Workers posted from and to Finland

Lähetetyt työntekijät
Here you can find information about the rules that apply to workers posted from Finland to another country and from other countries to Finland.

A posted worker is a worker sent abroad by a Finnish company or a worker of a foreign company working temporarily in Finland.

Posted workers are partly covered by different rules than for other workers who go to other countries. Below you can find information on posted workers’ social security and unemployment insurance, entitlement to healthcare services, on taxation and applicable employment terms.

If you are not a posted worker, read the Info Norden guide on working in Finland.

Social security and unemployment insurance

If your employer posts you to another Nordic country, you can under certain conditions remain covered by the social security and unemployment insurance of your home country.

Workers posted from Finland to another country

If you are posted to another Nordic country you need to take a certificate A1 with you to prove you are covered by the Finnish social security system. The certificate allows both the employer and employee to be exempted from insurance contributions in the country of employment. This means that if you are covered by Finnish social security, all your statutory social insurance contributions are paid to Finland.

Employers apply for A1 certificates for posted workers from the Finnish Centre for Pensions.

More information from the Finnish Centre for Pensions and the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela).

Workers posted to Finland from another country

Employers of workers posted to Finland must apply for an A1 certificate for their employees in their country of departure. If an employee is granted an A1 certificate, statutory social security contributions are paid to the country of departure and the employee gets social benefits from their country of departure. This means the employer of a worker posted to Finland does not need to notify the work in Finland to Kela, and a worker posted to Finland cannot generally get Kela benefits.

If an A1 certificate is not applied for or cannot be granted, the foreign employer is required to insure their foreign worker in Finland. Read more on the Finnish Centre for Pensions website.

Social security coverage for family members

Family members living in the same household who accompany a worker posted from Finland to another country are generally entitled to Kela benefits even if their stay abroad lasts over 6 months. Family members are married or cohabiting spouses and registered partners as well as children under the age of 18 - either your own or adopted children or your spouse’s children living in the same household.

Family members moving to an EU or EEA country, Switzerland or the United Kingdom are generally entitled to Finnish social security if the person they moved with is entitled to it. If, however, you start working, your social security is determined based on your employment and you cannot have entitlement to social security as a family member. Then you are generally entitled to social security in your country of employment if your work meets the minimum employment requirements. If you start working, let Kela know. You can get more information from Kela.

If you are a family member of a worker posted to Finland, check your right to benefits with the social security authorities in your own country.

Right to healthcare services

Workers posted to another Nordic country and their family members are entitled to medically necessary treatment during a temporary stay (less than a year) on the same conditions as residents of the country of employment. Check the links to find out more about different countries.

Workers posted from Finland to another Nordic country and their family members are entitled public healthcare services in Finland too, even if their municipality of residence is not in Finland. In this case they can ask Kela for a "certificate of entitlement to treatment benefits in Finland” to prove their right to healthcare services. More information from Kela’s Centre for International Affairs.

Taxation of work abroad

Employers must always check what country their employees pay their taxes to. On short assignments abroad, pay is often taxed in the country that the worker has been posted from, but if the company becomes permanently established in the country of employment, the country of employment may tax the employee’s pay even for a short stay. On longer assignments abroad, the “six-month rule” may be applied to pay. You can find more information from Nordisk eTax and countries’ tax authorities.

Employment terms applicable in the destination country

Employers must guarantee their employees on assignment the same conditions and terms of employment that apply in the destination country either on the basis of legislation or generally applicable collective agreements. If the terms of employment are better in the country of departure than in the destination country, employers must apply these terms to their employees during their assignment too. There are exceptions to this rule, however. These are listed on the Your Europe portal.

You can get more detailed information on the employment terms and conditions apply during assignments abroad from the competent authority in the country that the employee is being sent to.

More information

Ask Info Norden

Please fill in our contact form if you have any questions or if you have encountered an obstacle in another Nordic country.

NB! If you have questions regarding the processing of a specific case or application, or other personal matters, please contact the relevant authority directly.

Info Norden is the information service of the Nordic Council of Ministers. Here you can find info and tips if you wish to move, work, study, seek support or start a business in the Nordic region.