There are certain circumstances in which an employee can be terminated on grounds related to the employee's person. Grounds for termination related to the employee’s person are always evaluated holistically and on a case-by-case basis.

The personal grounds for termination related to the employee's person include, for example, violation or neglect of an employee's obligations under the employment contract or the law and a substantial change in the employee's personal working conditions. Examples of such grounds related to the employee’s person include neglect of work, unjustified absences, defective work performance or failure to follow instructions, inappropriate behaviour, negligence at work or repeated tardiness.

When assessing the grounds, the number of employees employed by the employer and the circumstances of the employer and employee as a whole shall be considered. In addition, the employee’s position, the nature of the work, and the employer’s procedure, such as instructions and intervention on the employee's procedure shall be accounted for.

Grounds for termination related to the employee's person include

• the violation or neglect of a condition agreed on in the employment contract
• violations of the law
• the neglect of other obligations with an essential impact on the employment relationship
• any significant change in the employee’s personal circumstances that makes them unable to perform their work.

Under the Employment Contracts Act, personal circumstances that cannot be used as reasonable grounds for termination include

• an employee’s illness, disability or injury, except where these cause a substantial reduction in the employee’s work ability for a long period of time and the employer cannot reasonably be expected to continue the employment contract
• an employee’s participation in industrial action pursuant to the Finnish Collective Agreements Act or on their trade union’s orders
• an employee’s political, religious or other views or participation in social activism or associations
• an employee’s exercising their legal remedies.

Termination on the grounds of minor violations or individual errors is not allowed.

If an employee has violated or neglected their obligations under the employment relationship, the employer may not terminate the employment contract before they have been provided with an opportunity to correct their action through the issuance of a warning unless the violation is so serious that the employer cannot reasonably be required to continue the employment relationship.

Terminating an employee on the basis of an illness, disability or injury is possible of the reduction in the employee’s work ability is substantial and long-term and the employee’s duties or working conditions cannot be adapted to suit their work ability and the employer cannot offer any other work. The estimated length of an employee’s reduced work ability and impact on work performance are determined by health care professionals.

The employer's obligation to inspect the reassignment of the employee to another job only applies to situations where the employee’s conditions for working have changed.

Terminating an employee during pregnancy or family leave

The Finnish Employment Contracts Act lays down special provisions on the termination of pregnant employees and employees on family leave. An employee may not be terminated on the grounds that the employee is pregnant or exercises the right to pregnancy or family leave.

Any termination of an employee during their pregnancy or family leave is deemed to have been due to these factors unless the employer is able to prove other grounds for the termination.

The employer may terminate the employment of a pregnant employee when the termination is made on grounds unrelated to the pregnancy, such as due to financial or production reasons or grounds related to the employee’s person.

The employer may terminate the employment of an employee on pregnancy or parental leave for financial or production reasons only when the employer’s operations cease entirely.  The ban on termination does not apply to termination on grounds related to the employee’s person or in the case of termination due to the employer’s bankruptcy or death.