Finnish Centre for Pensions advices to apply for an A1 certificate also for short periods of work abroad
Read a current news release about this subject (24.4.2023): Short conference and business trips
As the A1 certificate may be needed also for short periods of work abroad, the Finnish Centre for Pensions advices employers to apply for it also when sending their employees abroad to work for a short period of time. The underlying reason for this is that working abroad has become increasingly common, which has led to the need to specify the instructions on when to apply for an A1 certificate. For those travelling often, it is worth the while to apply for the A1 certificate for two years at a time.
The employer must apply for the A1 certificate from the Finnish Centre for Pensions when a worker goes abroad from Finland to work in an EU country or a country with which Finland has a social security agreement. The certificate must be applied for regardless of the length of work abroad. The A1 certificate attests that the worker is covered by Finnish social security.
The EU Regulation on social security does not directly define time limits for when the A1 certificate is to be applied. The regulation assumes, however, that if the certificate is missing, the work must be insured in the country of work.
Take your A1 certificate with you when you go on a business or educational trip
“Due to increasing work abroad, remote work done abroad and business trips abroad, we found it necessary here at the Finnish Centre for Pensions to clarify when the A1 certificate is needed. We clarified our instructions to help our customers avoid possible troubles abroad”, says Head of Unit Noora Allenius (Finnish Centre for Pensions).
Many countries require the certificate already for one day of work, and recently, the list of such countries has started to grow.
“That is why we now point out that the A1 certificate should be applied for also for repeated periods of work abroad.”
No need to apply for the A1 certificate for each separate trip
If the worker does several business or educational trips abroad during the year, one application for the A1 certificate is enough. The A1 certificate can be granted in such cases for two years at a time.
That means that one A1 certificate covers all periods of work abroad during that time, which means the employer does not have to apply for a separate certificate for each short business trip abroad.
“If the company has not previously applied for an A1 certificate for its workers for short business trips abroad, no problem – it is always possible to apply for the A1 certificate in retrospect if, for example, the country of work so demands. As for business trips, it is enough to now apply for the A1 certificate for future trips, if no need for the certificate has arisen in retrospect”, Allenius explains.
Apply for the A1 certificate via our eServices
- As a rule, the processing time of an online application is faster than that of a printed application.
- The application service includes instructions on how to fill out the application.
- In our eServices, you can print out a certificate of your pending application and follow its processing.
- The service lists your applications that are in hand, in force, have expired or that you have drafted.
Read more
Updated on 9 Feb. 2023. Heading and caption changed and the instruction on when to apply specified: The Finnish Centre for Pensions advices to apply for the A1 certificate also for short periods of work abroad. For those travelling often, it is worth the while to apply for the A1 certificate for two years at a time.