If you are about enter into an employment relationship, this page contains useful information for you. Use the links below to go directly to the subject that is of interest to you.
Entering into an employment contract
Key terms of employment
Minimum wages
Trial period
Working with children
The format of the employment contract is free, and it can be oral, written or electronic. However, it is recommended that you always draw up a written contract.
An employment contract is valid until further notice or for a fixed term. The employer may only conclude an employment contract for a fixed term for a justified reason.
If you have been an unemployed jobseeker for an uninterrupted period of 12 months, no special reasoning is needed for entering into a fixed-term employment contract.
The employer must give the key terms of employment to the employee in writing if they are not specified in a written employment contract.
This information should be provided within the first pay period, or at the latest within a month of the start date of the employment relationship.
The information must be provided in employment relationships that are valid until further notice or continue for more than a month.
This information must at least contain
In case of work carried out abroad whose duration is at least one month, the information must also specify the duration of the work, the currency in which the salary will be paid, monetary compensation and fringe benefits paid abroad and the terms of repatriating the employee.
There is no specific act on minimum wages in Finland. Neither are the wages to be paid to employees laid down in the Employment Contracts Act, and the pay is thus usually determined on the basis of the collective agreements in each sector.
Minimum wages (tem.fi)
Collective agreements in Finlex service (in Finnish)
When you are entering into an employment contract, you can agree with the employer that you begin with a trial period. The maximum duration of a trial period may be six months.
During the trial period, the employment contract may be terminated by either party. However, the prohibition of terminating an employment contract for reasons that are discriminatory or inappropriate also applies during the trial period.
In exceptional circumstances a trial period can also be included in an employment contract at a later date in case there is a substantial change in the tasks to be performed.
If the work involves close interaction with children, a background check must be carried out on the person hired for the job following the statutory procedure.