A posted worker in Finland is an employee who is sent from abroad to perform temporary work in Finland by their employer, which is a company located in a country other than Finland and which is engaging in considerable business in Finland.
Foreign companies with posted workers in Finland must have a representative, which the posted workers and the Finnish authorities can contact during the duration of the posting. Thus, the natural person or company acting as the representative should have an address in Finland. The representative does not have to be an employee or executive of the posting company. A foreign company has an obligation to have a representative in Finland if the foreign company conducts business in Finland and uses its own personnel here. However, a representative is also needed when an internal transfer or posting of a temporary agency worker to Finland is considered. An internal transfer means that the employee comes to Finland to work at the location of another company within the same group of companies.
A representative must be appointed in above-described situations provided that the duration of work in Finland is more than ten days. If the company has several posting periods in Finland, all other periods in the four calendar months preceding the end of the posting are considered when calculating the duration of the posting of workers. Posting refers to all the days when the company has had one or more posted workers working in Finland.
The posting company is obligated to keep information available in Finland during the posting on the posting company and its posted workers. However, the communication with the authorities is usually carried out in practice through the representative with an address in Finland. The company (or the representative, if agreed) must be able to transfer all necessary documentation regarding the posting company and its posted workers to the applicable authorities. The information that should always be available in Finland in writing during the posting is at least the following:
- Identifying details of the posting company;
- identifying details of the posted worker or workers;
- an explanation of the posted worker’s right to work;
- information on the posted worker’s terms and conditions of employment;
- a record of working hours concerning the posted worker’s work in Finland;
- a payslip; and
- a document issued by a financial institution of the wages paid.
Information must be kept for two years after the posted worker’s work in Finland has ceased.
It is good to notice that if a foreign company posting an employee to Finland does not select a representative, it must pay a penalty fee for negligence. The penalty fee is at least 1,000 € and at its maximum 10,000 €.
If you wish to hear more about the obligation to have an official employer’s representative in Finland for posted workers, or you are already looking for a trusted representative, we here at Fiscales offer our payroll clients a service where Fiscales acts as the representative for foreign employers.
