For employers: If you are hiring an employee from Ukraine

A person who has fled to Finland from Ukraine may work in Finland if he or she:

has applied for or been granted temporary protection;
has a valid certificate for seasonal work;
has a valid residence permit for seasonal work; or
has a valid residence permit that gives the permit holder the right to work.
- Read more about residence permit holders’ right to work.

In some cases, an employee might not need a residence permit. In that the case, the employee has a restricted right to work in certain fields of work for a maximum of 90 days.

Read more about working without a residence permit.

When you hire someone fleeing Ukraine to do seasonal work

Seasonal work requires your employee to have one of these permits:

Residence permit on the basis of temporary protection: Your employee's right to work and study begins as soon as the employee registers his or her application for temporary protection with the police or a border control authority.
- When your employee visits the police or the border authorities to apply for temporary protection, the police or the border authorities will print out a certificate of a pending application for your employee. The certificate will state that your employee has the right to work. If your employee has applied for temporary protection, his or her right to work is unrestricted, meaning that your employee may find employment in any field.
- Residence permits granted by the Finnish Immigration Service on the basis of temporary protection are currently valid until 4 March 2024.
- On 28 September 2023, the Council of the European Union decided to extend the temporary protection until 4 March 2025. Read more on the page Extension of temporary protection.
- If you employ someone who has applied for temporary protection, submit an employee announcement.
- Read more about payment of wages to employees who do not have a bank account.
- Check the estimated processing time for applications for temporary protection.
Certificate for seasonal work: A certificate for seasonal work allows the employee to do seasonal work for up to 90 days.
- With a certificate for seasonal work, the right to work is valid for as long as the employee has visa-free days left or until the certificate expires.
  - This means that the right to work may end sooner if the employee has arrived in Finland before the certificate for seasonal work became valid.
Residence permit for seasonal work: A residence permit for seasonal work allows the employee to do seasonal work for 3 to 9 months. The residence permit application must be submitted to the Finnish Immigration Service. If the work takes 6 to 9 months, an Employment and Economic Development Office will first make a partial decision on the application.

When you hire someone fleeing Ukraine to do other work (not seasonal work)

Temporary protection

Those fleeing to Finland from Ukraine can be granted a residence permit on the basis of temporary protection. Your employee's right to work and study begins as soon as the employee registers his or her application for temporary protection with the police or a border control authority. Read more about temporary protection.

If you employ someone who has applied for temporary protection, submit an employee announcement.
Read more about payment of wages to employees who do not have a bank account.

Check the estimated processing time for applications for temporary protection.

Residence permit on the basis of work

If your employee applies for a residence permit on the basis of work, the right application depends on what type of work your employee will be doing. Your employee’s right to work does not begin until he or she has received a positive decision on the residence permit application, unless your employee already has the right to work on the basis of some other permit. Read more about residence permits on the basis of work.

Residence permit on the basis of family ties

If your employee is granted a residence permit on the basis of family ties, he or she may work in Finland without restrictions. Your employee’s right to work does not begin until he or she has received a positive decision on the residence permit application, unless your employee already has the right to work on the basis of some other permit. Read more on the page Right to work.

Residence permit on the basis of studies

If your employee has a residence permit for studies, he or she may work in any field for a maximum of 30 hours per week on average.

Other residence permits

Enter Finland for Employers

When an employee of yours is applying for a residence permit on the basis of work, you need to supplement the employee's application by filling in the terms of employment.

Fill in the terms of employment online in Enter Finland for Employers.
If you cannot use Enter Finland for some reason, fill in a paper form. Depending on the type of employment, you will need to fill in either the Terms of employment form or, in the case of seasonal work, the form TY6_plus.

See the page Enter Finland for Employers for user instructions.

Read more about how to fill in the terms of employment.

Employer’s obligations

As an employer, you also have the following responsibilities:

To meet the obligations of an employer.
To ensure that a foreign employee you hire has the necessary skills and competence needed for the job.
To ensure that a foreign employee you hire has the right to reside and work in Finland.
To ensure that your employees’ terms of employment comply with Finnish legislation and the applicable collective agreement.
To ensure that information on all foreign employees you have hired and on the tasks that they have been performing is available at the workplace for inspection by occupational safety and health authorities. For more information on what data needs to be stored, see the website of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in Finland (tyosuojelu.fi).
To inform the shop steward, the elected representative and the occupational safety and health representative of the foreign employee’s name and the applicable collective agreement.

How to verify an employee’s right to work

Check that your employee has the right to work in Finland.

If your employee has applied for temporary protection

To verify your employee’s right to work, check your employee’s residence permit card or the certificate of a pending application that the police or a border authority gave your employee when he or she applied for temporary protection.

If your employee has a certificate for seasonal work

To verify your employee’s right to work, check his or her certificate for seasonal work. The certificate states the time period when the employee is allowed to do seasonal work.

If your employee has some other residence permit

To verify your employee’s right to work, check the residence permit card or the residence permit decision. They will state what type of right to work your employee has.

The right to work may be unrestricted or restricted to certain fields of work. See the page Right to work for information about what type of right to work the holders of a certain residence permit have.

If your employee has applied for asylum but not for temporary protection

An asylum seeker's right to work is based on Finland's Aliens Act. Under the act, an employee does not need a certificate of the right to work. You can ask about your employee’s right to work by sending an email to the Finnish Immigration Service. See further instructions on the page Information about the right to work.

If you employ someone who has applied for an extended permit

Asking about your employee’s right to work by sending an email to the Finnish Immigration Service

You can ask whether your employee’s right to work is valid by sending an email to the Finnish Immigration Service. The service is free of charge.

See the instructions on the page Information about the right to work.

Submit an employee announcement

An employer who hires a foreign national must submit an employee announcement when employing a person who is not an EU citizen or comparable person or is not a family member of such person.

However, an employee announcement is not needed if the employer will submit, or already has submitted, the employee’s terms of employment in connection with the employee’s work-based residence permit application.

Read more on the website of the TE Office.

Any questions? Call the Finnish Immigration Service’s service number for Ukraine-related questions: 0295 790 605. The number is open from Monday to Friday at 8.30–12.00 and 13–15.30.