In Finland, an EOR change may transfer employment by law, continue by consented substitution, or require a new contract. Identify the actual employer and assess liikkeen luovutus before any exit. Client-service cancellation is not employee notice. EOR A is the outgoing employer; EOR B is the proposed incoming employer.
What changes when you switch EOR in Finland?
Compare the Finnish legal employer name and Business ID on the employment contract and payslip with the entity proposed after the switch. If the employer changes, use the fact-specific statutory test before choosing termination and rehire.
The test asks whether an undertaking or functional part moves and retains its identity. The same client and activity alone may not be enough; in labor-intensive work, transfer of a major part of the assigned workforce can matter without substantial assets. Apply TSL 1:10 and the EU identity test. The CJEU workforce ruling illustrates the significance of an assigned workforce in labor-intensive services; it does not classify an EOR switch. Ask what organized activity or workforce moves; an employer ID alone does not decide.
Review the existing service and employee position
Keep the client-provider contract separate from the worker's employment contract. Review both before agreeing to an irreversible exit date.
Commercial agreement with A and proposed terms with B
- Check service-cancellation notice, earliest stop date, final invoice, transition charges, deposit terms, refund conditions and whether any charges survive the service end. These are contract terms, not Finnish employee notice periods.
- Confirm A's employer and payer, B's proposed employing entity, and each provider's records, correction and transition duties.
- Get B's first pay period/date, funding cutoff, benefit start and responsible owners for payroll, tax, insurance and corrections. Count a deposit refund only after it clears.
Employee arrangements
- Check whether A's contract is indefinite or fixed-term, its actual end date, any break clause, notice clause, probation terms and applicable collective agreement (CBA). A's contract is not ended by the client's commercial notice.
- Record unpaid wages, overtime, leave, expenses, benefits and bonus/equity terms; distinguish earned awards from discretionary future ones and check plan documents.
- Reconcile service date and A's earned, taken, carried or saved leave. Ask what B recognizes if no statutory transfer applies.
- Check protected status and whether work permission is tied to A, a field, task, employer or permit category.
- Plan secure transfer of only necessary onboarding records; do not send full personnel or health files by default.
Establish transfer and continuity treatment
Document the route for each worker; transfer, substitution and fresh hire have different outcomes.
The Finnish Supreme Court has held that CBA-only terms can change when the applicable agreement changes after a transfer; individually agreed better terms may last longer. For hired-out work, check TSL 2:9: a provider-bound CBA generally governs, with end-user CBA or generally applied end-user terms as statutory fallback in specified cases. A provider change alone does not reset assignment history or erase applicable CBA and duration questions. Verify the actual work, applicable agreements and assignment dates. KKO 2007:65 · TSL
A service cancellation does not itself end employment. A's unilateral indefinite-term termination needs a valid ground and process; fixed-term contracts generally run to their end unless a break route applies. Check TSL Chapter 6, contract and CBA. EOR change alone creates no automatic severance. TSL
Co-operation Act §2 retains Chapter 4 for employers with 20 to 49 regular employees, despite the general 50+ scope. The separate §16a change-negotiation trigger includes 20 qualifying proposed measures in 90 days. Transfer information is not a veto. Current Co-operation Act
Set one coordinated cutover calendar
This hypothetical October to December 2026 example assumes no statutory transfer, a valid agreed end route, worker acceptance, and confirmed permission and coverage. Assume the client gives eight calendar days' commercial notice on Fri 23 Oct for an Oct 31 service stop; this is a case-specific contract assumption, not employee notice. A ends Sat 31 Oct, Finland's All Saints' Day; B starts Sun 1 Nov and work begins Mon 2 Nov. Church Order 657/2023 sets the holiday on the Saturday following 30 October. Move dates if a gate remains open. Here OHS means the employer’s occupational health-care service.
The assumed Oct 31 end falls on Saturday. Under TSL 2:14 and 2:15, wages fall due at employment end and a weekend/holiday payday moves to the preceding weekday, making A's assumed final payday Fri Oct 30 unless a valid alternative applies. Check the contract and CBA. Nov 30 remains an assumed B payday. Earnings reports are due within five calendar days of payment availability; each provider reports its own payments, and October and November employer reports are separate. TSL · Incomes Register deadlines
If statutory transfer applies, replace this schedule with continuity and transfer information duties; do not run both routes.
Reconcile transition costs and cash
Keep employee pay and commercial balances separate. Assumptions: €6,000 monthly gross, four unused leave days, divisor 25, one €6,000 B prefund Oct 26 and A's €4,000 deposit refund Dec 15. Check the CBA, ledger and route.
Thus A pays €6,960 gross before employee deductions (€6,000 wages + €960 holiday compensation); B pays an assumed €6,000 gross before employee deductions for November. The example excludes employer contributions, premiums, fees and any applicable VAT. Do not settle and credit the same four days twice. For unrelated EORs, §18 is not statutory carry; HE 238/2004 limits it to the same contracting parties. Annual Holidays Act · HE 238/2004
Test the first payroll and close the old arrangement
Test both calculations before release; do not create a second live wage instruction.
Where Finnish social insurance applies, B must establish its applicable TyEL earnings-related pension and occupational accident-insurance arrangements; confirm any cross-border A1 or other coverage exception. B must also arrange statutory occupational health care for its employees. Verify coverage before work begins. ETK contribution guidance · Occupational Health Care Act
Finnish employment-data rules require necessity, which consent cannot waive. GDPR also requires lawful basis, minimization and security. Prefer worker-supplied records; document any A-to-B basis and keep health data separate. Working Life Privacy Act · GDPR
The minimum packet identifies each employer and payer, employment dates, contractual pay and benefits, current tax-card route, verified pay periods and components, and the holiday balance and calculation basis. B also confirms its own insurance and benefit effective dates. Filing and actual tax or premium payment remain separate checks. Vero’s payment guide explains the distinction.
If records are delayed, A corrects its own filings. The worker can supply verified payslips, leave or coverage summaries; B reconstructs only required fields from validated evidence. If leave, permission or payroll inputs remain unverified, defer the exit rather than guess.
Tell the worker the employer and route, what continues by law/agreement, pay periods, leave treatment, tax-card/YTD handling, benefit and coverage dates, secure record path and contacts. B provides complete terms by Fri 23 Oct for review, an operational target rather than a statutory deadline. The worker may freely accept or decline. If the Tue 27 gate is not green, defer the employee exit and extend or revise the commercial arrangement.
Two employee situations that change the switch
Case 1: independently authorized worker. Assume the worked employee is a Finnish citizen. A and the worker freely agree to a valid ending route after the readiness gate. Legal confirms TSL 1:10 does not apply and the parties are not using a TSL 1:7 substitution. The worker freely accepts B's terms; B confirms cover from Sun 1 Nov and work starts Mon 2 Nov. A settles once and reports its own pay. A different transfer or protected-status result changes the route and dates.
Case 2: employer-linked permit. Assume another worker holds a pre-23 February 2023 employer-bound employed-person permit and would do the same-field job for B. Migri’s changing-jobs page permits a same-field change, while its employer guidance calls for a new permit in this older-card situation. Obtain a category-specific determination before committing to B’s start or ending A’s employment; defer this worker’s cutover if it remains unresolved. A different field, ICT assignment or changed specialist duties may also change the result. Residence validity and unemployment protection do not themselves authorize the new job. For covered third-country hires, the actual employer submits §82 information electronically within seven days of hire; a permitted special paper route has a ten-day limit. Filing does not confer permission. If a covered third-country national fails to start, employment ends, or work stops before a work-based permit expires, the employer reports the event within 14 days. Migri on changing jobs · Migri employer guidance · Aliens Act
Blue Card work has separate high-skilled, salary and qualification conditions. Eligible seasonal workers may start after a complete add-employer filing, forms and fee are submitted, before decision; work beyond current validity needs a new permit. B checks the actual authorization and job before work. Blue Card Act · Seasonal work employer addition
Questions about switching EOR in Finland
Does an employee have to resign before the new EOR can take over? No. First determine whether the same employer remains, TSL 1:10 applies, or the parties will agree a substitution under TSL 1:7. If a fresh contract is the correct route, agree the new terms and a lawful end to A's employment before acting. A client cancellation notice alone is not worker notice.
Will the employee keep their service date and accrued leave? A qualifying statutory transfer preserves employment continuity and rights. Under a consented substitution, document what continues. With a fresh relationship, recognize earlier service expressly if agreed; on genuine termination A generally settles due unused holiday compensation. Holidays Act §18's written carryover rule is for employment between the same contracting parties, not independent EOR A and B. Verify the CBA and leave record.
Who reports tax and year-to-date payroll? Each actual payer reports the earnings it paid. A's records remain the history of A-paid wages; B reports B-paid wages under B's own payer identity. B obtains the current tax-card route, and the employee should monitor total annual income across payers. Wage reports are due based on payment availability, not the period worked.
Can the employee keep working while a new work permit is pending? It depends on the existing category and proposed work. Some valid permits allow a same-field change; employer-specific or changed-task permits may require prior authorization. Seasonal work has a limited add-employer exception. Do not schedule work until B has verified the actual permit conditions and any filing or decision needed.
What if A's records arrive late? A remains responsible for correcting its own filings. The worker can provide verified payslips and leave or coverage summaries, and B can use validated evidence for the fields it must establish. If the leave balance, permission or payroll inputs remain unverified, defer the exit rather than guess or import an unsupported balance.
Can Borderless assess a Finland transition? Our EOR service covers onboarding, contracts, payroll and benefits administration. Ask our team to assess the proposed Finnish employer, worker eligibility and transition route before committing to a cutover.
