Glossary

A1 certificate (A1-todistus)

The A1 certificate indicates which country’s social security legislation applies to the holder and to which country social security contributions are paid. A valid A1 certificate means that the pension and accident insurance is in order.

Buyer (Tilaaja)

According to The Act on the Contractor’s Obligations and Liability, the following are buyers: traders, state, municipalities, joint municipal authorities, parishes, parish unions, other religious communities and other legal persons governed by public law. Also, all similar foreign operators are buyers.

Collective agreement (Työehtosopimus)

When a company has employees working in Finland, the company must name a Finnish, generally binding collective agreement to be complied with. If there is no suitable applicable collective agreement, the company must state the principle terms of employment.

Contracting partner (Sopimuskumppani)

Those who have a contractual relationship with each other are contracting partners.

D visa (D-viisumi)

The purpose is to speed up the entry of a person who has just received a residence permit, used in EU member states. With a D visa issued by Finland, you can travel and stay freely in the Schengen area. The D visa issued by Finland is valid for 100 days. In other EU countries, possibly 90 to 365 days.

Developer (Rakennuttaja)

A developer is the main buyer of a construction project.

Finnish company (Suomalainen yritys)

A Finnish company is a Finnish registered company, operating mainly in Finland.

Finnish company with foreign employees (Suomalainen yritys, jolla ulkomaalaisia työntekijöitä)

Finnish company with foreign employees has foreign employees on its payroll. Additional responsibilities and obligations may occur compared to Finnish employees.

Finnish tax number (Suomalainen veronumero)

A Finnish tax number is mandatory for everyone working in areas classified as construction sites in Finland, regardless of nationality or the company’s country of origin.

Foreign company (Ulkomaalainen yritys)

A foreign company is a foreign registered company, operating mainly in the country of origin and has no main operations in Finland. Even if the company registers in Finland or a permanent establishment is formed, the company is still considered a foreign company.

Incomes register (Tulorekisteri)

The Incomes Register is an electronic income database in Finland. The employer or other payer must report the information on earned income to the income register within five days of the payment date.

Information-reporting requirement (Tiedonantovelvollisuus)

Information on construction contracts, employees, employers and employment relationships must be submitted to the Tax Administration on a monthly basis, per construction site. For contracts over 15,000 euros, everyone who orders construction services must inform the Tax Administration every month of the ordered construction work. Information-reporting is done electronically with the information specified in more detail in the instructions of the Tax Administration.

Liability Act (Tilaajavastuulaki)

The Liability Act requires that the buyer of the work, before concluding the contract, must check that the contracting partner has fulfilled its legal obligations, such as payment of taxes.

Liability documents and clarifications (Tilaajavastuuselvitykset)

Company-specific documents and clarifications, that the buyer must always request from all contracting partners before concluding a contract, regardless of the type of company:

1. Clarification whether the contracting partner is registered in the prepayment register, employer register and value added tax register
2. Clarification on tax payment matters
3. Trade register extract

If a foreign company has registered in Finland and it has a Finnish business ID, the company must provide the buyer with the register information specified in paragraph 1 and the tax payment information specified in paragraph 2 from both the country of origin and Finland.

Employee-specific documents and clarifications that the buyer must always request when the contracting partner has or will have employees working at the buyer’s site or premises:

4. Clarification on employee’s pension insurance
5. Confirmation of the collective agreement or principle terms of employment applicable to the work
6. Confirmation of an occupational health care contract with a Finnish provider
7. Clarification on employee’s accident insurance (only in construction activities)

Main contractor (Pääurakoitsija)

The main contractor has a direct contract with the principal contractor or developer. The main contractor is responsible for the whole contract and if necessary, uses subcontractors to carry out the work.

Minimum wage (Minimipalkka)

In Finland, the law does not determine a minimum wage, but the criteria for determining wages comes from generally binding collective agreements.

Notification of posting of workers (Ilmoitus työntekijöiden lähettämisestä)

When a foreign company posts employees to work in Finland, the company must notify the occupational health and safety authority by submitting a Notification of Posting of Workers.

Occupational health care (Työterveyshuolto)

When a company has employees working in Finland, the company must arrange statutory, preventive occupational health care for employees through a Finnish service provider.

Permanent establishment (Kiinteä toimipaikka)

A permanent establishment is a geographically fixed place of business from where a company operates on a permanent basis. When a foreign company operates in Finland, a permanent establishment may form and the company becomes liable to pay tax on the income of the operations carried out in Finland.

Personal ID (Henkilötunniste)

It is mandatory for all persons working on a shared construction site to have a photo ID visible for the entire duration of their work. The buyer and the principal contractor are responsible for ensuring that all persons have the mandatory ID card. Employers are also responsible for their own employees and those of their contractual partners.

Personal protective equipment, PPE (Henkilösuojaimet)

Appropriate personal protective equipment must be used on the construction site. Personal protective equipment is equipment that protects against accidents or illness at work. For example, helmets, safety glasses, safety shoes, hearing and breathing protection.

Posted worker (Lähetetty työntekijä)

A posted worker is an employee who normally works in a country other than Finland and who is posted to Finland for a limited period of time by an employer established in another country.

Posted worker representative (Lähetetyn työntekijän edustaja)

When a foreign company posts employees to work in Finland, the company must appoint a posted worker representative.

Principal contractor (Päätoteuttaja)

A principal contractor is appointed by the developer to control and manage the construction site. Only one principal contractor can be appointed. If the principal contractor has not been appointed, the developer will act as the principal contractor.

Rental agency(Vuokratyöyritys)

The rental agency transfers employees to another employer company (the user company). The employee works under the supervision of the work recipient (the user company).

Subcontractor (Alihankkija)

A subcontractor is contracted out by another contractor to perform the agreed work. It is important to know with which company the subcontractor has a contractual relationship (to know the whole contracting chain).

Shared construction site (Yhteinen rakennustyömaa)

When at least two employer companies or independent contractors carry out construction work on a construction site, a shared construction site is created.

Verification of pension and accident insurance (Eläke- ja tapaturmavakuutuksen todentaminen)

Employers in Finland have a legal obligation to arrange pension insurance for their employees and insurance against work accidents and occupational diseases and to insure the employees. The obligation also applies to foreign companies operating in Finland.

The Liability Act requires you to confirm that your contract partner has organised accident and pension insurances for their employees and that the pension insurance premiums have been paid.