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Employment contract types in Finland

A Finnish contract is indefinite unless there is a justified reason for a fixed term. Since 1 June 2026 a first fixed term of up to a year needs no reason.

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An employment contract in Finland is valid indefinitely unless the employer has a justified reason to make it fixed-term, as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's duration of employment contract page states. Since 1 June 2026 there is one exception: according to the Finnish Government, a first fixed-term contract of up to one year with a new employee needs no reason. That leaves two contract types, indefinite (toistaiseksi voimassa oleva työsopimus) and fixed-term (määräaikainen työsopimus). Part-time hours, variable hours and agency work are arrangements inside one of these two.

Who this applies to

  • Employees offered an indefinite contract: the employer needs a lawful ground to end it, and you can resign with notice.
  • Employees offered a fixed-term contract: ask which justified reason applies, or whether it is a reasonless first contract under the 2026 rules.
  • Employees returning to an earlier employer: the reasonless option only applies if at least five years have passed since the previous employment ended.
  • Agency workers: your employer is the staffing agency, even though you work at the client company.
  • Work-based residence permit holders: the contract's duration also goes into your employer's terms of employment for Migri.

Key limits

The Employment Contracts Act and the Finnish Government's announcement of the June 2026 changes set these limits:

RuleLimit
Reasonless fixed-term contractup to 1 year, first employment or 5 years since the last one
Termination of a reasonless fixed-term contractby either party after 6 months
Fixed-term contract terminable like an indefinite oneafter 5 years
Trial periodup to 6 months, or half the contract if it is under 12 months
Trial period extension1 month per 30 days of incapacity or family leave
Advance notice of a layoff (from 1 June 2026)7 days

Indefinitely valid contracts

This is the form the Employment Contracts Act treats as the default. The contract continues until one side ends it by giving notice, following the notice periods in the act, the applicable collective agreement or the contract. The employee needs no particular reason to resign and only has to observe the notice period. The employer needs a lawful ground. The periods themselves are listed in notice periods in Finland, and the glossary entry on the notice period explains the term.

For grounds related to the employee as a person, the threshold changed on 1 January 2026. According to the government's working life portal Työelämään.fi, a proper reason (asiallinen syy) is now enough, where the law previously required a proper and weighty reason. Discriminatory grounds remain prohibited, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's terminating the employment contract page still lists illness, disability and injury as invalid grounds unless the employee's capacity to work has diminished substantially and permanently.

Fixed-term contracts and the justified reason

A fixed-term contract made on the employer's initiative needs a justified reason, apart from the 2026 exception below. The duration of employment contract page lists examples: substituting for an absent employee, a specific project, one-off tasks, seasonal work, work-related internships, fixed-term apprenticeships, and other characteristics of the employer's operations or the work.

If a fixed-term contract is concluded in breach of the law, it is treated as a contract of indefinite duration. That gives the employee the notice periods and dismissal protection that come with an indefinite contract. Ask the employer for the reason before signing and check that it appears in the contract or in the written statement of the principal terms of employment.

Consecutive fixed-term contracts are not allowed where the number of contracts, their combined duration and the total employment they create show that the employer's need for labour is permanent. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration notes that no set number of contracts or set length triggers this rule: each case is assessed on its own facts.

The 1 June 2026 change: a first fixed term without a reason

Since 1 June 2026, an employer may conclude a fixed-term contract without a justified reason for a maximum of one year. The Finnish Government's press release sets the conditions:

  • It is the first employment relationship between that employer and that employee, or at least five years have passed since the previous one ended.
  • The maximum duration is one year.
  • Either party can terminate the contract once it has lasted at least six months.
  • When the contract ends, the employer must assess whether the employment can continue and, under certain conditions, offer the employee work if it is planning to hire more staff.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment states that a fixed-term contract may be concluded without a justified reason only once. The government proposal would have allowed up to three such contracts within one year, and Parliament removed that option. Any other fixed-term contract still needs a justified reason.

The binding nature of a fixed term

A fixed-term contract binds both sides until its end date. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's terminating the employment contract page states that a fixed-term contract may not be terminated by notice unless this was agreed when it was concluded, and a party that ends it early without such an agreement must compensate the other for the damage caused. A fixed-term contract that has lasted more than five years may be terminated on the same grounds and procedure as an indefinite one. The reasonless fixed-term contracts introduced on 1 June 2026 have their own six-month termination rule, described above.

Trial periods in both types

Both indefinite and fixed-term contracts may start with a trial period (koeaika). Under the Employment Contracts Act, it can last at most six months, and in a fixed-term contract shorter than twelve months it can be at most half the contract's length. During the trial period either side may cancel the contract, but not on discriminatory grounds or grounds unrelated to the purpose of the trial period. If the employee is incapacitated for work or on family leave, the employer may extend the trial period by one month for each 30 calendar days of absence, provided the employee is told before the trial period ends.

How a trial period and other contracts can end is covered in termination of employment contract in Finland.

Full-time and part-time hours

Working hours are a clause inside either type of contract. Under the Working Hours Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration states that regular working hours must not exceed eight hours a day or 40 hours a week, and a collective agreement can set its own hours. Part-time is anything less. Pay follows the agreed hours, and part-time employees earn annual holiday under the same Annual Holidays Act rules as full-time staff.

Variable-hours contracts

A variable-hours contract states a range of hours, for example 0 to 40 a week. Job ads sometimes call this a zero-hour contract. The Employment Contracts Act allows this kind of arrangement at the employer's initiative only where the employer's need for labour varies, and the employer must review the agreed hours against the hours worked at regular intervals. A contract written as variable-hours but delivering steady full-time hours every week is one to raise with the employer, a shop steward or your trade union.

Temporary agency work

In agency work, the employment contract is between the employee and the staffing agency. The agency is the employer and is responsible for pay, notice, annual holiday and sick pay. The client company directs the daily work and has duties for safety at the workplace. If no generally binding collective agreement applies to the agency, the Employment Contracts Act applies the collective agreement that binds the client company.

The name of the document

The Finnish word is työsopimus. English texts call it an employment contract, and older or literal translations sometimes say labour contract. Both refer to the same document under the same act. The lines to check before signing are the duration and the working hours.

What the written statement of terms must contain is covered in employment contract in Finland.

The law behind it

The Employment Contracts Act (työsopimuslaki 55/2001) governs all types of employment contracts in Finland. The amendments in force from 1 June 2026 introduced the reasonless first fixed-term contract and, according to the Government's press release, shortened the advance notice of a layoff to seven days. The Finnish-language consolidated text on Finlex is the most up-to-date version, as English translations can lag behind amendments.

The date that matters falls on the day a reasonless fixed-term contract reaches six months: from that date either side can end it, so a one-year term no longer guarantees a full year of work.

Frequently asked questions

What are the main types of employment contracts in Finland?

There are two: indefinite and fixed-term. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration treats indefinite as the default, and part-time, variable-hours and agency work all sit inside one of the two.

Can a fixed-term employment contract in Finland be ended early?

Only if the contract allows notice or both sides agree. Otherwise the side that walks away owes damages, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and reasonless contracts from June 2026 open to termination after six months.

Can an employer in Finland offer a fixed-term contract without a reason?

Since 1 June 2026, for up to one year, if it is your first job with that employer or five years have passed since the last one. The Finnish Government's release keeps the justified-reason rule for every other fixed-term contract.

How long can a trial period be in Finland?

Six months at most, and no more than half the contract when a fixed-term contract runs under twelve months. Absence through incapacity or family leave lets the employer add a month per 30 days, under the Employment Contracts Act.

Sources

Last updated: October 2026

employment

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