Compulsory insurance for work-related accidents and occupational diseases

Compulsory insurance is subject to the Finnish Workers’ Compensation Act (459/2015). The summary contains the key legal provisions.

1 General regulations

1.1

The employer is responsible for insuring its employees in case of work-related accidents and occupational diseases according to what is stipulated in the Workers’ Compensation Act.

1.2

The employer must, in order to fulfil its compulsory obligation to insure, take out insurance for its employees before they begin to work from an insurance company that is entitled to engage in insurance activities in Finland.

1.3

The insurance taken out by the employer is considered to apply to all of the employer’s employees unless different insurance has been taken out for a specific part of the company or a specific job. If the employer has taken out insurance for the same work from two or more insurance companies, the first insurance taken out shall apply.

1.4

The employer is not under obligation to insure if the wages or salaries paid by the employer for work carried out during the calendar year amount to a maximum total of EUR 1,500.

1.5

The insurance company must grant the aforementioned insurance if it has been applied for from the company.

2 Persons covered by the insurance

2.1

Unless otherwise stipulated in the Workers’ Compensation Act, this act applies to a person who works:

1. under an employment contract as stated in Article 1 of the Employment Contracts Act (55/2001)

2. under an employment contract as stated in Article 1 of the Seafarers’ Employment Contracts Act (756/2011) and Article 1 of the Act on the Employment of Household Workers (951/1977)

3. under a civil service relationship as stated in the State Civil Servants’ Act (750/1994)

4. under a civil service relationship as stated in the Act on Civil Servants in Local Government (304/2003)

5. under a civil service relationship as stated in the Church Act (1054/1993)

6. under a civil service relationship as stated in the Parliamentary Civil Servants’ Act (1197/2003)

7. as the President of the Republic of Finland, member of the Finnish Government, civil servant in the office of the President, Parliamentary ombudsman and deputy ombudsman and as a Member of Parliament

8. under some other service relationship subject to public law.

2.2

A person who performs work for remuneration in a limited liability company or has executive status in some other corporation shall be understood to constitute an employee, even if he or she is not employed by the limited liability company or other corporation, if:

1. a shareholder with executive status in the limited liability company owns, alone, a maximum of 30 per cent of the company shares or if he/she and his/her family together own a maximum of 50 per cent of the company shares and his/her participating interest in this equals no more than 30 per cent or he/she alone holds a maximum of 30 per cent or he/she and his/her family jointly hold a maximum of 50 per cent of the votes generated by the company shares and his/her votes equal no more than 30 per cent of this; or

2. a person with executive status in some other corporation alone or together with family members holds no more controlling interest in the corporation than that specified in point 1.

Executive status refers to the role of Managing Director or CEO, membership in the Board of Directors or a similar position or corresponding actual controlling interest in a limited liability company or other corporation.

Partners in general partnerships or shareholders or partners in other corporations or partnerships who are personally responsible and liable for the corporation’s or partnership’s obligations and commitments shall not be understood to constitute an employee.

Family members refer to married spouses and common-law spouses and persons who are directly related to the person understood to constitute an employee with executive status in the ascending or descending line and live with them in the same household. Common-law spouse refers to a person who lives with the person with executive status in the company in a marriage-like cohabitation relationship in the same household.

When calculating the above participating interest, also indirect ownership through other corporations or partnerships is taken into account if the person alone or together with family members owns more than half of the other corporation mentioned or they have a corresponding controlling interest.

2.3

The Workers’ Compensation Act does not apply to self-employed agricultural work as referred to in the act on accident insurance for a farmer (873/2015) nor to work carried out by grant recipients.

2.4

The Workers’ Compensation Act does not apply to sports. An athlete’s right to compensation due to an accident is laid down in the Act on Accident and Pension Provision for Athletes (276/2009).

3 Regional scope of application of the insurance

Work performed in Finland

3.1

The Workers’ Compensation Act is applied to work performed in Finland, unless otherwise stipulated by law.

3.2

The Workers’ Compensation Act is not applied to work carried out by an employee in Finland if the employee is not covered by the Finnish legislation based on the EU’s Social Security Regulations or by a social security agreement that binds Finland.

3.3

The Workers’ Compensation Act is not applied to work performed by an employee arriving in Finland from a third country if:

1. the work is road transport which the employee carries out mainly elsewhere than in Finland;

2. the employee does not live in Finland;

3. the employer’s domicile is not in Finland; and

4. Finnish legislation is not applied to the work according to the EU’s Social Security Regulations.

3.4

The Workers’ Compensation Act is not applied to an employee who is in Finland to attend a conference or give a performance or on some other similar visit of short duration, the purpose of which is related to the work performed by the employee abroad. In addition, it is required that the employee does not live in Finland, the employer’s domicile is not in Finland and Finnish legislation is not applied to the work according to the EU’s Social Security Regulations.

Work performed abroad

3.5

This act applies to work performed by an employee outside of Finland if the employee is covered by Finnish legislation based on the EU’s Social Security Regulations or a social security agreement that binds Finland.

3.6

This act is also applied to work performed by an employee who has been posted by a Finnish employer to work in a third country, provided that:

1. the employee works either for the Finnish employer who posted him/her or for a foreign company that belongs to the same financial entity as the Finnish employer

2. the employee’s employment relationship with the Finnish company continues during the assignment abroad, and

3. the employee is covered by Finland’s social security system upon leaving to work abroad.

3.7

This act does not apply to employees as referred to in section 3.6 if the insurance company has confirmed, through a decision based on the employer’s application, that the employee is no longer covered by the employer’s insurance. The condition for such a decision is that the work abroad is no longer temporary and that it has continued for more than two years. The decision shall be applied at the start of the calendar year following its entry into force.

4 Insured events

4.1

A work-related accident and occupational disease is compensated as an insured event according to the Workers’ Compensation Act as referred to in greater detail in the act.

4.2

Accident refers to a sudden and unexpected event resulting from an external factor that causes injury or illness to the employee.

The significant worsening of the injury or illness as referred to in the Workers’ Compensation Act is also insured to the extent that it corresponds with the accidents’ attributable fraction.

4.3

Work-related accident refers to an accident that has happened to the employee at work, in the area where work is carried out or outside the area where work is carried out, in accordance with sections 21–25 of the Workers’ Compensation Act.

5 Compensation

5.1

Compensation paid under the insurance is determined based on the provisions of the Workers’ Compensation Act.

5.2 Indemnity for medical treatment

Compensation under the insurance is paid for unavoidable expenses resulting from necessary medical treatment (Workers’ Compensation Act, sections 36–37).

Necessary travel expenses arising from hospital treatment are compensated to the nearest place of treatment or to one specified in a commitment to pay. For journeys made in a private vehicle, half of the tax-free rate-per kilometre compensation confirmed by the Tax Administration shall be reimbursed.

Fennia has the right to direct the injured person to a treatment facility of its choosing using a commitment to pay. If treatment is provided in a treatment facility other than the one indicated in the commitment to pay or if Fennia has not provided a commitment to pay, the injured person shall be reimbursed, at most, the client charge as provided in the Act on Client Charges in Social and Health Care Services.

Compensation for medical treatment, pharmaceutical, travel and additional home maintenance costs must be applied for from Fennia within one year of the costs arising.

5.3 Compensation for lost income

Under the insurance, compensation for lost income covers daily allowance, rehabilitation allowance and industrial accidents pension.

The injured person is entitled to daily allowance for one year from the date of the accident if he or she is unable to work either fully or partly as a result of the accident. Daily allowance is paid for each calendar day except for the day of the accident.

Daily allowance is not paid, however, if the injured person has not been either fully or partly incapable of working on at least three consecutive days, not including the day of the accident. The daily allowance is the same amount as sick pay for a maximum of 28 days, not including the day of the accident. Thereafter, the daily allowance is 1/360 of the annual earnings specified in sections 71–78 of the Workers’ Compensation Act.

The injured person is entitled to industrial accidents pension as of the first anniversary of the accident if his or her work capacity can be assessed to have weakened by at least 10 percent as a result of the accident and his or her earnings have decreased. The maximum annual amount of industrial accidents pension is 85 per cent of the annual earnings until the injured person turns 65, after which it is 70 per cent of the annual earnings. The industrial accidents pension is adjusted according to the earnings-related pension index each calendar year.

The injured person is entitled to rehabilitation allowance for the duration of the vocational rehabilitation. The injured person is not entitled to receive daily allowance or industrial accidents pension for the same period.

When assessing a deterioration in work ability, the injured person’s remaining ability to acquire earnings for him/herself in such available work that can reasonably be considered possible for the injured person to be able to perform is taken into account. In this case, the injured person’s education, previous activity, age, place of residence and other comparable factors will be taken into account.

The injured person shall, without delay, inform Fennia of changes affecting the compensation such as significant changes in his/her state of health, work capacity, work or earnings.

5.4 Reporting insured events

The employer shall inform Fennia of the insured event in writing without delay and, at the latest, within ten working days of the employer having received information about the insured event.

If the initiation or handling of the claim is significantly delayed due to the employer having neglected his/her disclosure obligation, the compensation payable to the employer may be refused for the delay period.

6 Validity of the insurance

6.1

The insurance enters into force as of the date that the insurance company verifiably receives the insurance application unless a later starting date has been agreed on.

6.2

The insurance shall be continuous and the insurance period will be the calendar year (continuous insurance). The first insurance period for insurance that enters into force mid-year ceases, however, on the final day of the calendar year following the beginning of the insurance.

6.3

The insurance can also be made fixed-term for work or for a project with a duration of no more than one year (fixed-term insurance). The insurance period in this case is the period of validity of the insurance contract.

The fixed-term insurance will expire without prior notice. If the duration of the work is, however, longer than the fixed term and the policyholder informs the insurance company, before the term is set to end, that the work will continue, the validity of the fixed-term insurance will be continued until the new expiration date reported by the policyholder, however, for no more than 12 months.

7 Termination of the insurance

7.1

The policyholder may terminate a permanent insurance policy by transferring it to another insurance company in writing using a specific notice of transfer. The insurance can be transferred so that it ends on the last day of March, June, September or December, but not, however, before the end of the first insurance period. The policyholder shall submit a notice of transfer to the new insurance company, which must deliver it to the old insurance company at the latest three calendar months before the dates mentioned above.

The insurance shall become valid in the new insurance company as of the date on which the period of validity of the earlier insurance ends. If the policyholder has submitted the notice of transfer to two or more insurance companies as of the same date, the first transfer to be made is valid, unless otherwise agreed on between the policyholder and these insurance companies.

7.2

The insurance is considered to have ended as of the date on which the policyholder has been declared bankrupt or when a bailiff has issued an impediment certificate as referred to in the Enforcement Code, Chapter 3, Section 95, indicating an impediment for lack of means or unknown whereabouts of the policyholder.

7.3

The insurance shall end within one month of the policyholder having received information about the insurance company’s liquidation or bankruptcy and about the obligation to take out new insurance within this time limit. If the policyholder has not taken out insurance with another insurance company before this, he/she is considered to have neglected the obligation to insure as per the Employment Accidents Act.

8 Insurance premium bases

8.1

The insurance premium is determined annually in compliance with the insurance company’s premium bases valid at the time. The premium bases have been drawn up, based on the stipulations of the Workers’ Compensation Act, separately for compulsory insurance, voluntary occupational accident insurance and off-working-hours insurance.

8.2

In accordance with Fennia’s premium bases, a minimum insurance premium for each calendar year is charged on compulsory insurance for as long as the insurance is valid.

8.3

The insurance premium is based on the risk classification applied by the insurance company (policyholders subject to the tariff rate).

When determining the premium for policyholders subject to the tariff rate, the employer’s documented preventive occupational safety work is also taken into account.

8.4

If the amount of work commissioned by the policyholder is sufficiently large in terms of the statistical reliability in assessing accident risk (experience based-premium-rate policyholder) the compensation paid on the policyholder’s insurance contracts is taken into account when determining the insurance premium.

9 Determining the insurance premium

9.1

The determination of the insurance premium is based on the occupational class specific earnings payment data received from the Incomes Register. Fennia retrieves the data from the register monthly and charges the insurance premium according to the instalment chosen by the policyholder.

9.2

An experiencebased-premium-rate policyholder can pay a provisional premium at the beginning of the insurance period.

If the final premium for the insurance period is higher or lower than the provisional premium collected, the policyholder must pay the difference between the final premium and the provisional premium as an adjustment premium or this sum will be refunded to the policyholder on the date set by Fennia.

10 The policyholder's disclosure obligation

10.1

In order to assess the work-related accident and disease risk, to determine the insurance premium and to manage the insurance, the policyholder is obligated upon taking out the insurance to disclose to the insurance company the necessary information about his/her sector, the amount and quality of the commissioned work, the starting date of the work, the company’s ownership, OHS work that influences the determination of the insurance premium and other factors affecting the insurance premium as determined by the insurance company.

The policyholder must provide this information when applying for the insurance or at the latest within 14 days of the start of the insurance. If the policyholder fails to provide the information within the specified time, the insurance company will determine the insurance premium based on its premium bases according to the information available to it.

10.2

The policyholder must report the information mentioned in section 10.1 and requested by the insurance company annually by the end of January (annual notification).

10.3

The policyholder must report any significant changes to the information specified in section 10.1 during the calendar year. The changes must be reported without delay; however, at the latest within 30 days from when the change took place.

10.4

The policyholder shall provide the information specified in section 10.1 once the fixed-term insurance ends, within 30 days of the end of the insurance.

11 Late payment and non-payment of insurance premium

11.1

The insurance premium, including penalty interest and with damages as referred to in the Debt Collection Act, can be subject to seizure without a sentence or verdict as laid down in the Act on the Enforcement of Taxes and Charges (706/2007).

11.2

On the late insurance premium payment, the policyholder must pay an annual penalty interest for the period of late payment according to the interest rate provided in Section 4 a, Paragraph 1 of the Finnish Interest Act (633/1982) and the collection charges for the late payment. The collection of such receivables is regulated by the Debt Collection Act (513/1999).

12 Appeals

12.1

A concerned party that is not satisfied with the insurance institution’s decision can appeal the decision in writing to the Accident Appeal Board. A concerned party that is not satisfied with the Accident Appeal Board’s decision may appeal the decision in writing to the Insurance Court. An appeal of the Insurance Court’s decision can be lodged with the Supreme Court, provided that the Supreme Court grants permission to lodge the appeal, if the decision deals with the issue of whether an injury, illness or death entitles to compensation based on this act or who must pay the compensation.

12.2

The decision of the insurance institution must be complied with regardless of the lodging of an appeal until the matter has been resolved through a legal decision. The insurance institution’s and Accident Appeal Board’s final decision is enforced in the same way as a final judgement that is passed in a legal dispute.

12.3

A concerned party who deems a payment set on the basis of the Workers’ Compensation Act to be contrary to law or to the contract may lodge a material appeal in writing to the Accident Appeal Board within two years of the beginning of the year after the outstanding amount was due. The provisions of the Act on the Enforcement of Taxes and Charges are also applied in material appeals that are the result of seizure. A concerned party that is not satisfied with the Accident Appeal Board’s decision may lodge an appeal of the decision in writing to the Insurance Court. An appeal against the Insurance Court’s decision on the material appeal can be lodged with the Supreme Court, provided that the Supreme Court grants leave to appeal.

13 Insurance supervision and access to information for supervision purposes and insurance company's obligation to inspect

13.1

The insurance company has the right to oversee whether the employer who has taken out insurance with it fulfils its disclosure and other insurance-related obligations per the Workers’ Compensation Act.

13.2

The insurance company has the right, notwithstanding confidentiality regulations and other limits to access to information, to receive from the employer, the insurance and pension institution assigned with providing statutory insurance, the authorities and other parties subject to the Act on the Openness of Government Activities information that is necessary in order to fulfil the supervision obligation laid down in this act.

The insurance company additionally has the right to receive, as group data, for the aforementioned purpose, the names of employers who have paid salaries or other remuneration to employees, business or organisation IDs and employers’ personal identity codes, contact information and annual notifications or information comparable to annual notifications, sectors and information about the remuneration paid by these employers and related payments made by employers.

13.3

The insurance company has the right to carry out an inspection of the employer’s business premises and the right to carry out other oversight measures in order to determine whether the employer fulfils its obligation per the Workers’ Compensation Act. As part of the inspection, the employer subject to oversight must provide its payroll accounting data, its working hours accounting data and, regardless of the form in which it is presented or saved, all other material that could have an impact on the employer’s obligation to insure.

To aid the inspection, the insurance company has the right to receive judicial assistance from the police or other authorities. An inspection of the employer’s residence is only permitted if there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the employer has neglected his/her insurance obligation per the Workers’ Compensation Act and such an inspection is necessary in order to resolve the matter.

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