Going to Finland
Legislative requirements and observing the ground rules of working life.
Applicable legislation
Contractor’s Obligations and Liability
The purpose of the Act on the Contractor’s Obligations and Liability when Work is Contracted Out is to promote equal competition among businesses and compliance with statutory terms and conditions of employment. The Act enables contractors to ensure that their partners comply with what is required of them by law. Contractors must obtain the reports specified in the Act on all partners before signing any agreements of subcontracting or temporary agency work.
Personal ID and tax number
Both the developer and the principal contractor are responsible for ensuring that everyone working on site has a personal ID card as required by law in Finland.
The photo ID must show:
- name
- photo
- employer
- the tax number, entered in the public tax number register maintained by the Tax Administration in Finland.
A personal ID is mandatory for everyone working at a construction site that is a shared workplace.
For more information about the personal ID and other obligations on a construction site, see the authorities webpage Construction industry.
Find out more about tax numbers here.
Posted worker notification duty
Before the work begins in Finland the posting company must notify the OSH authorities about the posting of workers. The reporting duty entered into force September 1st 2017. The duty is fulfilled by filling out the authorities electronic form.
The notification may be given immediately when the agreement of posting workers has been concluded, but latest before the work agreed upon in the contract starts. In the construction sector there are no exception from this duty.
Reporting is not needed when workers are transferred within the company for a maximum of 5 days, except when the company operates in the construction sector. When determining the duration of the posting period and all previous posting periods (working time) for the last four months, during which workers of the same posting company have been working in Finland, will be taken into account.
Representative in Finland
The posting company, i.e. the employer must ensure that a representative in Finland is selected and that all information needed is kept available as long as the posting lasts.
The employer must comply with the wage level considered reasonable in Finland and give the workers a written statement of the principal terms of work during the posting. The employer is also obliged to have a working hours register and a register over annual holidays.
The employer must always ensure the safety at work. The using company is also responsible for the safety at work for the hired posted workers.
Accident insurance is only required when the workers don’t have valid A1 documents. Then it is mandatory to pay the pension fee in Finland together with the Accident insurance.
The employer must arrange for statutory occupational health care in Finland. The contractor must ensure that the posting company selects a representative and that this representative is available.
The main contractor and the builder in the construction sector must on the request of the posted worker sort out inadequate payments with the posting company.
The main contractor and the builder must send the posting company's answer to both the worker and on his or her request to the OSH authorities.
Information about the representative's qualification requirements and information required of him/her: Posted worker.
List of workers
On a construction site that is a shared workplace, the principal contractor must keep an up-to-date list of employees and independent contractors working on site.
Workers must be added to the list as soon as they begin work on site. The end date for an employee must be stated in the list immediately when the employee finishes working on site or when the principal contractor knows the date when the employee will finish.
The list of workers must show:
- the worker’s first name and last name, date of birth and Finnish tax number,
- start date and end date of work on site,
- the worker’s employer’s name and business ID or corresponding foreign ID, and
- the name and contact details of the representative in Finland referred to in section 8 of the Act on Posted Workers (447/2016).