Employment relationship

Right to work

Lähetetty työntekijä - Työnteko-oikeus

Grounds for the right to work

The posted worker must have been granted the right to work in Finland if they are a foreign citizen. The grounds for the right to work depend on the citizenship of the posted foreign employee, what work they are to perform in Finland and for how long a period:

Citizens of the Nordic countries, Member States of the EU, Liechtenstein and Switzerland do not need to apply for a residence permit in order to work in Finland. They have the right to work in Finland on the grounds of their citizenship.
Posted employees who are not citizens of any of the aforementioned countries generally need a residence permit for an employed person or another kind of residence permit allowing for paid employment.

The Aliens Act lists a number of scenarios where employment in Finland is allowed without a residence permit for an employed person.

Graph Determination of a posted worker’s right to work (pdf) describes the determination of the right to work in different situations. Click on the image to enlarge the graph.

Verifying the right to work

Employers are required to verify that employees have the right to work in Finland. This obligation also applies to posting companies as employers, even if the undertaking is registered abroad.

In situations where foreign workers perform contracted or subcontracted work or temporary agency work for a foreign employer or as an internal transfer within the company, the obligation to verify the right to work also applies to the contractor. In this case, “contractor” refers to the party awarding the contract or the subcontract or the party commissioning the work.

In the construction sector, the main contractor or other general contractor and the employer exercising primary control over a shipyard area also have an obligation to verify the right to work. These parties must verify that all employees working in the area have the right to work.

The information has to be retained for two years after the termination of a foreign worker’s employment relationship. The employer may choose how to store this information, but it must be easily available for inspection by the occupational safety and health authorities.

Obligation to report to the TE Office and employee representatives

The Finnish Aliens Act obligates employers to verify that all their foreign workers have the right to work in Finland and keep related evidence, as well as the following obligations:

When posting individuals who are not EU/EEA citizens or family members of the same, the following information has to be supplied to the TE Office:
- worker posted to Finland
- duration of the employment
- worker’s pay
- applicable collective agreement.
The shop steward, the elected representative and the occupational safety and health representative have to be informed of the foreign worker’s name and applicable collective agreement.

The TE Office must be notified of any workers posted from outside the EU.

The information listed above must be supplied to the TE Office without undue delay (within one week). The notification is submitted via the Enter Finland service.

If the notification cannot be submitted electronically, it can be submitted on paper.

For more information and to access the form, visit the TE Services website with instructions for hiring a foreign worker (in Finnish).

Failure to comply with the reporting duty can lead to a penalty.