Employee to Finland
An employer who employs people in Finland must insure them in Finland. The employee working in Finland and the work they do are insured in Finland. It does not matter what the employee’s country of residence or nationality is, or from which country they come to Finland to work. Insuring in Finland means that the employer takes out all required social insurance for the employee in Finland.
If an employee works temporarily in Finland as a worker posted by a foreign employer, and if they meet certain conditions, they may be insured in the country from which they were posted to Finland. A worker who is posted from an EU country needs an A1 certificate to show that they are covered by the social security system of the country from which they were posted here.
This is how you insure a foreign employee in Finland
If you hire an employee from another country and they work in Finland, you must take out statutory social insurance in Finland for them. You must contact one of the Finnish insurance companies to take out the insurance.
You can find more details on social insurance for employees in Finland, as well as instructions on how to take out insurance, on our webpage ‘Social security contributions in Finland’.
Our website also contains details on which social insurance contributions you must pay in Finland for your foreign employee who is working here.
You do not need to inform Kela when your foreign employee starts working in Finland. The employee must deal with Kela directly.
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Examples of how to insure foreign employees
Read about different insurance scenarios for an employee who comes to work in Finland from abroad.
The employer must arrange Finnish social security for an employee who works in Finland, regardless of the employee’s nationality, the country they are posted from or for how long they will work in Finland.
Example A: A Finnish company hires an employee from Poland. The employee resides permanently in Poland but works only in Finland.
Since the employee is working in Finland for a Finnish company, their employer pays all the statutory social insurance contributions for their work in Finland. This is the same rule as for Finnish employees. It does not matter where the employee resides, because all the work is done in Finland. The employee earns, among other things, earnings-related pension in Finland.
The employer should always ask their foreign employee if they also work in another country, for example, in their country of residence. If the employee also works in another country, the employer may have to pay social insurance contributions to another country than Finland.
Example B: The employee resides in Estonia and works in Finland. They have a Finnish employer. The employer spends the weeks in Finland and the weekends in Estonia. Since the employee is working in Finland for a Finnish employer, the employer pays all statutory social insurance contributions for the employee in Finland.
Any company operating in Finland, including foreign companies, must pay all statutory social insurance contributions in Finland for their employees working in Finland.
Example: A Swedish company establishes a branch in Finland. The employees work for the company on Finnish work sites. The Swedish company pays the statutory social insurance contributions in Finland for the employees of the Finnish branch.
The rules on statutory social insurance contributions apply also to asylum seekers. If the rules for insuring a person are met, employers must take out insurance in Finland for asylum seekers who work in Finland. An asylum seeker working in Finland is insured in Finland even if they have not yet received a positive decision on their residence permit. The rules apply even if the asylum seeker has not yet received a Finnish personal identity code.
Pension contributions paid in Finland or pension accrued in Finland are not returned or paid out to an employee when they move away from Finland. When it is time, the employee must remember to claim the pension themselves. Earnings-related pensions are paid from Finland to any country in the world.
The website Tyoelake.fi contains information on earnings-related pensions in English, Estonian, Russian, Swedish and Finnish, including details relevant to those coming to work in Finland from abroad. You can also get information and services related to your pension issues from your own pension insurance company.
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Worker posted to Finland
A posted worker is an employee who comes to Finland to work temporarily for their foreign employer. The employment contract is drawn up between the foreign employer and the posted worker. It is valid for the entire period that the posted worker works in Finland. The foreign employer is responsible for paying the posted worker’s statutory social insurance contributions in Finland. Under certain conditions, the posted worker can remain covered by the social security system of the country they were posted from while they work in Finland.
A worker posted to Finland temporarily from the EU or a social security agreement country must have a certificate (an A1 certificate within the EU) which shows that they are covered by the social security of the country from which they were posted to Finland.
If the posted worker signs an employment contract with a Finnish employer, they are no longer considered a foreign worker posted to Finland but an employee working for a Finnish employer. In this case, the Finnish employer pays the social insurance contributions for them in Finland.
EU countries’ refers to these countries:
- EU countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
- EEA countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.
- Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Social security agreement countries:
- Australia, Canada, Chile, China, India, Israel, Japan, Quebec, South Korea, and the United States of America.
Other countries called non-agreement countries:
- Non-agreement countries are countries other than those mentioned above, such as Thailand, Brazil or South Africa.
If an employee comes to Finland from an EU country and has an A1 certificate issued by the authorities of the country from which they were posted to Finland, they are either a so-called posted worker or a worker regularly working in two or more EU countries.
An employee who is posted to another country might receive an A1 certificate for a maximum of two years. This certificate shows that the worker is covered by the social security system of the country from which they were posted to Finland. In this case, the foreign employer pays the social insurance contributions to the country that issued the certificate.
A posted worker may be the citizen of any country, even a so-called non-agreement country (like the Ukraine), if they have resided legally in another EU country before they start working in Finland.
Before issuing the A1 certificate, the authority of the country from which the worker is posted to Finland examines whether the conditions for getting the A1 certificate are met.
A posted worker is a person who:
- works for a foreign employer in Finland (the employment relationship cannot be with a Finnish employer),
- is covered by the social security of the country from which they were posted to Finland, and
- works in Finland temporarily.
When a Finnish employer hires an employee from abroad, the employer must find out whether the employee regularly works in Finland and in one or more other EU countries, and whether the employee has been granted an A1 certificate. If the employee does not work in another EU country than Finland and does not have an A1 certificate, the employer insures the employee in Finland.
If a foreign employee who works in at least one other EU country as well as Finland has an A1 certificate issued by another country, the Finnish employer must pay social insurance contributions for the work done in Finland in the country that issued the A1 certificate.
The employer must work out which social insurance contributions should be paid in the country that issued the A1 certificate and how these payments are handled in practice. In this case, no statutory social insurance contributions are to be paid in Finland.
Example A: An employee resides in Estonia but works in Finland for two weeks each month for a Finnish employer. The rest of the time, the employee works in Estonia for an Estonian employer. As the employee works in both Finland and Estonia and resides in Estonia, they must apply for an A1 certificate from Estonia.
The employee must show the A1 certificate to both employers, and both employers must insure the employee in Estonia. So, the Finnish employer also pays all statutory social insurance contributions for the work done in Finland in Estonia.
Example B: A Finnish concert hall hires a French artist to perform in three concerts in Finland. The artist presents a valid A1 certificate issued by the French authorities. The Finnish employer pays the statutory social insurance contributions for the work done in Finland in France, in accordance with French laws.
If the artist works for themselves and the A1 certificate has been issued for a self-employed person, the artist pays the statutory social insurance contributions in France.
Example C: A Finnish company has hired a Swedish self-employed person for a construction project. The self-employed person has been issued an A1 certificate from Sweden. This certificate is for work done as a self-employed person in both Finland and Sweden. The Swedish self-employed person must pay the statutory social insurance contributions in Sweden themselves. While the certificate is valid, the self-employed person does not need to take out YEL insurance in Finland. While the certificate is valid, the client, that is, the Finnish company, does not have to pay statutory social insurance contributions in Finland or in Sweden, the country that issued the certificate.
If an employee who works for a foreign company is posted temporarily to work in Finland from a country that has a social security agreement with Finland (Australia, Canada, Chile, China, India, Israel, Japan, Quebec, South Korea, or the United States), they may have a certificate (similar to the A1 certificate) from the social security agreement country that posted them to Finland.
If the posted worker coming to Finland has a certificate issued by the authority of the social security agreement country, the posted worker and the employer do not have to pay earnings-related pension insurance contributions in Finland. The details of social security agreements are different in each country. So, the specific bilateral social security agreement in place determines what other statutory social insurance contributions the employer and the posted worker can avoid in Finland.
If an employee comes to work in Finland for a Finnish employer, the employee must take out all statutory social insurance for the employee in Finland.
Certificate issued by a social security agreement country
Certificates for posted workers from countries with social security agreements are:
Australia AUS/FI 1, Canada CAN/FI 1, Chile CL/FI 1, China CN/FI 1, India IN/FI 1, Israel ISR/FI 1, Japan JP/FI 1 or JP/FI 8, Quebec Q/FI 1, South Korea KR/FI 1, and the United States of America USA/FI 1A.
If an employee is posted to work in Finland from a country other than an EU country or one of the above-mentioned social security agreement countries, the posted worker does not have to take out TyEL insurance in the following situations:
- the worker is posted to work in Finland for less than two years by an employer operating in the country from where the worker was posted;
- the worker is posted to work in Finland for more than two years but less than five years by an employer operating in the country from where the worker was posted, and the Finnish Centre for Pensions has granted an exemption from taking out earnings-related pension insurance; or
- the employer posts a worker of a multinational company (as per the ICT directive) to Finland for a maximum of two years.
If the worker comes to work in Finland for a Finnish employer, the Finnish employer must take out all statutory social insurance for the worker in Finland.
A person may be a posted worker from both the social security and labour law perspectives.
- A person is a posted worker under EU social security rules when they have a foreign employer and have received an A1 certificate from the country from which their employer has posted them. The employer pays the social insurance contributions for the posted worker to the country from which the employer posted them. The posted worker receives social benefits from that country.
- A person is considered a posted worker under EU labour law rules when their employer has posted them from another country to work in Finland based on a contract, either as a subcontractor, via an intra-company transfer, or for temporary agency work. The posting under labour law rules relates to the terms and conditions that apply to the employment relationship, such as the rules about the minimum wage of a worker or how many hours they can work. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration gives more information on this subject.
A foreign employer must notify the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in Finland about the posting of workers. The employer must send in a notification of workers who are posted under labour law before they start working in Finland.
Social insurance contributions in international work situations
Visit the website of the Finnish Centre for Pensions to find out which statutory social insurance contributions the employer must pay in Finland when an employee goes abroad to work or comes to Finland to work. The service provides information on contributions payable in Finland on a country-by-country basis.
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