Unpaid time off
If you want unpaid time off for reasons other than child care or studies, you should agree on the matter with your employer. Make the agreement in writing.
Making an agreement is always voluntary. The employer has the right to refuse to give any unpaid time off. And vice versa – the employer cannot force you to take unpaid time off.
Some types of unpaid time off must be granted, such as child care leave or study leave.
Annual holidays usually do not accumulate during unpaid time off. This means that the number of your holiday days does not usually increase. However, the Annual Holidays Act includes a list of situations where holidays are accumulated during unpaid time off. These include family leave, and part of a study leave or a sick leave. It also possible to agree on a different system for holiday accumulation in a collective agreement. Check your collective agreement.
Also check whether you will receive the experience-based supplement affecting your pay during unpaid time off.
Usually, fringe benefits, such as occupational healthcare, company phones or meal benefits, cannot be used during unpaid time off. However, these can be agreed on in a collective agreement or at a workplace, so check the matter beforehand.
Family leave
If you take time off from work to care for a child less than 3 years of age, you are on family leave. You and your family might receive support during a family leave, which means that you will receive an allowance from Kela. Collective agreements in many sectors include terms stating that the employer pays for a certain part of a parental leave, such as 3 months. If you receive pay during your family leave, Kela will pay the allowance to your employer.
Notify your employer of a parental or child care leave at least two months before your planned start date.
The allowance from Kela must be separately applied for. You can fill in the application in
Kela’s e-service or at a Kela office.
Pregnancy leave
Only the parent who gives birth is entitled to pregnancy leave and allowance. Usually, pregnancy leave starts 30 working days before the estimated date of birth, but a later start can also be agreed with the employer; however, so that leave starts no later than 14 working days before the estimated date of birth.
The Social Insurance Institution Finland (Kela) pays a pregnancy allowance for 40 working days, regardless of the actual date of birth. If your child is born before you are on pregnancy leave, the payment of the pregnancy allowance will start on the working day following the child’s birth.
Working days include days from Monday to Saturday with the exception of public holidays. Public holidays are general days off on a day other than Sunday.
After pregnancy leave, you are entitled to parental leave and allowance. Either parent who cares for their child can take parental leave. You can also work part-time and receive a partial parental allowance.
Special pregnancy allowance
You are entitled to a special pregnancy allowance if you need to be absent from work before the actual pregnancy allowance period due to exposure to any of the following in your work:
- Chemical substances
- Radiation
- Infectious diseases
You are entitled to a special pregnancy allowance if these hazards cannot be avoided in your work and your employer is unable to provide you with other tasks during pregnancy. Another requirement is that you are able to work.
Parental leave
To receive a parental allowance, you need to care for a child and be absent from work. You are entitled to a parental allowance if you are a child’s parent and guardian. You can be the child’s biological or adopted parent. One or two parents can be entitled to receive a parental allowance.
A parental allowance is paid for a total for 320 working days based on a single child. If a child has two parents entitled to receive a parental allowance, the parental allowance days will be divided evenly between the parents: 160 working days for each parent.
A parental allowance can also be received flexibly until a child turns two years. Employees can divide their parental leave into four periods of at least 12 working days.
Parents can receive a parental allowance simultaneously for at most 18 working days if they care for their child at the same time.
Transferring parental allowance days
You can transfer at most 63 working days of your 160 parental allowance days to another person who cares for your child. You can transfer days to
- the child’s other parent;
- your spouse, who is not the child’s parent;
- the spouse of the child’s other parent; or
- the child’s other guardian.
‘Spouse’ means a marital or co-marital spouse or a registered spouse.
Kela must be notified of the transfer of parental allowance days.
Partial parental allowance
If you care for a child for part of a day and work part-time at the same time, you can apply for a partial parental allowance. You can work at most five hours a day.
If you work more hours, you will not be entitled to any parental allowance, and your parental allowance days will be postponed to a later date.
Child care leave
After parental leave, you can take a child care leave to care for your child at home. You can stay on a child care leave until your child turns 3 years of age.
Kela pays a child home care allowance for children under the age of 3. The caretaker can be one of the parents or someone else, such as a grandparent or a hired nanny. The child home care allowance cannot be received if the child is in municipal early childhood education.
Part-time child care leave
You can also work part-time and take the care of your child at home by taking a part-time child care leave. You will receive less pay, but Kela will pay you a flexible care allowance. Kela pays flexible care allowance for children under the age of 3.
You can receive a partial care allowanceif you work shorter days, i.e. work less, when your child starts school. Partial care allowance is paid for a child in grade 1 or 2.
If you are pregnant or on family leave, you must not be discriminated against.
For example, the employer cannot terminate your employer due to
- your pregnancy
- you being on family leave
- you telling the employer that you intend to take family leave.
After family leave, you have the right to return to the same duties as before. If this is not possible, the employer must provide you with work that corresponds to your previous work to the extent possible. If this is not possible, you must be offered other work in accordance with your employment contract.