Note! Guidelines in accordance with the contexts of the new law can be found here.

A foreign company posting workers to Finland must have a representative in Finland unless it has a place of business in Finland. The function of the representative is for instance to handle official transactions on behalf of the foreign company. The representative is not responsible for discharging the employer's obligations.

The employer of a posted worker must appoint a representative at the latest when the posted worker begins employment in Finland if the duration of the posting is more than 14 calendar days. If employer and employee have concluded several fixed-term posted worker employment contracts running back-to-back or with only brief interruptions, the employment relationship is considered to be continuous. In other words, a representative must be appointed at the latest when the posted worker has been working in Finland for a total of 14 calendar days in consecutive fixed-term employment relationships.

The representative must be competent to appear in court on behalf of the posting company and receive summonses and other official documents on their behalf. A representative may be 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 authorisation of a representative must last for at least 12 months after the posted worker's work in Finland has ended.

The client must also ensure the appointment of a representative

If the client has specified the appointment of a representative in the agreement signed with a foreign company, this is considered to fulfil the client’s requirement to ensure such an appointment. However, the parties to such agreements do not always execute the agreements in writing. For this reason, the client may also demonstrate in some other way that he has ensured that the foreign employer is aware of the requirement to appoint a representative and the related obligations.

When the work of the posted worker in Finland begins, the representative must have in his/her possession the following:

• identifying details of the employer, i.e. the registered official name of the company, business ID, registration number with the authorities in the country of origin (if any), address in the country of origin and responsible executives in the home country,
• identifying details of the posted worker, i.e. name, personal identity number (if any), and age and professional qualifications in the case of job duties where a specific age and qualifications are required,
•  an explanation of the posted worker’s right to work, and
• information on the posted worker’s terms and conditions of employment: duration of the employment contract, location where the work is performed, job duties, applicable collective agreement, grounds for determining wages, and working hours.

If the duration of the posted worker’s posting is more than eight days, the employer or employer’s representative must have the following in their possession in Finland:

• a record of working hours concerning the posted worker’s work in Finland, and
• information on wages paid to the posted worker.

The posted worker’s employer must notify the client before the work begins in Finland who is in possession of the aforementioned information during the posted worker’s posting. This will ensure compliance with the minimum terms and conditions of employment in the posted worker's employment relationship. This information must be kept for two years after the posted worker’s work has ended.

New obligations for the parties to an agreement as of 1 September 2015

The employer or his representative must inform the posted worker of the competent occupational safety and health authority before the work begins. Also, the client must inform the employer in writing of the competent occupational safety and health authority. This written information must be verifiably available during the posted worker’s work.

The employer or his representative must also give the client a certificate of the determination of social security (accident insurance, pension insurance) for those posted workers who begin their work after the start of the work specified in the agreement. However, said certificate must be supplied before the later-starting posted workers begin their work. The certificate must be retained for the duration of the work.

The information referred to above does not have to be provided if the value of the subcontracting agreement is less than EUR 9,000 (ex VAT) or if the work of the posted workers lasts for no more than 10 working days. Several fixed-term employment contracts running back to back or with only brief interruptions are considered continuous employment. If the contractual relationship between the partners can be considered to be well established, the client does not need to inform the posted worker’s employer in writing about the competent occupational safety and health authority.