Working in Finland: the fund, the collective agreement and the 60% trap
As an EU citizen you may work in Finland from the day you arrive. Three things shape your first working months: the tax card that prevents a withholding of 60 per cent, the unemployment fund membership you usually arrange within a month after moving from the EU, and the collective-agreement system that guards wages even without a statutory minimum wage. Plus the pension contribution and the obligation for the self-employed.
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Yes, as an EU citizen you may work in Finland from the day you arrive. You need no work permit, and you may already work while your registration with Migri, the Finnish Immigration Service, is still pending.
What shapes your first months is the administration around it:
- Without a Finnish tax card your employer withholds 60 percent of your wages.
- The finding at TYJ, the umbrella body of the Finnish unemployment funds: whoever comes from another EU country usually has one month to join a fund and so take their work history along.
The pitfall is that nobody reminds you.
How do I avoid the 60 percent withholding?
With a verokortti, the tax card from the Finnish Tax Administration Vero. Without a card your employer must withhold 60 percent of wages and fees. You get the money back with the assessment, but that does not help your first months.
- Whoever already has Finnish login tools finds and changes their card in MyTax, Vero's online service.
- Whoever has nothing yet goes to a Vero service point. Some service points then also give a personal identity code in the same visit, on presentation of a real employment contract.
How exactly that works is in your first weeks in Finland.
The card shows an income ceiling. If you earn more, your employer withholds a higher rate on the excess, unless you request a new card in time. You use the same card with all your employers. If you come as a key employee, first read tax for newcomers in Finland: a flat rate of 25 percent applies there.
Why would I join a fund?
Because Finland insures unemployment in two layers:
- whoever is a member of a työttömyyskassa, an unemployment fund, gets an earnings-related allowance on dismissal;
- whoever is not gets the basic allowance from Kela, the Finnish social insurance institution.
Since 2 September 2024 the employment condition has doubled. You need twelve months of work, and a month counts if you earned at least € 930 in it. During those months you must be a member.
For people moving, the squeeze is in the transition. If you come from another EU country, according to TYJ you can join for a short time even without a job. Your years worked in that country then normally count. In most cases you have a month for that, from the day you move or your last working day. If you join in time, you need only one month of work in Finland for an earnings-related allowance: a calendar month with at least € 930 in pay, right before you become unemployed. You prove your periods of work in the Netherlands with a U1 form, which you request in the country where you worked before.
| What | Amount or deadline | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Withholding without a tax card | 60 % | Vero |
| Joining a fund after moving from the EU | usually 1 month | TYJ |
| Employment condition for an earnings-related allowance | 12 months of at least € 930 | TYJ |
| Employee share of the pension contribution 2026 | 7.3 % of wages | Työeläke |
| Employer must insure your pension from | € 71.72 a month | Työeläke |
| YEL obligation for the self-employed | from € 9,423.09 a year, within 6 months | Työeläke |
| YEL contribution 2026 | 24.40 %, starters 22 % discount for 48 months | Työeläke |
What does the employer arrange by itself?
The pension. Under Finnish law your employer must take out pension insurance for you as soon as you earn at least € 71.72 a month (2026), and pay over the whole contribution. For a private-sector company that falls under the TyEL act, the pension act for employees.
Your share comes off your wages. In 2026 all employees pay the same 7.3 percent, regardless of age.
Is there a minimum wage?
Not in law. Employer and employee agree on pay, but that freedom is limited by the collective agreement:
- If an employer is a member of an employers' organisation that signed a collective agreement, it is bound by it.
- Some collective agreements are declared universally binding. Then even an employer who is not a member of anything must pay the wages from that agreement. The labour inspectorate names the wholesale and retail trade as an example.
So when you get a job offer, ask which collective agreement applies. In practice that is your minimum wage.
And if I start working for myself?
Then you have a pension obligation of your own, the YEL insurance. You take it out within six months of starting, if:
- you are between 18 and 69 or 70;
- you work as a self-employed person for at least four months without interruption;
- your confirmed income from work is at least € 9,423.09 a year (2026).
That also applies to whoever works through an invoicing service, the kevytyrittäjä. The contribution in 2026 is 24.40 percent of that confirmed income. Whoever is just starting gets a 22 percent discount for four years.
Does my diploma need to be recognised?
That depends on the work. In Finland, competent authorities, educational institutions and employers decide what a foreign qualification is worth. So you do not always need a formal decision.
- Regulated profession (a profession for which the law requires a specific qualification): check with the Finnish National Agency for Education, OPH. It is the national assistance centre for the European directive on professional qualifications, with information on the regulated professions in Finland.
- Other work: if you want to work with a qualification that does not fall under such a profession, your employer can decide itself whether it is sufficient.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Finland.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.
- Migri — as an EU citizen straight to work, also during registration — migri.fi
- Vero — the verokortti and the 60% rule — vero.fi
- TYJ — joining a fund when you move to Finland — tyj.fi
- TYJ — the employment condition since September 2024 — tyj.fi
- Your Europe — the U1 form for your periods of work — europa.eu
- Työeläke — the employer's pension obligation — tyoelake.fi
- Työeläke — the employee contribution of 7.3 percent in 2026 — tyoelake.fi
- Työeläke — when a self-employed person needs YEL insurance — tyoelake.fi
- Työeläke — the YEL contribution and the discount for starters — tyoelake.fi
- Työsuojelu — pay and the collective-agreement system — tyosuojelu.fi
- OPH — recognition of foreign qualifications — oph.fi
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