Country Spotlight: Employer of Record in Finland

Looking to hire from the happiest place on earth? Citizens from the North Pole are preoccupied all year round with the hustle and bustle of Christmas, but the next best option is to the North of Europe, tightly nestled away in the corner, in Finland. Finland is currently on a track record for being the world’s happiest country for six straight years.

The World Happiness Report takes into consideration six specific factors, they are:

• Gross domestic product per capita
• Social support
• Healthy life expectancy
• Freedom to make your own life choices
• Generosity of the general population
• Perceptions of internal and external corruption levels

Fun fact: Finland also brags about being internationally recognized as Santa’s hometown.

Besides being the happiest population in the world, Finland also boasts a technologically talented workforce and is considered a powerhouse of creativity and innovation. To ensure that the happiest population stays the same, employers are entrusted with ensuring that workers in Finland are well taken care of despite the complex employment laws of the country.

ALSO READ I Finland: A Guideline to Payroll and Employer of Record

Statutory Benefits:

Employers must provide their team in Finland with various statutory benefits. These benefits are circumstantial and can vary from employee to employee. To keep track of these benefits and their utilizations, employers can use the help of EOR services or Employer of Record services to shoulder the burden for them.

An EOR service helps companies onboard, manage, and pay their global employees. Here are some of the benefits that an EOR provider like Neeyamo can handle for employees in Finland:

• Health Insurance: Every resident of Finland has access to health insurance, and those with disabilities and chronic illnesses receive a disability allowance. They also have access to various other health institutions as provided by their government. Due to this, employers must offer their employees alternative health benefits apart from what is already being provided, such as accident insurance, daily allowance, etc.
• Pension: Pension for Finnish employment is collected between 17 to 67 years of age. For self-employed people, it is collected from 18 years of age. Pension calculations are based on various factors, such as annual earnings and age-specific accrual rates. 
• Group life and disability insurance: Employers provide this benefit to their employees with no tax implication on the premiums for the employees in case of the unfortunate passing of the employee. 
• Other benefits: Many employers tend to provide other benefits for their employees, such as meal vouchers, mobile phones, well-being and sports allowance, and much more.

Also read: The EOR Glossary: Everything you need to know about Employer of Record

Overtime

Work-life balance in Finland is of utmost importance to not only employees but to employers as well. The statutory working hours stand at 40 hours a week, with each day not exceeding 8 hours per day. Any extra time would be compensated as overtime hours. Employees are compensated for their overtime hours by receiving:

• 150% of their rate for the first two hours of overtime. 
• Twice the rate for hours worked beyond the first two hours. 
• Employees can exchange their overtime hours for time off by adding them to their collective bargaining agreement prior to joining. Trade unions aid Finnish labourers and the workforce by ensuring that the employees receive the best-suited benefits in their employment agreements.

Ensuring that their employees are compensated for their hours worked is a crucial aspect of EOR, and with the help of Neeyamo, services like time and absence can be modified to suit the employer’s needs.

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Remote Work in Finland:

The Finnish law does not necessarily recognise remote work, and neither the employee nor the employer can demand remote work. In their collective bargaining agreement, the employer can request remote work. In a scenario with over 20 employees in the company, remote work must be considered an option for employees.

As remote work is not directly recognized by Finnish employment laws, navigating the guidelines and labour regulations behind it may be complex. Hiring an EOR service provider to shoulder the burden and act in accordance with local authorities and regulations is the way to go when hiring in the happiest country in the world.

Using a provider like Neeyamo ensures that all your EOR needs, including time, absence, payroll, expenses and more, are taken care of.

Neeyamo’s Global Work solution, powered by our native Global Payroll Tech Stack, allows employers to take a step back and leave the worrying to the professionals.

Reach out to us at irene.jones@neeyamo.com for a seamless guide through the EOR experience.