Posted self-employed person in a EU/EEA country, Switzerland or a social security agreement country 

A self-employed person’s work abroad is governed by the same principles as that of employees. As a rule, self-employed persons are also insured in the country of employment.

If you go temporarily as a self-employed person to a EU/EEA country or Switzerland, you can get a certificate on legislation applicable (A1) on the same grounds as a posted employee. This possibility does not exist in the other agreement countries.

A certificate on legislation applicable presupposes that the self-employed person or the company is domiciled in Finland and that the self-employed person has worked as an entrepreneur in Finland for at least four months before the posting. This requirement is verified by checking that the self-employed person has a valid insurance policy under the Self-Employed Persons’ Pensions Act (YEL).

The certificate on legislation applicable is applied for with the Finnish Centre for Pensions.

As a self-employed person to a non-agreement country

Pension insurance for self-employed persons (YEL) only covers self-employed persons who live and work in Finland. If the self-employed person goes to work in a non-agreement country, the YEL insurance contract may only be kept in force if the work abroad lasts for less than a year and the self-employed person intends to return to Finland after that.

Further information on the certificate on legislation applicable and the application forms are available on the web pages of the Finnish Centre for Pensions.

External links: The Finnish Centre for Pensions