Guide: summer or seasonal work in Finland

In this guide, you will find information on issues related to temporary work, such as taxation, employment terms, unemployment benefits and pensions in Finland. 

If you are both working and living in Finland temporarily, you should also read the page Guide: temporary residence in Finland, which contains essential information on population registration, housing, social security, bank accounts, insurance and registering children for day care, pre-school or school in Finland if you are temporarily resident in Finland.

This page is for you if you are planning to work in Finland temporarily. If you plan to live or work in Finland for a longer period, you can find information on our pages Guide: moving to Finland and Guide: working in Finland.

If you are coming to work in Finland as a posted worker, read the guidance on the page Workers posted from and to Finland.

On the page Job hunting in Finland page you can find information on job hunting in Finland.

If you are 18-30 years old and a citizen of a Nordic or EU country, you can also use Nordjobb to apply for a seasonal job in another Nordic country. Nordjobb also helps with housing and practical matters and offers a cultural and leisure programme. Find out more on the Nordjobb website.

You need a tax card to work in Finland. For a Finnish tax card, you need a Finnish personal identity code, which the Tax Administration can issue if you need it to work in Finland. To get a Finnish personal identity number and tax card, you must visit the tax office in person.

If you work in Finland for a Finnish employer, you pay tax on your wages in Finland. If you are a non-resident taxpayer, you can choose to pay tax at source or progressive taxation. You are a non-resident taxpayer if you live abroad and stay in Finland for six months or less.

Taxation at source

If you are a non-resident taxpayer in Finland, you usually pay 35% tax at source. If you have a tax at source card, your employer can make a tax-at-source deduction from your income. The tax-at-source deduction is 510 euros a month or 17 euros a day.

Progressive taxation

Progressive taxation means that your tax rate is determined by your income. You can estimate the withholding percentage on your tax card using the Finnish Tax Administration's tax rate calculator. 

If you are taxed progressively, you must also declare your taxable income and deductions in your home country. Remember that financial aid for students also counts as income.

In Finland, you only pay tax on income earned in Finland, but taxable income earned in your home country may increase the tax on income earned in Finland. 

If you are taxed progressively, you will receive a pre-completed tax return the following year, showing your taxable income and deductions, as well as the final result of your taxation. You must check your tax return, and if there are any additions or corrections to be made, notify the changes to the Tax Administration.

Read more about taxation in Finland on the page Taxation in Finland.

If you work remotely in Finland and your employer is foreign, the employer must take out all statutory social insurance for you in Finland. Your employer can also authorise you to take out statutory social insurance yourself with a Finnish insurance company. Read more on the Finnish Centre for Pensions website.

If you want to be covered by the social security system of your employer’s country while working remotely in Finland for a foreign employer, your employer must apply for an A1 certificate from the country concerned. The A1 certificate shows which country’s social security you are covered by and which country your social insurance contributions are paid to. For more information, contact the authority issuing A1 certificates in your employer’s country.

If you work temporarily in Finland, you are entitled to the same working conditions as Finnish workers in terms of pay, working hours, working environment and safety at work. Read more on Employees’ rights and obligations in Finland.

For information on trade unions in Finland, see the page Trade unions in Finland.

Read about unemployment security in Finland on the page Unemployment benefits in Finland. Please note that you must be insured in the country where you work.

If you work in Finland, you pay pension contributions to Finland and earn a pension in Finland. You cannot transfer your pension rights between countries, but if you have worked in several EU countries, you may have earned a pension in all the countries where you worked.

If you do not manage to build up pension rights in Finland, the pension authority in your country of origin will add up the periods you worked in Finland and take them into account when calculating your pension in your country of origin. This is called the principle of aggregation of periods. When you apply for a pension in your country of residence, you must declare the periods you worked in Finland. Local authorities do not always document periods of work, so keep your payslips as proof of your employment. 

Read more about the Finnish pension system on the page The Finnish pension system.