Employee benefitsin Finland

The employer’s occupational healthcare starts with a written provider agreement and workplace survey, followed by an action plan reviewed at least annually. A qualified public, joint or private provider can deliver the service. Eligible reimbursement depends on necessary and reasonable costs and valid service documents; applications are made within six months of the financial year ending. Kela, Finland’s public social insurance institution, describes reimbursement as around half of the calculated maximum costs, rather than a guarantee to repay half of every invoice.

Employers arrange and fund preventive occupational healthcare for employees. It protects work ability and prevents work-related illness and accidents through workplace assessments, health checks and advice. The employer signs a service agreement and maintains an action plan with a qualified public or private provider. Ordinary medical treatment is a separate voluntary enhancement.

Employers can add private medical insurance to Finland’s public healthcare and mandatory preventive occupational services. The policy sets covered treatment, provider access, excesses and any dependent cover. Insurance is separate from an employer directly arranging ordinary medical treatment through its occupational provider.

Employers can fund employees’ personal sports and cultural activities through vouchers or other restricted payment arrangements. The benefit supports activities rather than an unrestricted salary supplement. The employer chooses the award amount and eligible programme within the applicable tax rules.

An employer may extend occupational healthcare to include ordinary medical treatment, alongside mandatory preventive services. The provider agreement defines the treatment and access offered. This is a voluntary service enhancement, distinct from separate medical insurance.

An employer may add wellness services alongside sports and cultural activities and occupational health. The workplace programme determines the services and employee access; it does not automatically provide a cash account or a universal annual allowance.

An applicable collective agreement can require employee group life insurance. The insurer collects its contribution with occupational accident insurance. The contribution depends on the business and company; this is an agreement-based obligation rather than an identical statutory premium for all employers.

Employers insure employees against occupational accidents and diseases when total annual wages exceed EUR 1,500. Cover must be in force when employment starts. The insurer sets the contribution according to the business and its risk; this is separate from ordinary medical care.

Employers arrange earnings-related pension insurance for employees from age 17 when earnings meet the insurance threshold; the upper age limit depends on birth year. The pension provides retirement and disability protection. In 2026 the employee contribution is 7.30% of insured earnings at all covered ages. The average employer contribution for an employer with an insurance contract is 17.10%; the actual insurer charge varies.

Since 1 May 2026, the general social security benefit, called yleistuki, replaces the former basic unemployment allowance and labour market subsidy. Kela, Finland’s public social insurance institution, pays it to eligible unemployed jobseekers aged 18–64 who live permanently in Finland and cannot receive, or have exhausted, earnings-related unemployment allowance. The full taxable amount is EUR 37.21 a day, averaging EUR 800.02 a month, paid for five days a week including midweek holidays. Earnings and other income can reduce the benefit; earnings-related unemployment fund cover is a separate arrangement.

A voluntary occupational pension can add retirement provision for participating executives above Finland’s earnings-related statutory pension. Scheme terms determine contributions, eligibility, vesting and payment. This employer arrangement is separate from the statutory employee pension deduction.

The pregnant parent can receive pregnancy allowance for 40 consecutive working days. Leave starts 14–30 working days before the expected delivery, and the employee normally informs the employer at least two months before leave. Kela, Finland’s public social insurance institution, calculates the allowance from the applicable annual income. Kela working days are Monday to Saturday excluding weekday public holidays. Public allowance is distinct from any salary continuation required by a collective agreement or employment contract.

Parental allowance covers 320 working days per child, normally divided into 160 days for each of two eligible parents. Each parent can transfer up to 63 days of their own quota. The days must be used before the child turns two. If there is only one eligible parent, that parent can use all 320 days. Kela, Finland’s public social insurance institution, generally calculates payment from annual income. Its working-day count includes Monday to Saturday but excludes weekday public holidays; the allowance is separate from employer salary continuation.

Holiday bonuses are commonly provided through collective agreements, often at 50% of annual-holiday pay. The applicable agreement determines entitlement and whether payment falls before or after the holiday. This is additional holiday-related pay, separate from normal salary paid during leave; it is not a universal statutory thirteenth-month salary.

A discretionary bonus adds cash to base salary. Employers define the performance criteria in advance, often for a one-year assessment period, using individual work results, company financial targets or a combination. The policy determines who participates and how the award is calculated; the assessment period does not itself promise a yearly payment.

Stock options give an employee a contractual right to acquire company shares under agreed terms, potentially below the market value at exercise. An option grant is distinct from exercising the right and obtaining shares. The plan sets exercise price, service or performance conditions, vesting and leaver treatment. Share ownership arises only when the relevant shares are acquired.

In 2026, a qualifying domestic business trip can attract a tax-free partial daily allowance of EUR 25 when it lasts more than six hours, or EUR 54 when it lasts more than 10 hours. The destination must be over 15 kilometres from the starting workplace or home and over five kilometres from both the home and normal workplace. These payments cover extra living costs during travel, rather than normal salary.

If no daily allowance is paid and the assignment prevents eating at the usual meal location, tax-free meal money is up to EUR 13.50. Free meals reduce qualifying daily allowances: one free meal halves the partial allowance, and two halve the full allowance. The employer’s agreement determines whether it pays; the figures are tax-exempt ceilings, not mandatory daily benefits.

For a qualifying business journey using a personally funded car, an employer can reimburse up to EUR 0.55 per kilometre tax-free in 2026. The journey must be for work at a temporary work location; ordinary travel between home and the normal workplace does not qualify. The employee submits an expense report. This is a tax-exempt reimbursement ceiling, not a compulsory commuting allowance.

Employers support meals through workplace or canteen services, restaurant arrangements, or restricted vouchers, cards and applications. Meal support can also form part of dining-supervision work or hotel, restaurant and flight staff arrangements, which have distinct tax valuations. The arrangement determines the employer subsidy and any employee contribution; a lunch payment instrument is not unrestricted cash.

An employer bicycle benefit provides personal use of an owned or leased bicycle. From January 2026 a benefit agreed on or after 24 April 2025 is generally taxable. A benefit and bicycle order both contracted before that date can retain the former exemption of up to EUR 1,200 a year for the agreed period, limited to five years. That exempt amount counts within the combined EUR 3,400 commuter-ticket limit.

An employer can subsidise public transport between home and work. In 2026 the commuter-ticket exemption is up to EUR 3,400 a year, with any qualifying tax-exempt bicycle benefit included in that combined limit. Employees cannot also deduct commuting costs covered by the exempt ticket. The ceiling is a tax rule rather than the amount every employer funds.

A company car benefit gives the employee or family private use of an employer vehicle, including commuting. Under a full car benefit the employer pays all vehicle expenses; under a limited benefit the employee pays at least running costs such as fuel. Tax valuation combines a basic vehicle-value component and operating costs, with the vehicle’s age, accessories and power source affecting the result. The award is a vehicle-use benefit rather than a uniform cash allowance.

An employer-paid phone subscription can cover private calls, messages and data as well as work use. Its taxable value is EUR 20 a month in 2026. A work device alone does not create the same benefit, and there is no taxable phone benefit where the employee pays for private calls. Premium-rate calls and mobile-payment purchases fall outside the standard subscription valuation.

Flexible working arrangements let participating employees vary the timing of work within agreed operational and working-time limits. Flexibility concerns when work is done and does not itself promise remote work, reduced hours or additional paid leave.

Employer learning support pays for professional courses, training and development opportunities relevant to employees’ skills and progression. Workplace policy sets eligible learning, approval and any study-time support. Funding professional development is distinct from a statutory right to take unpaid study leave.

Employer housing provides an apartment, room or board as part of the employment package. A qualifying accommodation benefit involves a dwelling owned or rented by the employer. Its taxable value depends on the municipality, floor area and, in Helsinki, postcode. The housing value includes water and heating but excludes electricity unrelated to heating; it is a tax valuation rather than the employer’s housing budget.

Some employers provide parking support within expatriate packages. Parking used at the workplace during working hours does not itself create a taxable benefit. A separate employer-provided garage or parking place elsewhere can create a taxable benefit whose valuation depends on location and whether it is heated.

Some expatriate packages cover relocation costs associated with moving for work. The employer’s assignment terms determine eligible expenses, reimbursement and any family support. Relocation funding is separate from a company’s immigration service or platform fee.

In 2026 employers pay a health insurance contribution of 1.91% for covered employees aged 16–67. Employees pay a medical-care contribution of 1.10%, plus a daily-allowance contribution of 0.88% when annual earnings reach EUR 17,255; these are included in tax withholding. For unemployment insurance, employers with annual payroll above EUR 1,500 pay 0.31% on payroll up to EUR 2,509,500 and 1.23% on the excess. Covered employees aged 18–64 pay 0.89%; the shareholder-employee rate is 0.39%.