Posting employees to Finland

Work and residence permits

EU, EEA and Swiss citizens

Citizens of the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland do not need a work or residence permit to work in Finland. They are, however, required to register their residence right with the Finnish Immigration Service if they reside in Finland continuously for more than three months.

The process is different for Nordic country citizens. They need to register long-term residencies of over six months with the Digital and Population Data Services Agency at latest within one month after moving to Finland.

Third country citizens

Citizens of other countries typically require a residence permit that grants the right to work:

The general residence permit for an employee is only granted if no suitable workforce is available in Finland within a reasonable time (2 weeks) in the relevant line of work. Proving this may require the employer to first make a (unsuccessful) public job posting at a dedicated platform. The work force criterion applies only to this permit type. In addition, there is also a minimum salary requirement of EUR 1,600 per month.

Highly skilled employees with special skills, whose remuneration is at least equal to the average gross wage of Finnish employees (EUR 3,827 per month in 2025) may be granted a residence permit for a specialist. The requirement of special expertise is typically demonstrated by a higher education degree.

Highly skilled workers whose employment in Finland lasts at least six months may obtain an EU Blue Card, if they have a higher education degree that takes at least 3 years to complete, or at least 5 years of professional experience equivalent to higher education.

Other residence permit for employment apply in specific cases, such as work for a delivery of a machine or a system (up to six months), preparation of the company’s establishment to Finland, such as market research and order preparation, if neither the employer nor the employee has an establishment in Finland (up to one year), consulting work (up to one year), and top or middle management roles.

In certain limited cases, no employee residence permit is required for short-term work up to 90 days within a 180-day period, but a visa, visa exemption or Schengen residence permit is sufficient.

The first permit is always for a fixed term, which depends on the duration of the work task. The typical term is one year and the maximum term two years. Possible extensions must be applied before the expiry of the initial permit.

As a rule, residence permits need to be applied for by the employee in question, and the application process includes an in-person meeting at an embassy, consulate or service point. The employer is required to submit certain information about the employment, and the permit decision is notified both to the employee and employer. Processing time is as a rule two months.

Obtaining a residence permit typically requires confirmation that the following preconditions are met:

The employer has fulfilled and is able to fulfil its employer obligations.

Employment terms match those in Finnish legislation and the applicable collective agreement or, in its absence, applicable market standard.

The employee has the special qualifications, authorisations and medical conditions required for the work.

The employee’s salary is secured for the permit duration, the salary is at least EUR 1,134 per month (full-time work) and complies with minimum requirements of the applicable collective agreement (or, in its absence) market standard.

Employment terms

Applicable law

The law applicable during to the employment relation during the posting depends on what the parties have agreed in the employment contract. In absence of an express agreement, the law applicable to the employment relationship is generally determined based on the main place of work.

Even where the employment relationship in general is governed by the law of another country, certain mandatory terms of Finnish law must be observed during the posting to the extent they are more beneficial to the employee than the applicable foreign provisions. These include working hours, annual holidays and related remuneration, family leave, salary, travel and accommodation costs, work safety and occupational health. Additional requirements apply when posting individual employee to Finland for over 12 months.

In addition, Finland has numerous collective agreements which have been declared as generally binding. As a result, the mandatory provisions of these agreements therefore must be observed by all employers in the sector (regardless of employer association or union membership). This typically concerns salary, regular working hours, overtime, annual holiday, among other benefits. The applicable collective agreement depends on the employer activities and employee tasks and qualification.

Working time

The statutory regular working time is 8 hours a day and 40 hours per week, but most collective agreements provide for shorter regular working hours.

Overtime work or work on Sundays and holidays requires employee consent and is subject to higher renumeration. The applicable rules depend on the employee’s position and more flexibility exists for supervisory positions. Flexible arrangements or balancing out working time over longer time are possible within certain limits, with the extent depending on nature of work and local agreements between employees and employers.

Annual holiday

Unlike in many other countries, Finnish provisions on annual holidays are not tied to the calendar year. Instead, annual holidays are earned during the holiday determination year, which runs from April to March. These holidays are typically granted during the following holiday season, from May to April.

Employees accrue 2 or 2.5 days of vacation per month, depending on their length of employment with the company. Holidays are calculated based on a six-day work week, effectively providing four to five weeks of annual leave.

Most collective agreements also include extra holiday pay, typically 50% of the salary paid during the vacation, on top of the regular salary.

Finnish holiday rules can be challenging to align with those of other countries, highlighting the need for special agreements when posting employees abroad.

Salary

There is no minimum wage specified in Finnish legislation. Instead, minimum wage levels are typically determined in the collective agreements. If no such agreement applies to the posted worker, a normal and reasonable wage must be paid.

Occupational health care and work safety

Employers are required to provide preventive occupational health care for employees. The employer typically concludes a service agreement with a selected provider, which include public and private options, and must prepare an occupational health care implementation plan. While employers are not required to organise medical care for employees, they may choose to do so voluntarily.

Employers also have an extensive responsibility for ensuring work safety. This relates to the work, workspaces, work procedures as well as tools, equipment and materials used. Employers must continuously monitor the working environment to identify and prevent any occupational hazards. Key obligations include drawing up a health and safety programme and implementing the safety measures specified in it.

Contractual arrangements

The overlap in employment provisions between different countries creates considerable complexity and ambiguity. Therefore, it is advisable to conclude an explicit agreement on the employment terms applicable during the assignment in Finland. Such agreement also serves to demonstrate that the Finnish requirements are being complied with, and if applicable, that the requirements for a temporary posting in the context of social security are met.

Such agreement should cover at least the following aspects:

Remuneration, fringe benefits, and compensation of travel costs

Working hours and vacation

Duration of the assignment

Hierarchical structure and direction rights related to work performed in Finland

Reintegration of the employee in the home country after the end of the assignment

There are several options for structuring the agreement. The existing employment contract may be supplemented for the time of the assignment or suspended and replaced by an assignment-specific agreement for the duration of the posting period. It is also possible to transfer the employment relationship to a Finnish subsidiary.

The choice depends on various factors, including taxation and social security implications. For example, to ensure an employee remains within their home country’s social security and pension system, it is usually necessary to maintain some form of employment relationship with the posting company.

Formalities and notifications

When posting employees in Finland, the employer must take care of certain obligations, including:

make a notification of hiring of a third country citizen to the Immigration Service as well as to the workplace shop steward, elected representative, and occupational safety representative,

maintain records of foreign employees at the workplace, during the employment and for two years after the end of the employment,

make a notification to the Finnish Occupational Safety and Health Administration of the posting of workers before starting working in Finland,

appoint a company representative based in Finland who can be contacted throughout the worker’s posting. The representative may be a natural person or a company, for example an accounting company,

maintain records of working time and annual holidays of posted workers,

keep available in writing 1) the identification details of the posting company and information on the responsible persons in the country of establishment, 2) identification details of the posted workers, 3) a statement of the terms and conditions applicable to the employment contract of posted workers, 4) information about the basis of the posted worker’s right to work, and 5) working time records, pay slips and a receipt from a financial institution for wages paid while working in Finland, and

provide the contractual counterpart information on how the social security of employees is determined before they commence work in Finland.