To get the best help for your situation, first answer the questions on the Preliminary questions page.
Recruiting an employee
- Preliminary questions
- Plan the recruitment
- Compare the options
- Calculate the costs
- What financial support can I get?
- Remember to comply with labour legislation
- What laws should the employer comply with?
- Which country's labour legislation must be complied with in an international employment relationship?
- Who is the employer of a temporary agency worker?
- What are the obligations of the temporary agency worker’s user company?
- The client's obligation to perform checks in temporary agency work
- Selecting a collective agreement and complying with it
- Collective agreement for temporary agency work
- Contact occupational safety and health authorities for advice
- Manage recruitment mandates
- Find a suitable employee
- Prepare for the arrival of an employee
- Recruitment checklist
Remember to comply with labour legislation
What laws should the employer comply with?
There are many laws and agreements in Finnish working life that the employer must comply with. Therefore, every employer should know the basics of Finnish labour legislation.
Labour legislation and collective agreements define, for example, minimum wages, working hours, holidays, sick pay and terms of notice. In addition, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Occupational Health Care Act, the Act on Occupational Safety and Health Enforcement and Cooperation on Workplace Safety and Health contain obligations concerning employers.
The occupational safety and health authorities' telephone service provides answers to questions concerning legislation and compliance with it.
Which country's labour legislation must be complied with in an international employment relationship?
An international employment relationship means, for example, that the employer's and employee's domiciles are located in different countries.
- The employment contract is primarily governed by the law of the state in which or from which the employee normally performs their work.
- If it is not possible to determine the country of normal employment, the contract of employment shall be governed by the law of the state in which the place of business in which the employee was admitted to employment is situated.
- In some situations, the law of the country of employment or the country of recruitment does not apply to the employment contract.
As a rule, the employer and the employee can agree which state's law is complied with in the employment contract. As the applicable law is always assessed on a case-by-case basis, find out before concluding an employment contract which country's legislation must be complied with in the employment contract.
Who is the employer of a temporary agency worker?
The employer of a temporary agency worker is the company that leases him or her to your company even if the work is done in your company. You also direct and supervise the employee and determine the content of the work carried out by them.
The temporary agency pays the agency worker's salary and also fulfils all other statutory employer obligations. You also do not have to pay the employer's health insurance contribution because you are not the employer of the employee.
What are the obligations of the temporary agency worker’s user company?
The user company is responsible for ensuring the occupational safety of the temporary agency worker's daily work.
You must
- inform the temporary agency of the vocational skills requirements of the work and any special characteristics of the work
- provide the temporary agency and the temporary agency worker with sufficient information on the hazards and risks involved in the work and the occupational safety and health measures required
- inform occupational health care and the occupational safety and health representative when a temporary agency worker starts work.
If you are using a foreign temporary agency, you must
- ensure that the temporary agency complies with the Act on Posted Workers and appoints a representative in Finland if necessary
- inform the Tax Administration of the use of foreign temporary agency workers. The notification can be made in MyTax.
The client's obligation to perform checks in temporary agency work
The Act on the Contractor's Obligations and Liability when Work is Contracted OutOpens in a new window. applies to contractors who use leased labour. The Act specifies what data the temporary agency must provide to the client before the contract is concluded.
However, if your company only leases labour for a maximum of ten working days, the law does not oblige you to obtain such information. Note that work is considered uninterrupted if the working periods are consecutive or they are interrupted only for short periods of time.
If you do not obtain the reports and certificates in time or at all, you may have to pay a penalty fee of up to tens of thousands of euros.
You must also obtain the corresponding information if you lease an employee from a foreign staffing company.
More detailed information on the contractor's obligations and the information requested from the rental company can be found on the Contractor’s obligations and liability page of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's online serviceOpens in a new window..
Selecting a collective agreement and complying with it
A collective agreement is an agreement between a trade union of workers and an employer or employers' union on minimum sector-specific terms that must be complied with in employment contracts and employment relationships. These include salaries, working hours and holidays.
Collective agreement for temporary agency work
The minimum terms of employment of temporary agency workers are determined in accordance with the collective agreement for the personnel sector between Employment Industry Finland and Union of Private Sector Professionals ERTO, if the work is office work or in the financial administration or ICT sector.
If the employee is leased for other tasks, the same collective agreement will apply as to the user company's own employees.
If neither of the aforementioned apply, the terms applicable to the temporary agency worker’s pay, working hours and annual holidays shall, at a minimum, comply with the agreements or practices binding on the user company and generally applicable within the company.
Contact occupational safety and health authorities for advice
Occupational safety and health authorities provide advice on matters concerning the labour law, collective agreements and terms of employment.