Foreign companies with posted workers in Finland must have a representative in Finland whom the posted workers and the authorities can contact at all times during the posting. In practice, this means they must have an address in Finland. The posting company is obligated to keep available in Finland information on the company and posted workers at all times during the posting. In practice, communication with the authorities is carried out via the representative.

Selecting a representative

The representative must have the right to pass on all necessary documentation from the posting company to the authorities. The representative must be competent to act for the company posting the worker in a court of law and to receive on behalf of this company summons and other documents issued by the authorities. For instance, the representative must handle official transactions on behalf of the foreign company. The representative is practically authorised to act on behalf of the company. The representative is not responsible for discharging the employer's obligations.

A representative need not be selected in case the posting of the worker is no more than 10 days in duration. When determining the duration the posting period and all previous posting periods for the last four months during which workers of the same posting company have been working in Finland will be taken into account. Posting refers to all the days when one or more posted worker work in Finland. The months are calendar months.

A representative may be a legal entity or natural person, for instance the client in Finland (e.g. the user company employing an agency worker), an accounting firm or other service provider supplying services related to posted workers for foreign companies. If a posted worker is sent to a company in Finland belonging to the same group of companies, that company in Finland may act as the representative. The representative may also be a foreign national who is contactable in Finland.

The representative’s reachability in Finland refers to the representative having a postal address in Finland for the duration of the posting. The representative’s contact details (name, telephone number, email address and postal address) are notified to the occupational safety and health authority with the notification of the posting of workers.

Should the posting company not select a representative, it will be obliged to pay a penalty fee for negligence.

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