Wages and working hours

Every time you get paid, you pay taxes and other charges on your wages or salary as the law dictates. Finland has progressive taxation, meaning that the tax rate (veroprosentti) depends on income. You can see your tax rate on your tax card (verokortti).

Your wage or salary is paid to your bank account. When you receive a wage or salary, you must always also receive a payslip.

You can read more on opening a bank account on the InfoFinland page Everyday life in Finland.

Different sectors have different working hours. Work can be full-time or part-time, hourly-paid or shift work. According to law, regular working hours can be up to 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week.

Finnish law does not specify a minimum wage. Employers’ organisations and trade unions have agreed on minimum wages in the collective agreements (työehtosopimus) for various sectors. In most sectors, employers must observe a collective agreement. Collective agreements are often referred to with the abbreviation TES.

If there is no collective agreement in the sector, the employer and employee can agree on the wage or salary between themselves. According to law, the pay must be normal and reasonable, that is, you must receive the same wage or salary as others who do the same or similar work. 

If there is a probationary period, the employer must pay you a normal wage during it. Working without pay is only legal in the case of the employment services’ work trials, voluntary work or practical training related to studies.

Compare salaries

According to Statistics Finland (Tilastokeskus), the average salary in Finland at the end of 2023 was around €4,000 per month. However, this figure varies considerably between different sectors.

According to Statistics Finland (Tilastokeskus), the median wage of a full-time Finnish employee was €3,600 per month in 2023.

Examples of median wages:

• Doctors: €8,300 per month
• Managers: €7,200 per month
• Upper and lower secondary school teachers: €4,400 per month
• Primary school teachers and kindergarten teachers: €3,400 per month
• Specialists: €4,500 per month
• Experts: €3,600 per month
• Drivers: €3,400 per month
• Construction workers: €3,300 per month
• Practical nurses: €3,000 per month
• Salespersons: €2,800 per month
• Restaurant and catering workers: €2,700 per month
• Cleaners: €2,300 per month

(Statistics Finland 2023)

There are websites where you can compare wages and salaries. You can also ask for more information about your sector’s wage or salary level from the trade union.

Wages and salaries can be paid on an hourly, weekly or monthly basis. In some sectors, work is done on piecework pay (urakkapalkka) on the basis of results.

The employer must transfer your wage or salary to your bank account on the date agreed in the employment contract. As a rule, wages or salaries are paid once a month or every two weeks. If the payday falls during a weekend or holiday, the wage or salary will be paid to your account on the previous weekday. You will also receive pay during sick leave and annual holidays.

Read more on the InfoFinland page Occupational health and illness.

The payslip indicates how much you have been paid, what has been deducted from this gross salary (bruttopalkka), and how much money, i.e. the net salary (nettopalkka), you will then receive in your account. Check every time that the information on the payslip is correct. Keep a record of your hours worked to make it easier to check.

You can also search and view your own income information when you log in to the e-service of the Incomes Register (tulorekisteri) of the Tax Administration (Verohallinto). You can log in to the Incomes Register (tulorekisteri) with your online banking credentials. Select “Omat tulotiedot” and search for data for a specific period of time.

Tulorekisteri is a database in which employers report the salaries paid to their employees. The data in the Tulorekisteri is used by several organisations and authorities that have the right to do so. In addition to the Tax Administration, these include the Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto), the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela), the Finnish Centre for Pensions (Eläketurvakeskus), unemployment funds and other authorities.

The employer is responsible for reporting the correct information to the Incomes Register. If the payroll information is reported correctly, the same amount of money should appear in your account and in the Incomes Register. If there is an error in your data, ask your employer to correct the data in the Incomes Register. You can ask the tax authorities for more information.

Taxation and social security contributions

When you work in Finland, you are required to pay tax. How much you pay in taxes depends on your income. When you receive your first payslip, check that the statutory taxes and social security contributions have been deducted from your gross salary. If your employer suggests working without paying taxes, refuse. It is illegal in Finland.

Read more on the InfoFinland page Taxation. 

Working hours refers to the time spent on working during which the employee must be at the workplace or at the employer’s disposal. In Finland, working hours are regulated by the Working Hours Act (työaikalaki) and collective agreements (työehtosopimus).

The employer must keep a record of your working hours. You have the right to get a copy of the record of your working hours from your employer. You should also keep a record yourself of the hours you have worked. Remember to also record the start and end times of shifts.

Regular working hours

Working hours vary from sector to sector. According to law, regular working hours (säännöllinen työaika) may not exceed 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week. An employee is usually entitled to two days off per week.

In some jobs, such as in the restaurant sector, transport sector and at nursing institutions, regular working hours can be organised as intermittent work. In this case, the regular working hours are either 80 hours in a two-week period or 120 hours in a three-week period. Check the working hours in the collective agreement for your sector.

Flexible working hours

Flexible working hours (liukuva työaika) means that you can decide for yourself at what time of day you start and stop working. However, you must comply with the boundary conditions agreed in the employment contract.

Shift work

In shift work (vuorotyö), shifts vary, and you may work, for example, morning shifts, evening shifts or night shifts. The employer must make a work schedule in advance, and you must be able to view it no later than one week before the beginning of the working week.

Overtime

If the employer asks you to work overtime (ylityö), i.e. work that is done in addition to regular working hours, you must receive an increased salary for it. The increase must be at least 50%. You cannot work overtime without the employer’s permission. The employer must also obtain your consent to working overtime.

Full-time and part-time work

Work can be full-time or part-time. Full-time work (kokoaikainen työ) means that you work a full day, usually about eight hours a day and five days a week. Part-time work (osa-aikainen työ) means that you only work part of the day or part of the week.

Variable working hours

You can also agree on variable working hours (vaihteleva työaika) in the employment contract. In this case, exact working hours are not agreed, and instead you agree to work a certain number of hours, such as 10–30 hours or 0–40 hours, per week. If you have agreed on a minimum of zero hours for a certain period of time, it is called a zero-hour contract (nollatuntisopimus). In this case, the employer calls you to work as needed and is not obliged to offer you any working hours.

Do not enter into a zero-hour contract (nollatuntisopimus) if you can avoid it, and instead try to negotiate a minimum number of hours for the employment contract.

Note that if the employer stops offering work altogether, you can ask them why your workload has decreased, and they must explain it to you in writing.