Being an employer in Finland
Being in a role of an employer in Finland requires the employer to comply carefully with numerous legal obligations. The employer must take care of, among other things, wages, occupational health care, terms and conditions of employment, safety at work, and taxation. Finnish labour law is strict and protects the rights of employees, so it is important for employers to be aware of their own obligations. A good employer provides its employees with a safe and healthy working environment and fair and flexible working conditions that promote their well-being and motivation.
In order to be a successful employer in Finland, you have to get the following things right:
- Registration in the Tax Administrators register to obtain a business ID number. At the same time, you must determine, whether the permanent location of the business is going to be in Finland or somewhere else.
- Please note that the company might have to be registered in the Employer Register, if one of the following conditions is met:
- The company pays regular salary to at least two employees.
- The company pays permanent salary to one employee, plus to one or more employees on a temporary basis.
- The company pays salary to at least 6 employees at the same time, even if their employment relationships are short-term and temporary.
- The company may also be registered in the Employer Register on its own initiative.
- Once the registration is complete and you have a business ID, the next step is to apply for Suomi.fi-authorisations. In Finland, it is not possible to provide the necessary mandatory salary information to the authorities without Suomi.fi authorizations.
- Please also note, that employees must be insured with a statutory accident insurance and a group life insurance, right at the start of the employment relationship. The statutory occupational pension insurance is also mandatory.
- If an employee is insured in another EU/EEA country or in Switzerland or Great Britain and has an A1 certificate, there is no need to take a statutory social insurance in Finland. The same applies to employees sent from other countries if Finland has a social security agreement with the respective country.
- In addition, the employer is obliged to provide occupational health care.
Employer in Finland? A few things you should also know:
In addition to laws, a collective employment agreement is followed in may sectors in Finland. This means that better conditions have been agreed upon for the sector than required by the law. If the agreement is universally binding, the company working in the respective sector must comply with the agreement, even if it does not belong to the union.
Even if no permanent location is established in Finland, a NO PE tax declaration must be submitted within four (4) months after the end of the financial year.
