processes.

The difference in short

The big difference lies in the fact that an unemployment insurance fund has an economic purpose, while the unions have a legal purpose. It is therefore important to create membership in both an unemployment insurance fund and a union. If you are only part of a union, you will not be paid unemployment benefits. If you are only in an unemployment insurance fund, you do not have the opportunity to negotiate agreements. Therefore, join both today.