Flexible solutions

Your company must grant its employees certain statutory flexible solutions at the employee’s request.

Family leaves include leaves for the parents of small children, such as child care and parental leave. They are meant for caring for one’s own child or for some other compelling family reason. According to the Employment Contacts Act, your employees are entitled to family leave if they notify you of it at least two months before the intended start of the leave. You can, however, deny your employee partial child care leave if it may cause serious harm to your company. More detailed information can be found on the Family leave and family-friendliness page. 

Study leave gives your employee a flexible opportunity to study. You cannot entirely deny your employee study leave if the employee is entitled to it according to the Study Leave Act. You can, however, postpone the leave if granting it for the specific time period would cause considerable harm to your company.

An employee who uses the opportunity to carry over annual holiday may according to the Annual Holidays Act save annual leave days to be taken at a later date. However, this must not cause harm to your company or its operation.

If it wishes, your company may also offer its employees flexible solutions that are not required by law. However, take into account the regulations in the applied collective agreement.

Job alternation leave is intended to support your employee to cope at work and to provide work for an unemployed jobseeker. To be able to apply for job alternation leave, the employee must meet the conditions in the Act on Job Alternation Leave, such as having worked for 20 years. Your company, on the other hand, must employ an unemployed jobseeker for the duration of the job alteration leave.

Partial daily sickness allowance and part-time work may help an employee with partial work ability to stay in work or return to work after a period of illness. During partial sick leave, the working hours must be reduced by between 40 and 60 per cent.

You can agree on partial old-age pension with an aged employee. Your employee will in that case start to work part-time and the employee's workload will be reduced.

Your company may also enable employees to exchange their holiday bonuses or overtime for days off.

In addition, you can offer your employees flexible working-time arrangements, such as flexitime or a working hours bank.

Flexible working hours benefit both your employees and your company. When you let your employees use flexible solutions, their willingness to be flexible with the company usually increases.

Flexible solutions help your employees to maintain a work-life balance. Employees' good work-life balance is also visible in the workplace as productivity, efficiency and job satisfaction.

Flexible solutions usually increase your employees’ wellbeing and lengthen their careers. They also help to control the strain caused by work and may reduce the number of sickness absences.

If your employee uses flexible solutions for studying, your company will gain new competence when the employee returns to work.

Flexible working-time arrangements help you to accommodate the operation of your company to fluctuations in demand. You can also take advantage of flexible solutions as an alternative to giving notice or lay-offs.

Plan together with your employees what you want to achieve with flexible solutions. Find out what your employees wish from their working hours and flexibility. Try to find a balance between your company’s and the employees’ needs. When you plan, pay attention especially to the strain caused by the working hours, the factors affecting health and the effects on wellbeing.

Take your employees’ individual needs into consideration in the flexible solutions when possible. Try to make it easier for them to maintain a work-life balance.

Agree on the flexible solutions together with your employees. Make sure that all employees in your company know what has been agreed about flexibility. If necessary, you can agree with your employees on a trial period during which you will test how flexible solutions work in practice.

Monitor how the flexible solutions in your company work regularly. Develop or make changes to them together with your employees as necessary.