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Finland is a Nordic country known for boasting one of the finest education systems in the world, giving the country an array of talent. With a labor force that ranks 12th in the world for English-speaking proficiency, it’s no surprise to see so many foreign businesses choosing Finland as their entry point into the Nordic region.
There’s no doubt that Finland remains a stable, high-trust economy. Although the economy has reported low growth recently, with a projected real GDP growth rate of 0.5% in 2026, there are still immense opportunities for businesses in Finland.
Even though Finland is known for its innovative reputation, the downside is that the hiring process can feel like tackling a maze. Employers must deal with collective bargaining, strict enforcement of working hours, and a strong social insurance framework. All of this means that compliance is any business’s primary challenge.
And this is where Finland Employer of Record (EOR) services come in handy. Rather than trying to work it out yourself, EOR services let you hire without setting up a local entity. Instead, the EOR remains the legal employer, allowing you to assemble a team without worrying about issues like employment contracts, payroll, benefits administration, and tax.
Finnish law considers these setups to be perfectly legitimate. Your next problem is finding the ideal partner for you. In this guide, we go into what an EOR is and discuss the best Finland EOR services for 2026.
In Finland, an EOR is an entity that hires an employee and essentially leases them out to another business. The employee’s contract is signed with the EOR. Likewise, the EOR will run payroll, withhold taxes and social security payments, and handle all the necessary reporting. It also means they assume the liabilities of being a Finnish employer.
Your role is simply to assign tasks, schedules, and manage your workers on the ground. You’ll still have to comply with Finnish regulations on conditions, performance management, and compliance with anti-discrimination laws, though.
Professional Employment Organizations (PEOs) are not the same thing as an EOR, even though there’s some crossover between them. For a start, an EOR is the legal employer, meaning they have complete responsibility for issues like contracts, payroll, taxes, and social security contributions.
PEOs enter into a co-employment model with the client company. They’re commonly used in the U.S., and PEOs handle issues like payroll, HR, and benefits administration. In other words, you’re continuing to play an active role in the legal and compliance side of the employment relationship.
Read more in our guide to the best Finland PEOs.
EORs allow you to hire without even having a legal entity. Multinational organizations often use them to enter new markets before setting up an official entity later.
What does a Finnish EOR actually do for you? Services can differ between providers, but their core services tend to remain the same. Here are some of the typical EOR services you can benefit from:
Finland’s labor framework aims to protect workers as its first priority. It’s a framework that details exacting procedures, which is why business owners often run into trouble without expert support.
In this Nordic country, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment is responsible for drafting labor legislation and enforcement. Likewise, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health also plays a role in enforcement, particularly when it comes to workplace inspections.
With that in mind, this is where your EOR offers immense value because it’s up to them not only to manage but also to guide you on staying compliant with current labor laws. Here’s a breakdown of the core aspects of Finnish employment law you’ll have to consider when doing business.
Written employment contracts are required for Finnish workers. Under the Employment Contracts Act, all permanent hires must receive written confirmation of their role, duties, working-time arrangement, pay, and other fundamentals within seven days of starting.
Technically, oral contracts are permissible for non-permanent work, but they’re practically unheard of. In any case, written contracts ensure you’re protected in the event of any future legal disputes.
Any language can be freely chosen as long as the employee understands it. In practice, Finnish is the main language of choice, with English also widely used. Some bilingual regions in the west also use Swedish.
The Working Time Act was last updated in 2020 to standardize the 40-hour work week while offering more flexibility for employers. Like most of the Western world, the default working week is 40 hours split over five eight-hour days.
Averaging is permitted throughout Finland over a maximum of 52 weeks, but the overall average for the year must be respected. All hours over the standard working week are classified as overtime.
Under Finnish law, overtime cannot be forced but must be formally consented to by the employee. The first two daily overtime hours are typically paid at 150% of an employee’s standard rate, rising to 200% for subsequent hours. It’s also common practice for any work on Sundays or holidays to be paid at the 200% rate.
Finland’s Annual Holidays Act governs how paid leave is accrued. Employees earn 2.5 days per month in holiday time during their first year of employment and two days per month thereafter. All employees are entitled to at least 24 days of paid holiday each year.
Note that many sectors also have collective bargaining agreements in place for employers to pay holiday bonuses, known as Iomaraha. All agreements differ, but the standard is 50% of the overall holiday pay is paid as a bonus. Note that holiday pay must be paid in full before the holiday actually begins.
Regarding public holidays, they must be designated as off days for employees. However, if a public holiday falls on a weekend, they aren’t automatically moved to a weekday.
Finland’s parental leave model was updated in August 2022 to make it fairer for both parents. Parents receive 320 days of parental allowance per child, divided equally between mother and father. Additionally, 63 days are fully transferable. If there’s a single parent involved, they receive the full 320 days.
On top of that, there’s a 40-day pregnancy allowance for the mother, which is used before parental allowance kicks in. It’s also worth noting that under The Nordic Co-Operation, parental allowances must be respected even if one parent resides in one of the other Nordic countries.
Termination is a complex issue in Finland because you need a firm economic/production-related or individual reason to terminate an employee. Statutory notice periods vary from 14 days to 6 months, depending on tenure of service.
Here are the current statutory notice periods:
Employees must also provide notice periods if they choose to resign. If they’ve been employed for less than five years, they must provide 14 days of notice, rising to one month for more extended tenures.
Under the Co-operation Act, companies with more than 20 employees also have consultation obligations when restructuring and reorganizing.
Employers are advised to budget 19-22% of an employee’s gross salary to cover all necessary social contributions. Here’s a breakdown of how this works:
There’s less standardization compared to other countries simply due to the fact that rates on many forms of coverage vary by sector. Furthermore, the required contributions are regularly reviewed to reflect market realities. The figures above should be viewed as ballpark estimates.
Using an EOR in Finland is just one option for entering this Nordic market and growing your business there. Since you don’t need an established legal entity, it’s often the first step multinationals take before arranging a more permanent structure.
If you don’t want the headache of setting up a local company and dealing with compliance, working with an EOR makes sense. Here’s a breakdown of the benefits of Finland EORs:
EORs are becoming a more popular way of validating new markets because you don’t need to set up a local entity first.
But mistakes can be costly, which is why you need an EOR that’s fluent in the local regulations. We’ve investigated the market and assessed some of the best EORs in Finland to determine what the leading options are in 2026.
RemotePeople is a global EOR offering Finland-first guidance and practical implementation support. They provide Finland-ready contracts, payroll setups with the correct withholding flows, and onboarding playbooks that cover Finland-specific issues, including trial-period wording, overtime premium handling, and holiday accrual math.
Additionally, suppose you decide to migrate away from the EOR model to a Finnish Oy later. In that case, RemotePeople provides the support needed to establish continuity with issues like benefits and Kela social insurance transitions.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Finland-specific checklists and workflows | Designed for startups/small businesses, rather than enterprises |
| Clear alignment with Finnish labor frameworks | Smaller global footprint |
| Support with entity-migration planning |
Deel’s market proposition is being a large-scale EOR provider that’s capable of supporting multinationals operating in multiple jurisdictions. Some of their standout selling points are their clean UI, simplified self-service onboarding platform, and clear pricing from the outset.
When you start working with Deel, they’ll provide contract templates tailored for the Finnish market and time tracking modules to help you comply with working-time records and calculations. Crucially, they’re also equipped with compliance teams that’ll help you map out benefits administration and avoid issues like employee misclassification.
They also have an enormous global footprint and are a well-established EOR across the rest of the European Union (EU), thus making expansion across the bloc much simpler.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Strong integrations for employee management | Limited customization |
| Intuitive self-service onboarding | Lack of Finland-specific use cases |
| Built-in working-time tracking |
What stands out immediately about Omnipresent is its cutting-edge platform. It consists of high-touch support for all of your Finnish HR and payroll operations, allowing you to conquer compliance from the outset.
Reviews show that Omnipresent also has some of the highest standards of services for dealing with the more intricate aspects of Finnish labor law. Business owners who’re concerned about the legal risks of the Finnish market and want a human face to deal with them have a lot to gain from working with Omnipresent.
Additionally, your dedicated accounts team can pressure-test any proposed set to ensure it aligns with the realities of Finnish law on the ground. This gives you peace of mind that you’re ready to move into the Finnish market.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Human-first approach | High prices with add-ons |
| Enterprise-grade governance support | Limited value for simple setups |
| Ultra-modern platform |
G-P is precisely what you expect. They’re an EOR with a robust global footprint targeting enterprises seeking solid risk controls. Within the Finnish market, they prioritize achieving policy standardization that properly accounts for the nuances of the local market, especially in sectors containing complex collective bargaining agreements.
One of the most prominent services offered by G-P is its legal advisory services, helping you to deal with issues like holiday entitlements beyond legal minimums and Iomaraha. If you’re concerned about consolidating your teams, especially if you’re planning to establish a Oy in the future, G-P is the partner for you.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Adept at serving the needs of enterprises at scale | Opaque pricing |
| Helpful dashboards for dealing with tenure, leave, and benefits | Formal implementation lacks flexibility |
| Experience with migrating cohorts from contractor to employment classifications |
Budget-conscious businesses that need EOR services but aren’t ready to commit to more premium offerings can consider Multiplier. Similar to RemotePeople, Multiplier is designed primarily for startups, scaleups, and cost-sensitive operations.
Multiplier is aimed at businesses requiring basic EOR services for straightforward situations. Examples of their services include localized contract templates, offer letters, and pay slips. Expect the straightforward approach, with standardized benefits arrangements and workflows. Ideally, you’ll use Multiplier when you’re looking for a bridge to validate the Finnish market before establishing a formal local entity.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Low-priced EOR services | Limited feature depth |
| Solid core features | Lack of customization |
| Straightforward implementation cycles |
Atlas, formerly known as Elements Global Services, offers EOR services through its own entities across 160 countries. Unlike many EOR providers, it offers transparent pricing at the mid-range, offering the best combination of high-touch guidance and affordability for smaller operations.
One area they particularly excel in is aligning benefits and employer social contribution obligations with Finnish practices. However, be aware that Atlas HXM is less useful for more complex business setups.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Direct-entity footprint | Less suited to edge-case nuances |
| Transparent pricing | Platform feels too sophisticated for smaller firms |
| Enterprise-grade risk controls |
EORs typically use two different models when setting their prices. The most common option is a flat monthly per employee, known as PEPM. With this model, your costs are easy to forecast and scale alongside your firm’s growth. Others choose to take a percentage of payroll. This is less common than with the modern platforms, but it is sometimes used for enterprise-level deals.
In Finland, you should expect to budget 19-22% of an employee’s gross salary to cover all of the necessary social contributions.
But what does that look like in practice? It’s complicated because there are so many variants that could impact your costs from year to year. Let’s take a mid-level white-collar employee working in Helsinki as an example.
Assuming they earn €60,000, your costs will look like this:
Your total annual cost for this worker would figure around €78,900-€79,300. None of this includes any optional benefits you might choose to provide, such as medical supplements or commuter subsidies.
It’s also worth mentioning that tax and contribution rates are updated annually, which is why it’s difficult to project costs. Already, the Employment Fund has proposed higher unemployment insurance contributions for 2026.
That’s why partnering with an EOR is so valuable, as it’s up to them to keep track of any rule changes.
An EOR is just one way of doing business. If you feel like partnering with an EOR doesn’t match up with your proposed business model in Finland, other solutions are available. Here are the top three alternatives:
Setting up an Oy allows you to formally establish yourself in the country, giving yourself more control. You’ll have to register with the Finnish Trade Register (PRH), withhold tax and social security contributions, and run your own HR functions.
It’s the costliest option and can take considerable time. That’s why many brands often work with an EOR for the first few months to validate the market and see if they can justify the cost and expense of migrating to an Oy.
Working with independent contractors is a viable option for short-term work. However, any freelancers must be genuinely independent. You’ll be required to demonstrate that the freelancer in question is legitimate. For example, do they set their own hours, have their own clients, and use their own tools?
Misclassification is a serious issue in Finland, and reclassification can trigger back taxes, social security contributions, and penalty payments.
Another option for short-term workers is to connect with a Finnish staffing agency. These provide temporary employees to cover gaps that have to be filled at short notice. The downside of this is that it’s not the ideal option for building a permanent team you can rely on long into the future.
Finland offers a high-value economy and a highly educated labor force, but it’s tempered by the rules-heavy nature of its employment market. It means businesses have to endure a steep learning curve to deal with the array of social protections, working-time accounting, holiday accruals, and social security contributions.
Working with an EOR can take away these burdens by allowing you to hire a workforce without establishing a legal entity. EORs handle your HR, payroll, and compliance functions, thus allowing you to concentrate on growing your business.
If you’re searching for an EOR for your Finnish operation, check out our top EOR picks or contact us for guidance on picking an EOR specifically for the Finnish market.
