Your first Finnish contract may be shorter than you expect, and it may refer to a document you have never seen. That document is the collective agreement, and in Finland it often matters more than the contract itself. Working in Finland is easy to start, because as a European you need no permit, and easy to get wrong, because the rules sit in three places: the law, the agreement of your sector and your own contract.
Can you start working in Finland without a permit?
If you are a citizen of the EU, the EEA or Switzerland, yes. You need a personal identity code and a tax card, not a work permit. You may start working as soon as you arrive, even while Migri processes your registration. Nordic citizens share a common labour market and do not register with Migri. See residence in Finland for EU citizens.
British citizens are the exception: since Brexit you need a residence permit that allows work, unless you are protected by the Withdrawal Agreement. See moving to Finland from the UK.
How do you find a job in Finland?
Vacancies are published on Työmarkkinatori (Job Market Finland), the public employment portal, and on EURES, the European job portal. Since 1 January 2025, support for jobseekers is provided by municipal employment services. Once you have a municipality of residence, register as a jobseeker with them on the same portal if you are still looking.
If your profession is regulated, such as health, education or law, get your qualification recognised before you start. The Finnish National Agency for Education (OPH) or the profession's own authority decides. OPH charges €495 per recognition application in 2026, and about €221 for an opinion on a foreign vocational qualification, with around three months of processing. Healthcare professionals apply to the Licensing and Supervisory Agency, which took over from Valvira on 1 January 2026, with a legal decision time of four months from a complete file. Many jobs also expect Finnish or Swedish; ask at the interview.
Is your job regulated, or does your offer say something you do not understand about the collective agreement? Moovy can read the structure of your case with you, list which documents to prepare and draft the message to the authority or your employer. It cannot negotiate for you.
What is the minimum wage when working in Finland?
There is no statutory minimum wage. Pay minimums, and a good part of your rights, come from the työehtosopimus, the collective agreement of your sector. If it is generally binding (yleissitova), your employer must follow it even if it belongs to no employers' federation, and anything in your contract that falls below it is void. So the first practical question to ask is which collective agreement applies and which pay category you are in.
What does a Finnish employment contract contain?
The contract can be oral, written or electronic, but the employer must give you the essential terms in writing: duration, pay, working time and the collective agreement applied. The default is a permanent contract. A fixed-term contract normally needs a valid reason, with one recent exception: since 1 June 2026 (Act 412/2026), a first contract with an employer, with no previous contract in the last five years, can be fixed-term without a reason for up to one year. The employer must then offer you work if it recruits for a similar post afterwards. A fixed-term contract set in breach of the rules is treated as permanent. Successive fixed-term contracts covering a permanent need are prohibited.
Probation (koeaika) can last up to six months. It is extended by a month for each 30 days of sickness or family leave. In a fixed-term contract, it is at most half the length of the contract and never more than six months.
Notice from the employer: 14 days up to one year of service, one month for one to four years, two months for four to eight, four months for eight to twelve, six months beyond. Notice from you: 14 days up to five years, one month after. The contract or agreement may set other periods, up to six months. If you quit without observing notice, you may owe the employer compensation equal to your pay for the notice period.
How much do you work, and how much leave do you get?
The standard is eight hours a day and 40 hours a week. Overtime is paid 50 per cent more for the first two daily hours and 100 per cent more after that, with weekly overtime at 50 per cent more and Sunday work at 100 per cent more. The weekly average, overtime included, must not exceed 48 hours over four months.
Annual leave is 2.5 working days per full month, Monday to Saturday counting as working days, or 2 days if you have under a year of service on 31 March. The leave year runs from 1 April to 31 March, and summer leave is taken between 2 May and 30 September. The holiday bonus (lomaraha) is not in the leave act but in many collective agreements; check yours.
What taxes and contributions come out of your pay?
Get your tax card as soon as you have the personal identity code, because without it your employer withholds 60 per cent. See the Finnish personal identity code. In 2026, TyEL pension contributions of 7.30 per cent, unemployment insurance of 0.89 per cent and health insurance of 1.10 per cent come out of the payslip.
What if you lose your job?
Two layers exist.
Wage-linked benefit (ansiopäiväraha) is paid by an unemployment fund (työttömyyskassa). You must have joined it, and joining cannot be backdated: only months worked while a member count. The work condition is 12 months of work in the previous 28. A month counts in full if you earned at least €930 in insured pay, and two months between €465 and €930 count as one (2026 amounts). The duration is 300, 400 or 500 days depending on your work history. Join a fund as soon as you start.
General support (yleistuki) from Kela is the fallback. Since 1 May 2026 it replaces the basic allowance and the labour market subsidy, and is €37.21 a day in 2026, five days a week, taxable. It has a 21-week waiting period if you have no vocational or higher degree. Your work in another EU country can count with a U1 form, which you request before leaving your previous country. Without it your earlier work may not count. See Kela in Finland.
On Åland, unemployment support goes through the islands' own employment and study authority. See moving to Åland.
How do you join an unemployment fund, and when?
You can join an unemployment fund (työttömyyskassa) from your first job, through the website of the fund that covers your sector, and the membership fee is deductible. The rule that matters is that membership cannot be backdated: months worked before you joined do not count towards the earnings-related benefit. Tell the fund about earlier work in another EU country, because the U1 form can make those periods count, subject to the requirement of at least four weeks of work in Finland afterwards. Self-employed people join an entrepreneurs' fund.
What about holidays, sick pay and parental leave?
Annual leave is covered above. Sick pay, parental leave and family benefits depend on your employment contract, your collective agreement and Kela benefits, and the details vary. After you register with Kela, check which allowances apply to your situation in OmaKela. See Kela in Finland.
Which mistakes should you avoid?
Looking for a statutory minimum wage that does not exist. Starting work with no tax card. Joining an unemployment fund after you lose your job. Accepting repeated fixed-term contracts for a permanent role. Not asking which collective agreement applies. And ignoring the language: Åland and most municipal workplaces work in Swedish or Finnish.
Finland's labour market is orderly, and it rewards the newcomer who reads the agreement before the first day.