Top Talent

Recruiting Top Talent

Recruitment can be a tricky business, especially when a company is venturing to unfamiliar countries and exploring new markets. This is where we come in to oversee the process for you – Bradford Jacobs’ expertise and over 20 years of experience in international recruitment services are indispensable for expansion into Finland. Hiring the right talent in Finland to expand your company can result in a thriving business with numerous opportunities. However, the recruitment process can be complicated when you have no physical presence in Finland yet. Our PEO and EOR service can be the solution for your company.

The Recruitment Process in Finland

A foreign company expanding into Finland need not establish a local entity to hire its employees. However, it is crucial to your recruitment drive to know where to locate the right talent and perfect fit for your company. Additionally, who are the ideal local and international employment organizations to collaborate with to access the best talent pools? The answers do not come easily – and once the right employee is found, the employer must follow strict staffing and registration procedures. These include:

• The answers do not come easily – and once the right employee is found, the employer must follow strict staffing and registration procedures. These include:
• Registering with Central Tax Administration to obtain an employee’s 12-digit tax number
• Registering for a Finnish identity number for foreign workers, if required, before applying for the tax number
• Registering with the Social Insurance Institution (Kela)
• Registering the company with the Employer Register of the Central Tax Administration
• Creating contracts for employees that comply with the Finnish Employment Contracts Act in Finnish, Swedish and English if required
• Applying for employees’ permits and visas if required
• Applying for employees’ special expatriation status if applicable
• Calculating employees’ monthly salaries and providing their pay slips
• Researching for any available tax-free allowances or benefits
• Submitting employees’ or employer’s wage tax returns and national insurance forms
• Corresponding with the applicable national authorities regarding payroll changes and payments
• Creating a payment schedule for wage tax, national and social insurances, and net wages
• Creating and submitting your company’s annual accounts and year-end statements

The recruitment process is time-consuming and requires dedication – a difficult task when faced with a host of other complicated tasks involved in Global Expansion. By engaging Bradford Jacobs as your Employer of Record (EOR) we can provide all the answers. We will convert your expansion blueprint for Finland into an action plan with a few simple steps, including:

• Bradford Jacobs locates the perfect employees for your company, then steps in as EOR to ensure they comply with Finnish employment contracts law, payroll, HR, visa requirements and permits (if required).
• We manage all work-related registration formalities and ongoing employment issues while you have daily control of your employees.
• The employees complete their timesheets and any expense claims – and we invoice you, the client. Once paid, we deduct all contributions from the relevant Finnish authorities and transfer the balance into the employees’ accounts.

Within a few days, your company has an international presence in Finland – in a prime position to explore further expansion into Scandinavia and Europe without risking the expense or stress of setting up your own subsidiary or branch office in the country.

Legal Checks You Can Make on Employees in Finland

When starting the recruitment process in a foreign country, employers must consider their legal obligations. In Finland, background checks on employees or candidates are governed by the Act on the Protection of Privacy in Working Life, which stipulates employers should collect personal data only with the employee’s permission. Third parties can only be used to collect information with permission from the employee. Additionally, European Union (EU) laws come into play and protect employees and potential employees against discrimination based on such as race, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, family status or membership in political or public organizations.

This includes background checks that should relate directly to the specific role being applied for. In line with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), personal data is also protected by law and can only be obtained with the individual’s consent and if it is relevant to the position. Essentially, Finnish employees and job seekers have the fullest right to know what information about them is collected and how it is handled and processed.

Importantly, Finland’s law on criminal record checks is due to change in 2022 relating to working with minors. Previously, checks were only possible on employees working in the field for more than three months in a 12-month period, but under new legislation, employers will have the right to conduct criminal record checks for any length of employment.

General regulations on permitted checks include:

• Eligibility to work: Under the Employment Contract Act employers must ensure non-European Economic Area nationals comply with residency and immigration requirements and risk fines for non-compliance.
• Reference and education checks: These are commonly made but must be with the individual’s consent.
• Criminal and credit record checks: If a legal authority discloses an individual’s criminal or credit record to enable an employer to carry out a statutory duty, the employee’s permission is not required but they must be advised the information is being collected.
• Medical checks: Individuals cannot be asked detailed questions about their health, unless in the context of relevance to the position.

Basic Facts on Hiring in Finland

An employer’s questions during an interview must be directly related to the job in question. The procedure is governed by the Act on Protection of Privacy in Working Life and the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation.

Terms and conditions of employment in Finland are regulated by several individual Acts. Primarily these are the Working Hours Act and laws on Employment Contracts, Annual Holidays, Non-discrimination, Protection of Privacy in Working Life, Collective Agreements, Pay Security and Study Leave. The employer-employee relationship is governed by the Employment Contracts Act. The contract may be oral, written, or electronic and is not required to be in writing unless requested by either party. It is valid indefinitely unless the employer has a justified reason for making a fixed-term contract.

The contract must include details of the business location, employee’s place of work, the termination date of any fixed-term contract, any trial period, employee’s duties, any collective agreement, salary and payment schedule, annual holiday, notice periods, and sick pay. Contracts are often exchanged by email, with scanned documents and electronic signatures. Originals can be exchanged for documentation purposes, but this is not required legally.

• Finland’s official languages are Finnish and Swedish, but contracts may be in another language if required.
• Employees must be registered with the Central Tax Administration to obtain their 12-digit tax number.
• Registering for a Finnish identity number for foreign workers, if required, before applying for the tax number.
• Employers must provide documentation to support foreign employees’ applications for a Residence Permit.
• Employees must be registered with the Social Insurance Institution (Kela).
• Employers must register the company with the Employer Register of the Central Tax Administration.
• Working time is generally eight hours per day totalling 40 per week or an average of 40 hours over 52 weeks.
• Employees receive 50% above normal wage for the first two hours of overtime and 100% extra for additional hours.
• Employers withhold tax and social security deductions and remit to the Central Tax Administration and Social Insurance Institution.

Notice periods given by employers range from 14 days for up to one year’s employment, to six months for employment over 12 years. Individuals must give 14 days’ notice for up to five years of employment and one month’s notice if employed for more than five years.

Employer and employee may agree to a trial period of up to six months.