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Working at UEF

This website includes practical information on working in Finland and UEF for international staff members. Some links containing detailed information take you to UEF intranet, which is, unfortuntaly, not accessible before you have actived your UEF username. 

If you wish to learn more about open positions and careers at UEF, please visit Work at UEF website.


General information on the rights and responsibilities of employees in Finland can be found at Infofinland.fi. Information on general rules and regulations in working can life can be found in suomi.fi online service.  Here's also a short video on Finnish working life. In this video you will learn about your rights, obligations, taxation, pension and trade unions.

 

We are glad to welcome you to our university as a new employee. One of the first things you should do is to learn about the activities of the university and your own unit. The responsibility for your induction lies with the unit in which you will be working but as a new employee should also take responsibility for learning the roles and finding out about things.

New employee Induction

At the outset of their careers, all university employees must therefore familiarise themselves with their duties, immediate operating environment and the entire, extended university community. Familiarisation with the work community, and adaptation to it at the outset of employment and to later changes in the environment, form a focal starting point for high quality activities.

New employee induction is integral to competence development, forming the first development step at the beginning of each employee's career. Regular performance appraisal discussions and joint meetings of the work community create the later basis for continuous development of individual employees, the entire staff, and the work community.

Orientation for the new members of staff

The Orientation for the new members of staff is an excellent opportunity to explore the University of Eastern Finland as well as to learn about the resources and benefits for the staff at the UEF. The Orientation program is a helpful way to start employment on the right informational track.

For more information, please visit UEF intranet at: https://studentuef.sharepoint.com/sites/recruitmentandnewemployees/SitePages/Induction-path.aspx

The form of employment of the entire university staff is a contractual employment relationship. When a new employee joins the university, a contract of employment is made for the new employee. Employment contracts must always be made in writing.

Working hours for teaching and research staff

The university’s teaching and research staff follow the total working time system, which includes 1,612 hours per academic year. Each member of the teaching staff prepares an annual work plan in collaboration with their supervisor. The plan serves as an agreement outlining the duties to be completed within the 1,612-hour working time. Read more about the working hours at UEF.

Working hours for expert and support staff

The university's administrative and auxiliary staff (also referred as expert and support staff") follow regular working hours of 7 hours and 15 minutes per day and 36 hours and 15 minutes per week. The university has a flexible working hours system and members of the administrative and auxiliary staff use a time card for the monitoring of their working hours. Read more about the working hours at UEF. 

Salaries at Finnish universities are determined according to the salary system of the general collective agreement for universities (see Chapter 6 onwards in appendices). The agreement also includes all salary scales and information on evaluation procedures.

The salary system is applied when the employee's contract of employment is made for a period exceeding six months. 

The salary of an employee is composed of a job requirement component and a personal performance component.

See further information on salary and evaluation in UEF Intranet.

Payment of Salary and Payslips

For employees on a permanetnt contract, the salary is, as a rule, paid on the 15th of each month. For employees who have a fixed-term contract, the salary is paid on the last day of the month. Part-time hourly-paid teachers receive their salary, based on submitted invoices, on the earliest available salary payment date.

Payslips are delivered to employees monthly in the Mepco HR system. Payslips are automatically archived in Mepco for 24 months. Employees may save copies of their payslips from the Mepco portal if they wish. The Mepco portal can be accessed via the intranet’s app launcher using UEFAD IT credentials.

 

Taxation in Finland in brief

As a rule, all employees working in Finland for a Finnish employer must pay income tax. Employers withhold the amount of tax directly from the salary and passes it on to the Finnish Tax Administration (Vero). The tax rate is calculated separately for each person in Finland. Your spouse’s income does not affect your tax percentage. 

Apart from the tax, the employer is also required to deduct an employment pension premium and an occupational injury premium from your salary. Your employer pays these contributions to the insurance companies. In addition, you must pay a health insurance premium in connection to your taxation unless you have A1. Read more about social security contributions.


The length of your stay in Finland primarily determines your taxation 
 

  • Over 6 months: You’re a considered a tax resident and taxed progressively on your income: the more you earn, the higher the tax rate is.  You can estimate your own tax percentage using the Tax Administration’s calculator. Your role, income and the country of your previous tax residence may also influence your taxation. Please see more information below. 
     

  • Under 6 months: You are considered a tax non-resident whose liability to pay tax in Finland is limited. Tax non-residents will be taxed at a flat 35% source rate unless you apply to be taxed under progressive taxation. This option is available to employees from EU countries, Norway, Iceland, Lichtenstein and countries that have a tax treaty with Finland. Visit the tax office website for more information. 

    Tax is calculated separately for each person in Finland. Your spouse’s income does not affect your tax percentage. 

Taxation may vary depending on your role

  • If you are a scientific researcher or teacher arriving from Egypt, Japan, the UK, France or Morocco, please read more information on your taxation on the Tax Office website. 
     
  • If you are considered a foreign key employee, you may be eligible to pay a 32% tax at source on your income, even if you stay in Finland for more than six months. This option benefits highly paid professionals. Key employee tax treatment includes several conditions, such as a minimum monthly cash salary of €5,800. You can find more information about key employee taxation on the Tax Administration’s website on taxation of key employees.
     
  • If are a grant-funded researcher, your grant/scholarship received for studies, academic research or artistic activity may be tax-free if it meets certain conditions. Please note that even though grants can be tax-free, they  are subject to the pension contribution and the public broadcasting tax. You can read more about the taxation of grants on the Tax Office´s webpage. Information about a legal obligation to apply for pension insurance is available on the Farmer´s Social Instution Mela´s webpage.
     
  • If you are a student or a trainee, see further information on your taxation on Tax Office website.

Tax deductions

Taxes can be reduced by tax deductions. Some deductions, such as work related expenses, are automatically made The Finnish Tax Administration where are some other deductions you must report yourself. Learn more about the tax deductions on the Tax Office´s website. 

Further information on taxation in Finland

 

Filing a tax return

The Finnish Tax Administration automatically sends all taxpayers a pre-completed tax return each spring. You must review the tax return and submit corrections if needed.

The pre-completed tax return includes information on your annual income, taxes withheld, deductions, and a preliminary tax decision. If your tax rate has been too low for your income level, you will need to pay back taxes. Conversely, if your tax rate has been too high, you will receive a tax refund. If you’re due a refund, ensure your bank account details are up to date in MyTax. 

If you want to learn more about tax returns, please visit Tax Office´s webpage on pre-completed tax return. 

Statutory social security contributions are divided between the employer and the employee. In addition to tax, the employer is required to withhold social security contributions from your gross salary at the time of salary payment unless you have the A1 Certificate providing proof that you are covered by insurance in a country other than Finland.

Compulsory social security contributions payable by the employee in 2025 are as follows:

  • Employee's pension insurance contribution: 7.15% for employees of age 17 to 52 years or 63 to 67 years and 8.65% for employees of age 53 to 62 years
  • Employee's unemployment insurance contribution: 0.59%.
  • Employee´s sickness insurance contribution (incl. medical care contribution and daily allowance contribution) is 1.52%.

Further information:

 

As a general rule, you are covered by the Finnish statutory and obligatory pension insurance system when working in Finland. You and your employer UEF  both pay pension contributions. UEF will automatically withhold your share of the contribution from your wages and pays it to the pension company. You do not have to take any action. 

UEF employees are covered by pension schemes managed either by Keva or Varma. The assigned pension provider depends on the employee’s year of birth. The amount of earnings-related pension depends on the length of the employee’s career, total earnings, and the pension accrual rate, which varies by age. See the pension accrual rates here.

There is no fixed retirement age in the earnings-related pension scheme. You can apply for an earnings-related pension at any time between the ages of 63-68. The amount of earnings-related pension depends on how long you have been working and what your salary has been. You can check your current pension record by contacting your pension company or the Finnish Centre for Pensions.

Pensions accrued in Finland are not transferable as a lump sum when leaving the country, but they can be claimed upon retirement, even if you live abroad. 

Further information:

 

Annual holiday regulations depend on whether you belong to the staff category of "research and teaching staff" or "expert and support staff".

Research and teaching staff

Teachers' and researchers' annual working time totals 1,612 hours, covering the academic year from 1 August to 31 July of the following year. Unlike other staff, they do not accrue holidays in the traditional sense. Researchers have the flexibility to allocate their working hours and schedule leave periods in a way that best supports their research activities and fulfils their work plan obligations.

Regulations on annual holidays, excluding the regulations pertaining to holiday bonus, are not applied to persons who are subject to the working time regulations for the teaching and research staff (annual workload of 1,612 hours) or to the regulations for the teaching staff at teacher training schools.

Expert and support staff 

The annual holiday is defined on the basis of the leave-earning year, which is a 12-month period ending at the end of March before the upcoming leave-taking period. A completed leave-earning month shall be a calendar month during which the employee has been at work for a minimum of 14 days. The leave-taking period begins on 1 June and ends on 30 September.

The length of an employee's annual holiday is determined according to the number of months or years that the employee has worked for the UEF.

For more detailed information on annual holiday procedures, exchanging holiday bonuses for time off and saved leaves and please see general information on holidays in Intranet.

You can find detailed information on different types of absences as well as all the necessary forms in UEF Intranet.

Usernames and passwords

Up-to-date and well-functioning computers and technical equipment enable smooth studying and working at the University of Eastern Finland.  At the University of Eastern Finland, a user account is created automatically to all new members of staff at the beginning of the employment.  New members of staff can activate their user account with Finnish online banking codes. If you don't have a Finnish social security code and online banking codes, you can activate your user account with a one-time code that you can get from the IT Service Desk.

Information security

All users of the university's information systems are responsible for complying with the university's information security policy. Further information on information security can found on the website of the IT Centre.

Further information:

The University of Eastern Finland (UEF) provides its staff with a variety of benefits aimed at supporting their well-being and work-life balance. These include flexible working hours, the option for multi-location work, and access to ergonomic furniture. Additionally, UEF offers a tax-free bike benefit to encourage sustainable transportation and employee well-being,. 

More information on staff benefits is available on UEF´s staff benefit website. 

The prohibition to engage in competing activity is based on the Employment Contracts Act (Chapter 3, Section 3). The secondary occupations of the staff are evaluated from the viewpoint of competing activity.  An employee can ensure that their secondary occupation does not involve competing activity by submitting an application for secondary occupation to the employer via Mepco HR portal- 

Further information:

Almost three-quarters of employees belong to a trade union in Finland. There are three main trade union confederations: SAK, STTK and AKAVA. All three confederations have a number of occupationally or/and industry affiliated unions.  One of the most important duties of the confederations is to negotiate collective agreements (covering for example salaries, annual leaves and working times) for their members.

Union members can get legal advice, insurance benefits and assistance in questions related to salary and labour market and working life. When you join a trade union, you usually automatically get a membership of an unemployment fund.  If you have been a member of a trade union for 10 months during your employment and get unemployed, members of the unemployment funds can get earnings-related daily unemployment allowance which is higher than the basic unemployment allowance. NB! Please check the conditions for entitlement to unemployment allowance as a foreign citizen from your trade union.

You can join a trade union by filling in an application form online at the trade unions' website or by contacting a union representative at the UEF. Trade union members pay a membership fee to the union. You can find the fees at the union's website.

Akava – Confederation of Unions for Professional and Managerial Staff in Finland

STTK – Finnish Confederation for Professionals

SAK – Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions