When working in Finland, the work and the employee are insured in Finland, no matter where the employer is registered, what the employee’s nationality is, or from which country the employee comes to Finland.
The employer must insure a foreign employee who works in Finland according to Finnish social security legislation, in the same way as a Finnish employee working here is insured.
Insuring the employee in Finland means that the employer must pay all statutory social insurance contributions for the employee:
- the earnings-related pension insurance contribution
- the health insurance contribution
- the unemployment insurance contribution and
- the workers’ compensation insurance contribution.
Example
The employee lives in Estonia and works in Finland. He has a Finnish employer. The employee works in Finland during the week and spends the weekend in Estonia.
Since the work is done in Finland, the employer pays all statutory social insurance contributions for the employee in Finland. The employee accrues earnings-related pension in Finland.
These rules apply also to asylum seekers. The employer must insure an asylum seeker working in Finland even if the asylum seeker has not yet been granted a residence permit or received a Finnish personal identity code.
Employer posted to Finland from abroad is insured in the sending country
Posted workers form an exception when it comes to insurance. A posted worker is an employee who comes to Finland from another country to work here temporarily for their foreign employer. In this case, the employee must have been granted an A1 certificate (or an equivalent certificate) that the employer has applied for from the sending country. The employer must pay the statutory social security contributions in the sending country, not in Finland.
If a foreign employee signs an employment contract with a Finnish employer, the employee cannot be considered a worker posted to Finland from abroad. In this case, the Finnish employer is responsible for the social insurance contributions of the employee working in Finland.
If the employee works in two or more EU countries, the employee is insured in only one country at a time. In general, the employee is insured in the country in which they reside and do a considerable part of their work.
Read more on the webpage Worker posted to Finland
An employee posted abroad from Finland is insured in Finland
an employee is posted from Finland to work temporarily abroad, they may be a posted worker. The employer must pay the statutory social insurance contributions in Finland, and the employee is covered by Finnish social security while they work abroad.
Read more on the webpage Employee working abroad
Social insurance contributions in international work situations
If you are a private sector employer, the Finnish Centre for Pensions offers an online service that instructs you on how to pay social insurance contributions in international work situations. The service, which is free of charge, helps you find out which social security contributions you, as the employer, must pay in Finland when your employee goes abroad to work or comes to Finland from abroad to work here.
Social insurance contributions in international work situations (Etk.fi)
- Pay the Finnish statutory contributions for your foreign employee.
- If your employee has an A1 certificate, pay the contributions to the country that granted the certificate.
- Ask your employee if they have other employers. That may affect the country in which you are to pay the contributions.
EU countries’ refers to the following countries:
- EU countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
- EEA countries: Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway.
- Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Social security agreement countries:
- Australia, Canada, Chile, China, India, Israel, Japan, Quebec, South Korea, and the United States of America.
Non-agreement countries:
- Non-agreement countries are countries other than those listed above, such as Thailand, Brazil or South Africa.