GLOBAL EMPLOYER OF RECORD IN FINLAND
Hire the talent in Finland without opening a local entity
Move on critical hires in Finland while the business case for a permanent entity is still developing. Acumen acts as your Employer of Record, giving you the flexibility to build headcount now and take on the cost and commitment of incorporation only when it makes commercial sense.
GLOBAL EMPLOYER OF RECORD
Global coverage
Acumen International delivers global employment solutions across 190+ countries.
Strategic markets
Hiring and compliance support across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.
Established jurisdictions
Lawful employment and payroll in regulated, compliance-intensive countries.
Growth economies
Expanding into new regions? Hiring support across fast-moving economies.
Risky and remote locations
Compliant employment solutions in jurisdictions with limited infrastructure.
Employer of Record in Finland: Finnish employment without a Finnish Oy
An Employer of Record hires your people in Finland under Finnish contracts and carries the employer’s duties to pension insurers, the Tax Administration and the occupational health system. The employees work in your team, follow your managers’ direction and deliver your plans.
Three routes to hiring Finnish staff
| Route | What it takes | When it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Your own limited company (Oy) | Registration in the Trade Register and the Employer Register, TyEL pension insurance, statutory accident insurance and an occupational healthcare agreement | A lasting Finnish operation with a growing team |
| Registering as a foreign employer | Entry in the Employer Register, pension and accident insurance, Incomes Register reporting and Finnish contracts run in-house | Companies with Finnish payroll and HR know-how of their own |
| Employer of Record | A service agreement with Acumen International, which employs the team under Finnish law | First hires, specialists relocating to Finland and the period before an Oy pays off |
Where an Employer of Record adds value
- Speed to a signed contract. Offers go out without waiting for company registration or pension and accident policies.
- The right collective agreement, applied automatically. Universally binding agreements cover most sectors, and each role is placed in the one that governs its pay and terms.
- Healthcare candidates expect. Preventive occupational healthcare, which every Finnish employer must arrange, is in place from the start, with medical care added where the package calls for it.
- Relocation support built in. Specialist permits and EU Blue Cards are filed through the fast track, and newcomers who qualify are registered for the 25% key employee tax.
- A clean move to your own entity. Once an Oy exists, staff transfer on an agreed date with service and pension history intact.
Division of responsibilities
| Acumen International | Your company |
|---|---|
| Signs the Finnish contract and applies the collective agreement | Chooses the candidate and shapes the role |
| Runs payroll, tax withholding and Incomes Register reporting | Leads the daily work and sets objectives |
| Insures pension, accident and unemployment cover | Decides salary reviews, bonuses and equipment |
| Arranges occupational healthcare | Explains the business case behind any team change |
| Applies for permits and key employee tax cards | Signs off the total cost before each offer |
Legal basis: agency work and the Contractor’s Liability Act
Finland does not license companies that place employees with clients. The Employment Contracts Act gives a placed employee at least the terms of the collective agreement that binds your company, and the Contractor’s Liability Act asks your company to check the provider before an assignment of more than 10 working days: its Trade Register entry, tax and pension payment status, accident insurance and the collective agreement it applies. Acumen International supplies those documents at the outset, and your company stays responsible for safety at the workplace where the employee works.
Finnish employment law at a glance
Last reviewed October 2026.
| Item | Finland |
|---|---|
| Currency | Euro (EUR) |
| Capital | Helsinki |
| Official languages | Finnish and Swedish; English contracts are common for international hires |
| Minimum pay | No statutory minimum wage; universally binding collective agreements set the floor |
| Employer social insurance | Around 20% of pay, mostly TyEL pension |
| Employee contributions | 10.17% of pay in 2026: pension, health and unemployment insurance |
| Working week | 40 hours, usually 8 hours a day |
| Annual leave | 24 working days in the first holiday year, 30 days after a full year’s service |
| Probation | Up to 6 months |
| Employer notice | 14 days to 6 months, by length of service |
| Pay reporting | Each payment reported to the Incomes Register within 5 days |
Universally binding collective agreements and Finnish salaries
Finland has no national minimum wage. Its place is taken by universally binding collective agreements (yleissitovat työehtosopimukset): when an agreement is representative of its sector, a state commission confirms that every employer in that sector must apply it, whether or not the employer belongs to an employers’ association.
An applicable agreement typically sets:
- Minimum pay by job grade, with general pay rises agreed in each bargaining round.
- Overtime, shift and evening supplements.
- Holiday bonus (lomaraha), usually 50% of holiday pay, which is not required by statute but appears in almost every agreement.
- Sick pay beyond the statutory minimum, often a month or more at full salary.
- Notice, working hours and travel time rules that may differ from the statutory defaults.
Senior specialists and managers often sit outside an agreement’s pay tables, and their salary is set individually. Even then, the agreement’s leave and working time terms usually still apply, so the governing agreement is identified for every role before the offer.
Finnish employment contracts after the 2026 reforms
Two changes in 2026 give Finnish employers more room to manoeuvre, and both shape how a first hire is structured.
- Open-ended contracts remain the default for ongoing roles.
- Fixed-term contracts without a stated reason (from 1 June 2026): a first employment with the same employer, or one starting at least five years after the previous one, can be fixed-term for up to a year without justification. Once it has run for six months, either side can end it early without giving a reason. Other fixed-term contracts still need an objective reason, such as a project or substitute cover.
- Probation: up to 6 months, extended by days lost to sickness or family leave, and limited to half the term of a fixed-term contract shorter than a year. Either side can end the employment during probation, provided the reason is not discriminatory.
- Working time: regular hours of 8 a day and 40 a week, at least 11 hours’ rest a day and 35 hours’ rest a week. Flexible schedules and the flexi-work model, where the employee decides when and where to work for at least half their hours, are widely used.
- Overtime: daily overtime earns 50% extra for the first two hours and 100% after that, with a cap of 138 hours in any four-month period.
- Non-compete agreements: the employer must pay compensation of 40% of salary for a restriction of up to six months and 60% for six to twelve months.
Termination, notice and change negotiations
Since 1 January 2026, a dismissal on personal grounds needs a “proper reason” (asiallinen syy) rather than the earlier “proper and weighty” one. Conduct issues normally still call for a warning and a hearing first. Financial and production grounds remain available where the work has reduced substantially and permanently.
| Length of service | Employer notice | Employee notice |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 1 year | 14 days | 14 days |
| 1 to 4 years | 1 month | 14 days |
| 4 to 5 years | 2 months | 14 days |
| 5 to 8 years | 2 months | 1 month |
| 8 to 12 years | 4 months | 1 month |
| Over 12 years | 6 months | 1 month |
- Immediate cancellation: possible only for a breach so serious that the employment cannot reasonably continue.
- Unfair dismissal: compensation ranges from 3 to 24 months’ pay; reinstatement is not ordered by the courts.
- Change negotiations: employers with 20 or more employees consult staff before redundancies or layoffs, for at least 14 days, or six weeks where the employer has 30 or more staff and plans to dismiss 10 or more.
- Layoffs: pay and work can be suspended temporarily for financial reasons, with at least 7 days’ notice since 1 June 2026.
- Re-employment: since 1 June 2026, the duty to offer work to employees dismissed for financial or production reasons applies only to employers with 50 or more staff.
- Severance: there is no statutory severance pay; exits are often settled by mutual agreement.
Compliance risks for employers in Finland
| Risk | Where it arises | How Acumen International mitigates it |
|---|---|---|
| Worker misclassification | Freelancers working through invoicing service companies, or as sole traders, whose work you direct can be treated as employees, with TyEL pension and tax due | Long-term freelance roles assessed and moved onto Finnish employment when the work is managed like a job |
| Contractor’s Liability Act | Clients that skip the provider checks for longer assignments face a negligence fee | The required certificates provided before the first assignment and refreshed while it runs |
| Collective agreement errors | Applying the wrong agreement or grade leads to claims for unpaid supplements and holiday bonus | Agreement and grade confirmed for each role and built into payroll |
| Unfair dismissal | Compensation of 3 to 24 months’ pay where grounds, warnings or hearings fall short | Each exit planned around the 2026 dismissal standard, with warnings and hearings documented |
| Working time | Overtime caps, supplements and records under the Working Hours Act | Hours and overtime tracked and paid every month |
| Occupational health and safety | Preventive occupational healthcare is mandatory, and safety at the workplace is shared with the client | Occupational healthcare contracted for every employee, with safety responsibilities agreed with you |
| Equality and pay transparency | Employers with 30 or more staff need an equality plan with a pay survey, and the EU Pay Transparency Directive is being brought into Finnish law | Pay grades and criteria documented and reviewed for comparable roles |
| IP ownership | Employers can take over employee inventions but owe reasonable compensation; software and databases pass to the employer, while other work depends on the contract | IP assignment for inventions, code, designs and content in the employment contract and the service agreement |
| Taxable presence | Finnish staff who habitually conclude contracts for your company can create a permanent establishment | Signing and negotiating authority agreed role by role with your tax adviser |
| Residence permits | Specialist and Blue Card permits depend on the salary threshold and the field of work | Salary changes and new duties checked against the permit before they apply |
Specialist permits, EU Blue Card and the Finnish fast track
Finland competes hard for international experts, and its fast-track service aims to decide specialist and Blue Card applications in about two weeks once both the employee and the employer have completed their parts online.
| Permit | Suited to | Requirements (2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Specialist residence permit | Experts in roles that normally need a university degree | Salary of at least €3,937 a month; fast-track processing available |
| EU Blue Card | Graduates, or professionals with equivalent experience, on a contract of at least 6 months | Salary of at least €3,937 a month; fast-track processing and mobility within the EU |
| Residence permit for an employed person | Other roles | Pay of at least €1,600 a month or the collective agreement rate, and in most cases a labour market test |
| EU, EEA and Swiss citizens | Free movement | Registration of the right of residence after 3 months |
Family members of specialists and Blue Card holders can apply at the same time and use the fast track too, and spouses can work in Finland. Salary thresholds exclude per diems and benefits in kind.
Employer costs: TyEL pension, social insurance and income tax
The earnings-related pension, TyEL, is the largest cost on top of a Finnish salary. It is insured with a private pension company rather than paid to the state, with no ceiling on pensionable pay.
| Contribution (2026) | Employer | Employee |
|---|---|---|
| TyEL pension | About 17.10% on average | 7.30% |
| Health insurance | 1.91% | 1.98% |
| Unemployment insurance | 0.31%, or 1.23% on the part of the payroll above the annual threshold | 0.89% |
| Accident and group life insurance | Premium set by the insurer and the type of work | None |
| Occupational healthcare | Cost of the service, partly reimbursed by Kela | None |
Income tax. Tax is withheld according to each employee’s tax card and combines a progressive state tax with a flat municipal tax set by the employee’s home municipality, plus church tax for members.
The key employee regime. Foreign specialists who earn at least €5,800 a month in cash pay, and have not been tax resident in Finland in the previous five years, can be taxed at a flat 25% withholding rate for up to 84 months. The rate fell from 32% at the start of 2026, and the application must be made within 90 days of starting work.
The Global Payroll Calculator turns a Finnish salary into a total employer cost, including the TyEL rate, the insurances and the holiday bonus set by the collective agreement, using Acumen International’s 1,500-plus official sources confirmed by local lawyers and accountants.
Industries hiring specialists in Finland
Finland’s mix of deep engineering skills and a small population means that growth industries regularly recruit from abroad, particularly for technical roles.
| Industry | Roles in demand |
|---|---|
| Telecoms and 6G research, centred on Oulu and Espoo | Radio, network, embedded software and test engineers |
| Gaming and software, centred on Helsinki and Espoo | Game, backend, data and security engineers |
| Clean energy and green hydrogen | Electrical, process and project engineers for wind, solar and hydrogen projects |
| Quantum computing and semiconductors, around Espoo | Quantum, microelectronics and cryogenics specialists |
| Defence and security technology | Systems, cyber and security-cleared engineers |
| Forest industry and the bioeconomy | Process, automation and R&D engineers |
When companies choose Acumen International for Finnish hires
- A researcher from outside the EU is joining your Espoo lab. The specialist permit goes through the fast track, and the 25% key employee rate is claimed within its 90-day window.
- A Finnish expert is coming home. From 2026, returning Finnish citizens can also use the key employee regime for up to 60 months, which can make a homecoming offer far more attractive.
- You need an engineer next to a customer in Oulu. A single specialist can sit beside your client’s 6G or telecoms team without you registering a company in the north.
- You want a trial year before committing. Under the June 2026 rules, a first hire can start on a fixed-term contract of up to twelve months without a stated reason, then move to an open-ended contract if the role proves itself.
- Your contractor bills through an invoicing service. Someone working full-time under your direction moves onto Finnish employment with pension and accident cover in place.
- You are buying a Finnish start-up but not its company. Key engineers can be employed on their current terms while the deal closes and the long-term structure is decided.
Occupational healthcare, benefits and Finnish payroll
Beyond the mandatory preventive service, Finnish packages usually extend occupational healthcare to cover GP and specialist visits, which candidates treat as a standard expectation rather than a perk. Other common benefits are a lunch benefit, a tax-free exercise and culture benefit of up to €400 a year, a phone benefit, an annual bonus and, in technology companies, stock options. Each package is designed around the role and the candidate.
Payroll. Salaries are paid monthly. Acumen International withholds tax according to each employee’s tax card, reports every payment to the Incomes Register within five days, declares and pays the employer’s health insurance contribution each month, and pays TyEL and unemployment insurance to the insurers. Holiday pay and the holiday bonus are calculated under the applicable collective agreement.
Annual holiday, holiday bonus and family leave
| Leave | Entitlement | Pay |
|---|---|---|
| Annual holiday | Earned at 2 days a month in the first holiday year and 2.5 days after a year’s service, counted from April to March; 24 days are taken in summer, the rest in winter | Holiday pay from the employer, plus a holiday bonus of usually 50% under collective agreements |
| Public holidays | Around a dozen a year, including Midsummer and Independence Day on 6 December | Paid where the collective agreement or contract provides |
| Pregnancy allowance | 40 working days before the due date | Kela allowance, often topped up to full pay under agreements |
| Parental allowance | 160 days for each parent, with up to 63 days transferable to the other parent | Kela allowance, with employer pay for part of the period under many agreements |
| Sick leave | As long as the employee is unfit to work | Employer pays full salary for the day of illness and the next 9 days, then Kela, with longer employer pay under most agreements |
| Care of a sick child | Up to 4 working days at a time for a child under 10 | Paid where the agreement provides |
| Carer’s leave | 5 days a year to care for a relative or close person | Unpaid |
| Study leave | Up to 2 years within 5 years, after a year’s service | Unpaid |
Sources
- Employment Contracts Act
- Fixed-term contract changes in force from 1 June 2026
- Statutory social insurance contributions in Finland 2026
- Key employees from abroad
- Changes in the salary requirement for EU Blue Card holders
- Finland: 2026 income requirements for residence permits
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Got questions?
We’ve got answers
Have questions about hiring globally? You’re not alone. Below you’ll find answers to the most common questions from teams expanding into new markets — from compliance and onboarding timelines to payroll and local benefits.
If you don’t see what you’re looking for, our team of in-country experts is always ready to help you navigate the details.
Can Acumen design both statutory and supplementary benefits for employees in Finland?
Yes. The employment package must first meet the statutory requirements that apply in Finland. Acumen can then help shape supplementary benefits around role seniority, market expectations and the client’s wider reward strategy, subject to local availability and tax treatment.
How does Acumen help manage permanent establishment risk when we hire in Finland?
Acumen keeps the employment arrangement separate from the client’s corporate tax analysis. We can identify role features in Finland that may need PE review — for example senior commercial authority or a fixed local presence — but the EOR model itself does not eliminate PE risk.
Can Acumen bridge employment during an M&A transition in Finland?
Potentially. An EOR can bridge the gap between transaction completion and the point when the buyer or new business structure is ready to employ directly in Finland. Acumen coordinates the employment transition, while deal-specific transfer and consultation requirements are assessed separately.