If you have been posted to Finland from an EU or an EEA country, Switzerland or a country with which Finland has a social security agreement, you can remain covered by the social security laws of the country from which you were sent to Finland under certain conditions. In that case you need a certificate for a posted worker from the country that has posted you (an A1 certificate in the EU country). You will then earn a pension also to that country for the period that you are posted to Finland.
Example: French worker
A French employer posts its worker who has been working in France to Finland for one year. The worker has been issued an A1 certificate for a posted worker by the authorities in France. The worker is not insured in Finland under the Employees Pensions Act).
You are not insured in Finland under the Employees Pensions Act (TyEL) if you work for a foreign employer from another country than and EU/EEA country, Switzerland or a social security agreement country and you have been posted to Finland for a maximum of two years.
However, if Finnish social security laws or the social security laws of another EU country were applied to you when your posting to Finland began, you have to be insured in Finland under the Employees Pensions Act.
Example: Brazilian worker
A Brazilian employer posts its worker, who works in Brazil, to Finland for 11 months. The worker will work for the Brazilian employer’s Finnish subsidiary in Finland. The worker is not to be insured in Finland under the Employees Pensions Act (TyEL).
However, if the Brazilian worker’s work in Finland continues for more than two years, the employer can apply to the Finnish Centre for Pensions for an exemption to take out insurance under TyEL. The exemption can be granted for a total period of five years at the most, counting from the date on which the worker first started to work in Finland. This requires that that the employer has taken out pension insurance for the worker in Brazil. After five years of work in Finland, the work must be insured in Finland under TyEL.
For more information on how to take out pension insurance, contact the Finnish Centre for Pensions by
- phone: +358 29 411 2110, or
- e-mail: ulkomaanasiat(at)etk.fi.
For information on residence-based social security, contact Kela.