Frequently asked questions

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and Ministry of Social Affairs and Health have given recommendations to water supply plants, municipal health protection authorities supervising these and Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment to secure water supply and sanitation during the coronavirus epidemic. 

According to current knowledge, it is not considered likely that the new coronavirus could spread via drinking water. The virus is also not considered to cause any particular risks to those working at wastewater treatment plants. 

The instructions do not mean any new obligations to water supply plants but their preparedness is based on the current legislation, mainly the Water Services Act and Health Protection Act. 

The Water Services Act obliges water supply plants to ensure access to water supply and sanitation services for properties in emergency situations as well. Water supply plants must draw up plans on their preparedness for disruptions and keep these up to date, and take the necessary measures on the basis of the plans. 

According to the Health Protection Act, health protection authorities must cooperate with other authorities and agencies and draw up a plan to prepare for disruptions affecting the environment where the people live. 

The functioning of water supply and sanitation must be secured to be able to maintain the basic functions of society also during the state of emergency caused by the coronavirus epidemic. Especially large population centres and operations that require a lot of clean water, such as those in healthcare centres, hospitals and food industry, are highly vulnerable to any disruptions in water supply and sanitation services. 

If the epidemic caused by the coronavirus expands, it is important that water supply plants and municipalities, together with the other water supply plants of the region, authorities and key customers using water services, make sure that their plans for disruptions and the instructions included in these are up to date. 

A situation that may threaten the functioning of water supply and sanitation is one where a large percentage of the staff falls ill at the same time. This is why water supply plants are urged to ensure sufficient resources for managing the critical water supply and sanitation tasks, making use of the plans for disruptions. 

Water supply plants are also urged to prepare for possible disruptions in the operations of service providers, including laboratories and suppliers of chemicals. 

Inquiries: 
Jarkko Rapala, Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, tel. +358 2951 63315, firstname.lastname(at)stm.fi 
Katri Vasama, Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Natural Resources and Water Management Unit, tel. +358 50 595 5317, firstname.lastname(at)mmm.fi 

According to current knowledge, the virus is not transmitted via food, including fish. This means that the primary producers and processors of fish and operators in the supply chains can work as usually, as long as they take particular care of hygiene and of the preservation of fish. Consumers can also use fish and fish products as normally. A key issue for both operators in the fisheries sector and consumers is that the precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the virus are followed with care. It is important to maintain a functioning and viable value chain for fish so that we will have fish and fish products available also in future. Read more about the coronavirus and food on the website of the Finnish Food Authority (in Finnish). Read more about support for the fisheries sector available under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and State aid schemes on the website of the Maritime and Fisheries Network at merijakalatalous.fi/en/. 

The new coronavirus is transmitted directly from human to human. According to current knowledge, there is no evidence that the SARS-CoV-2 virus would spread or be transmitted to humans via food or via pets or farmed animals. E.g. in Belgium, France and Germany pets that have been in close contact with humans suffering from the coronavirus disease COVID-19, especially cats, have been reported as infected with the virus. In some cases the cats had shown no symptoms of the disease. Pets are considered to have no role in spreading the disease, but in all cases the virus had been transmitted from humans. Despite these quite rare and isolated cases considering the extent of the pandemic, pets can and must be cared for in the same way as usually, taking care of regular, good hand hygiene.

Besides pets, minks on four mink farms in the Netherlands have been found to carry the disease. In all these cases staff members caring for the animals had shown respiratory symptoms indicative of COVID-19.

Based on genetic analyses, it has been concluded that the coronavirus COVID-19 would originate from bats because its close relative has been found in Rhinolophus bat (horseshoe bat) populations. Studies on how the coronavirus was transmitted to humans are under way. The hypothesis is that the coronavirus would first have been transmitted from bats to an intermediate host where it had mutated into one that can be transmitted to humans.

Read more:
UN Food and Agriculture Organization FAO

The National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) has put together instructions on things you can do to curb the spread of the coronavirus and alleviate the resulting concerns.

THL: Instructions for citizens on coronavirus

It is advisable to seek information about the use and availability of medicines from reliable sources and follow the information and instructions provided by the authorities. The website of the Finnish Medicines Agency Fimea contains frequently asked questions and answers concerning medicines and the coronavirus.

• Frequently asked questions (in Finnish) (fimea.fi)

All instructions, recommendations and decisions issued by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health are published on the Ministry’s website at www.stm.fi.

• Guidelines of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health for the prevention of coronavirus

We can and must still go to forest and enjoy the coming spring in our natural environment. However, we may wish to avoid the most popular hiking destinations and give preference e.g. to a forest close to our home. On Metsähallitus website, you will find guidance for hikers relating to the coronavirus. Metsähallitus wishes to remind that the same rules apply in the natural environment as in urban areas and shopping centres:  two-metre safety distance and good hand hygiene is always required, including in campfire and rest sites.

See also Nationalparks.fi: Guidelines Concerning Coronavirus

 

 

The coronavirus is primarily transmitted as a droplet and contact infection when a person coughs or sneezes. The experts consider it unlikely that the coronavirus infection would be transmitted via waste when regular good waste management practices are complied with. Outside the human body, the viability and transmission capacity of the virus weakens rapidly and the virus does not multiply in waste.

Finnish institute for health and welfare: Frequently asked questions about coronavirus

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health has issued a decision ordering those working in close contact with clients to wear a mask in social welfare units providing 24-hour care and in home care services.

The aim is to protect clients with an elevated risk of becoming seriously ill from coronavirus (COVID-19).

If surgical nose-mouth masks are not available, the staff must wear washable or disposable fabric masks or visors covering their faces.

In the emergency conditions, the Government issued a recommendation to avoid contact teaching. This also applied to participation in activities organised before and after school and club activities. Once the recommendation was lifted, it became possible to take part in these activities as of 14 May. The safety of children and staff will be ensured in activities organised before and after school and in club activities.

Local authorities must continue to provide activities organised before and after school and club activities as of 14 May 2020 if they provided these services in the municipality before the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic.

To avoid unnecessary contact with others, the activities are divided into small groups of children according to the children’s own school class or teaching group. The activities of each small group are run and supervised by an adult appointed for the group. Apart from children and staff members, outsiders should avoid spending time in or around morning and afternoon activities and club activities. Each unit that provides activities before and after school or club activities should also advise parents, guardians and families to follow these guidelines.

In principle, the general restrictions on gatherings do not apply to teaching and other statutory activities of educational institutions. However, big events, such as graduation ceremonies and end-of-school events covering the entire educational institution, are not to be organised.

Schools can organise joint events for their own group. However, traditional school-wide spring fetes with guests cannot be held. The end of the school year is an important occasion, and for some students in comprehensive school, the end of school means moving to a new school or educational institution. Celebrations create a sense of communality and allows people to remember and appreciate all the work done together.

Education providers decide on when to hold celebrations.

The education providers of general upper secondary education and vocational education and training have issued a joint recommendation on the organisation of graduation ceremonies. Based on the recommendation, the educational institutions will send the spring 2020 graduation certificates by post to all those who have graduated from general upper secondary school or who have gained a qualification. Where local circumstances make it possible, educational institutions may organise a graduation ceremony using remote connections on Saturday 30 May and an open celebration at a safe time later in the autumn. The celebrations of all graduates and those with a qualification will take place at the same time.

The primary dates for the joint autumn ceremony is Friday, 28 August or Saturday, 29 August. If the festivities cannot be organised safely on these dates, those who graduated in spring 2020 can be invited to the Independence Day festivities, or the autumn term graduation or matriculation ceremonies in December.

Education and training providers decide whether they want to organise entrance exams or aptitude tests and any additional proof of competence. 

The Government recommends that education providers in general upper secondary education and vocational education refrain from organising entrance exams and aptitude tests requiring applicants to be physically present on the occasion, unless it is essential to hold such tests to ensure that student admissions take place in an appropriate manner. When entrance exams and aptitude tests are organised, special attention must be paid to preventing the spread of infections.

If necessary, entrance exams and aptitude tests may be replaced by additional evidence that does not require the presence of the applicant. Aptitude tests, interviews and other additional proof of competence must be conducted by telephone or via other remote connections, unless the physical presence of the applicant is absolutely necessary. This way it is possible to avoid the risk of infection caused by social contacts and travel.

When changes are made to the arrangement of entrance exams and aptitude tests, the non-discrimination of applicants and their protection under the law must be taken into account.

Last updated on 6 April 2020

Workplace training and traineeships that are organised outside the educational institution will continue if the workplace can do so and the education provider and employer deem the working environment safe for the student.

If there is a high risk of contracting the coronavirus in the workplace, it is recommended that workplace training be suspended and continue only after the risk no longer exists.

In the health care sector, it is worth bearing in mind that health care students might have to help out if there is a shortage of personnel in health care should the epidemic last long.

Education and training providers decide whether they want to organise entrance exams or aptitude tests and any additional proof of competence.

Education and training providers may choose not to organise entrance exams and aptitude tests if it is deemed expedient. Instead, other additional proof of competence that does not require the presence of the student in the same way as entrance exams and aptitude tests may be used as a basis for student selection if necessary.

Demonstrations may continue if the workplace can do so and the education provider and employer deem the demonstration environment safe for the student.

If there is a high risk of contracting the coronavirus in the workplace, it is recommended that demonstrations continue only after the risk no longer exists.

Financing will not be suspended; the payment of financing that has already been decided will continue as normal, as education and training have not been suspended. Student and performance data are recorded as normal, even though teaching is arranged in alternative ways instead of contact teaching. Student feedback is collected as before.

Upper secondary students are better equipped to study independently than pupils in primary school. However, some students in secondary school may also lack certain learning skills, self-management skills or motivation to study. It has been particularly difficult for students belonging to different language and cultural groups with students from migrant background and for students who need special support to adapt to distance learning and independent studies.

It is important to support the most vulnerable students in these emergency conditions. Special arrangements have been made to provide guidance and support so that special needs teachers, student and guidance counsellors, and social workers can be contacted remotely. Students from migrant background have also been sent tasks on paper by mail if they do not have computers with remote connections or are not accustomed to using a computer or other digital tools in their studies. Some education providers have organised small-scale service points in their premises, where students in need of support or students in need of study equipment have been able to drop by.

The need for supporting students will continue even after the emergency conditions are over. Over the next school year, extra effort will be needed to bridge the skills and learning gaps that are being created under these emergency conditions. This means additional investment in education, guidance and other support measures. This work is being prepared by the Ministry of Education and Culture.

In principle, the general restrictions on gatherings do not apply to teaching and other statutory activities of educational institutions. However, big events, such as graduation ceremonies and end-of-school events covering the entire educational institution, are not to be organised.

Schools can organise joint events for their own group. However, traditional school-wide spring fetes with guests cannot be held. The end of the school year is an important occasion, and for some students in comprehensive school, the end of school means moving to a new school or educational institution. Celebrations create a sense of communality and allows people to remember and appreciate all the work done together.

Education providers decide on when to hold celebrations.

The education providers of general upper secondary education and vocational education and training have issued a joint recommendation on the organisation of graduation ceremonies. Based on the recommendation, the educational institutions will send the spring 2020 graduation certificates by post to all those who have graduated from general upper secondary school or who have gained a qualification. Where local circumstances make it possible, educational institutions may organise a graduation ceremony using remote connections on Saturday 30 May and an open celebration at a safe time later in the autumn. The celebrations of all graduates and those with a qualification will take place at the same time.

The primary dates for the joint autumn ceremony is Friday, 28 August or Saturday, 29 August. If the festivities cannot be organised safely on these dates, those who graduated in spring 2020 can be invited to the Independence Day festivities, or the autumn term graduation or matriculation ceremonies in December.

The studies will be evaluated in the manner defined in the national curriculum and the local curriculum.

In some subjects, there might be grounds to organise the demonstration of competence in the premises of the educational institution. In such cases, the guidelines and instructions of the authorities should be followed. However, even in these cases it would be advisable to try to find remote solutions that would allow the creation of sustainable practices that can also be applied in the coming academic year. Assessments in the course of studies and at the end of studies must be carried out based on demonstrations and evidence that are as versatile as possible. The students are informed of the assessment procedures for each course at the beginning of each course. The basic premise is that courses that are generally assessed in numerical terms should continue to be assessed numerically.

The restrictions placed on vocational education and training institutions were lifted on 13 May 2020. Since then, in other words from 14 May 2020, the use of the premises in the educational institutions for teaching purposes are managed by measures governed by the Communicable Diseases Act and teaching is provided in accordance with the legislation on vocational education and training.

However, in its Government Resolution of 6 May 2020, the Government recommends that distance learning continue in vocational education and training until the end of the term (until the end of May). Education providers are the ones to decide how much contact teaching is needed. In the summer, contact teaching will be arranged in line with the guidelines on hygiene and physical distancing.

Where education providers consider it necessary to provide contact teaching in the situations referred to above or otherwise, they must take into account the recommendations and instructions of the authorities regarding the COVID-19 epidemic in order to ensure the health and safety of students and staff.

The need for supporting students will continue even after the emergency conditions are over. In the future, extra effort will be needed to bridge the skills and learning gaps that the emergency conditions created. This means additional investment in teaching, guidance and other support measures. This work is being prepared by the Ministry of Education and Culture.

Universities and universities of applied sciences have decided to make changes to the spring admissions procedure. Entrance examinations that could bring together a large number of applicants physically in the same space will not be held.

A change has been made to this summer’s student admissions schedule because more time is needed for organising and evaluating the entrance exams, which will be held as two-stage exams.

The original deadline for notifying the applicants of the admissions results was 8 July 2020. The time has been put forward by a week and the new deadline is 15 July 2020. Correspondingly, the deadlines for accepting an offer of admission and the deadline for filling waiting list places be put forward.

As in normal circumstances, applicants will be informed of the results ahead of the deadline as and when the results of the applications are completed and decisions on accepting offers are confirmed by the applicants.

• More detailed information on the COVID-19 situation and student admissions will be published on studyinfo.fi.

Higher education institutions, educational institutions and other organisations that provide exchange programmes and projects decide how, together with the organisations they cooperate with, to implement their international activities and agree on measures for both outgoing and incoming student mobility.

The higher education institutions and educational institutions are essentially the ones to make the decisions on postponing, suspending and reorganising student exchange periods. They must follow the official press releases, contact those participating in international projects and advise them to contact the Finnish Embassy or Consulate, if necessary, for further instructions.

The international activities of EU projects can be prematurely suspended, carried out with another partner, postponed to a later date or cancelled. Notice of cancellation or postponement must be given as soon as possible to the Finnish National Agency for Education, which gives advice on how to proceed.

It is possible to apply for compensation based on force majeure clauses for mobility periods and expenses financed by the national agency in Finland via the Erasmus Plus and the European Solidarity Corps programmes. Force majeure practices may vary from country to country. The national agency of the country financing the project is always the one to decide on the reimbursement of project costs. For this reason, it is essential that the coordinating organisation should direct the process in line with the instructions of the national agency financing the project.

For non-EU exchange programmes, contact the organisation providing the funding.

For more information, please first contact the international services of your educational institution.

Businesses in these sectors may remain open. The decision applies to gatherings, not to the provision of individual services. The providers of individual services are advised, however, to take into account the state of emergency in their activities. The physical distance between customers should be increased and services should be arranged in such a way that customer encounters are kept to a minimum.

Published 18.3.2020

All restaurants, cafés and bars must be closed everywhere in Finland starting at midnight on Friday, 3 April. They will remain closed to customers from Saturday 4 April to 31 May 2020. Preparing meals for take away will be allowed. The order to close restaurants to customers does not apply to restaurants that are not open to the public, such as personnel canteens or student canteens in educational institutions.

See also questions and answers regarding the coronavirus and closing restaurants on the website of Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment  

Shopping centres, station buildings, and other public premises, however, may remain open. In other words, being in a shopping centre does not constitute a ‘public gathering’ on the grounds that the number of customers exceeds ten.

It is advisable for companies to adapt their operating practices according to the new situation. They should aim to provide more individualised services, serve smaller groups of customers, or stagger their meetings. An example of this is event producers organising direct sales groups via Facebook based on the idea that customers and vendors will arrive at an agreed place at an agreed time.

Customers should always take into account the fact that there is a state of emergency in the country and act accordingly. It is advisable to keep your distance from other people.

Published 18.3.2020, answer has been updated on 3 April 2020 at 15.55.

The Government’s policy is based on the Communicable Diseases Act, which does not lay down any penal provisions concerning this matter (section 58). The policy also affects the application of the Assembly Act, which is supervised by the police. Activities violating the provisions of the Assembly Act may be punishable as an assembly violation, for which the maximum punishment is a fine.

Published 18.3.2020

 

Yes. The restrictions do not apply to public transport. It is advisable to keep your distance from fellow passengers. 

Published 18.3.2020

 

The restrictions have been introduced to protect people, you should not try to find ways to evade them. 

Published 18.3.2020

 

The Government’s decision to restrict gatherings limits the maximum number of participants at any gathering to ten persons.

The recommendation concerning the closure of cultural venues and sports facilities applies to all private and third-sector operators providing group exercise classes and gym services. In other words, it is recommended that these be closed.

Movie theatres are covered both by the restriction on gatherings, which is based on the law, and by the recommendation concerning theatres. Movie theatres are allowed to remain open, but it is recommended that they be closed. They may also show films, but they must not allow more than ten persons to be present at a screening at the same time. 

Published 18.3.2020

 

Yes, the courts will continue their operations as usual, as will the rest of the public administration. Some of the scheduled court sessions will probably need to be postponed and the consideration may unfortunately be delayed, but the courts will inform the parties concerned of this personally. 

Published 18.3.2020

 

The effects of the coronavirus on police operations | poliisi.fi

It is prohibited to arrange public events intended for more than ten persons. The prohibition applies to all meetings that are open to the public, regardless of whether they are to be held indoors or outdoors. The prohibition applies to both public meetings and public events.

A public meeting means an event open for participation or observation, including to persons who have not been expressly invited to it. 

A public event is, as a rule, an event intended for more than ten persons, which the participants attend on their own initiative. Such events include entertainment events, performances, competitions and other similar events open to the public, such as theatre performances, operas and movie screenings, concerts and exhibitions, as well as fairs, competitions and sports events.

Published 18.3.2020

 

The Government’s decision to restrict gatherings of more than ten persons applies also to these in respect of the Communicable Diseases Act and the regulations issued under it.

Many public sector entities have already restricted the organisation of events significantly on their own initiative. Religious communities are responsible for ensuring compliance with the Government’s policy themselves, similarly as all other event organisers.

In all situations, it is good to remember that there is a state of emergency in Finland right now. It is advisable to keep your distance from other people.

Published 18.3.2020, answer has been updated on 19 March 2020 at 17.00.

The board of directors of a limited liability company, a limited liability housing company and a cooperative and the executive committee of a registered association must prepare the financial statements by 30 June 2020 for the financial year that ended on 30 November 2019 at the earliest and on 29 February 2020 at the latest.

Published on 16 April 2020 at 16.50, updated 27 April 2020 at 11.00

The board of directors or the executive committee of a corporation is responsible for arranging and convening meetings. Shareholders and members can expect to receive information about meetings from the board of directors or the executive committee.

Published on 16 April 2020 at 16.50, updated 27 April 2020 at 11.00

Further information about the practical arrangements related to the postponement and holding of meetings, use of a representative, remote participation, and preparation of financial statements is provided by organisations for the different types of corporations and sectors, advisory bodies and other organisations, such as

• the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK)
• the Finnish Chamber of Commerce (KKK)
• the Advisory Board of Finnish Listed Companies (operating in connection with the EK and the KKK)
• the Federation of Finnish Enterprises
• the Finnish Real Estate Federation
• the Finnish Real Estate Management Federation
• the Pellervo Coop Center
• the Finnish Federation for Social Affairs and Health SOSTE
• the Olympic Committee
• the Finnish National Youth Council Allianssi
• the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions SAK
• the Finnish Association of Auditors.

Published on 17 April 2020 klo 15.00, updated 27 April 2020 at 11.05

The board of directors of a listed company may decide to allow remote participation or participation only by using a representative, if the meeting is held by 30 September 2020. The board of directors can decide that representatives will also participate remotely. In such a case, an opportunity for shareholders to request information, for the management to provide information, and for shareholders to propose a matter to be included on the agenda of the general meeting must be provided before the meeting and voting. Voting can be conducted in advance or during the meeting as remote voting. The notice of a general meeting to be submitted by a listed company must contain detailed instructions on the participation in the meeting, the manner and time of presenting questions and counter-proposals, and the publication of questions, proposals and the company's replies.

Published on 16 April 2020 at 17.00, updated 27 April 2020 at 10.55

A member of a cooperative has a statutory right to use a representative, even if it is prohibited by the rules, if the meeting is held by 30 September 2020.

The executive committee of an association may allow the use of representatives even if the rules of the association do not allow this, if the meeting is held by 30 September 2020. In practice, the executive committee may also set requirements concerning representatives, provided that they are justified and comply with the principle of equality. For example, the executive committee of a party association may, based on the purpose and activities of the association, require that a representative participating in a party conference be a member of a local organisation of the political party in question (Statement of Legal Affairs Committee 2/2020 vp and Report of Commerce Committee 8/2020 vp).

Published on 16 April 2020 at 17.00, updated 27 April at 10.55

The board of directors of a cooperative or the executive committee of an association can allow its members to participate remotely even in cases where the rules of the corporation explicitly prohibit or do not allow remote participation, if the meeting is held by 30 September 2020.

If some of the members do not have sufficient digital skills or a possibility for remote participation, the management of the cooperative or association must, in accordance with the duty of care, ensure that all members have in practice sufficient opportunities to participate in the decision-making taking place at the meeting of the association or cooperative. In such cases, it may be necessary to allow participation only by using a representative or remotely. If a member of an association does not have the necessary skills to use the selected means of remote participation, there may appear situations where the member has a ‘technical assistant’ present at the meeting, even if this is not expressly permitted under the Associations Act, because compliance with the restriction cannot in practice be monitored (Statement of Legal Affairs Committee 2/2020 vp).

It should be noted in the selection of the methods of participation and in the practical arrangement of meetings that it may not be possible to establish with certainty who actually attends a meeting remotely in addition to the members and possible representatives (Statement of Legal Affairs Committee 2/2020 vp).

The executive committee of an association must provide adequate procedural instructions for remote participation, including voting. For example, voting and election rules can be used as a model. The same applies to remote participation in a meeting of the delegates. The executive committee cannot, however, establish actual voting and election rules referred to in section 30 of the Associations Act (Statement of Legal Affairs Committee 2/2020 vp).

Even if practically all participants would participate in a meeting remotely, the meeting must nevertheless have a physical venue (Statement of Legal Affairs Committee 2/2020 vp).

Published on 16 April 2020 at 17.00, updated 27 April at 10.20

The statutory meetings of shareholders, members and delegates of corporations can be postponed and held by 30 September 2020. The Act entered into force May 1 2020. Invitations to meetings to be held after the entry into force of the Act, by utilising the methods of participation allowed by the Act, can already be sent.

The possibility of postponement applies not only to ordinary and regular meetings but also to continuation and extraordinary meetings, as well as to meetings approving a merger or a demerger in companies and cooperatives.

The board of directors of a cooperative and the executive committee of an association may require an advance notice of participation in a general meeting of the cooperative, a meeting of the association and a meeting of the delegates to be held by the end of September 2020.  This way, the board of directors or the executive committee will know the number of participants in advance and can arrange a meeting venue that complies with the health requirements and request those participating remotely to provide the necessary contact information. 

The possibility of combining the spring and autumn meetings of an association must be assessed on a case-by-case basis. This overall assessment must take into account at least the rules of the association, the types of matters to be decided, the health protection needs of the members of the association, and an assessment of whether the postponement would cause damage to the association or its members. The executive committee of an association is responsible for such an assessment and for convening a meeting (Statement of Legal Affairs Committee 2/2020 vp).

Published  on 16 April 2020 at 16.30, updated on 4 May 2020

The Regional State Administrative Agencies have published a wide range of questions and answers concerning gatherings and public events on their website.

• Regional State Administrative Agencies’ answers to questions about public events and public meetings (in Finnish)

Restrictions on gatherings are still necessary. Based on an epidemiological assessment, it will be possible to ease the restrictions on the number of persons from the current 10 to a maximum of 50 from 1 June until further notice. The situation will be reassessed by the end of June.

The 50-person limit applies not only to public gatherings (the recommendation-based guideline) but also to summer festivities and other events organised by private and third-sector operators, to cultural, recreational, physical exercise and sports events and to religious events.

As concerns indoor spaces and enclosed outdoor spaces, such as amusement parks, zoos, libraries and cinemas, safety will be ensured by limiting the number of visitors, ensuring safe distances and providing guidance on personal hygiene. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health will issue a circular to the regional authorities on implementing these restrictions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease under the Communicable Diseases Act.

By decision of the Government, holding public events and gatherings for more than 500 people is forbidden until 31 July 2020.

 In the emergency conditions, the Government issued a recommendation to avoid contact teaching. This also applied to participation in activities before and after school and to club activities. After the recommendation was lifted, it became possible to take part in these activities as of 14 May. The safety of children and staff will be ensured in activities before and after school and in club activities.

First, contact your own bank and other financing providers. The banks have already announced they are ready to look at loan repayment holidays and payment rescheduling due to the exceptional situation caused by the coronavirus epidemic. The Government is also taking action to improve the ability of banks to provide business financing. Finnvera guarantees loans that banks give to companies. Support is also available from the central government by application. Depending on the size of the company, the support is granted by municipalities, ELY Centres and Business Finland. 

The purpose of public funding is to ensure that companies will able to continue to operate profitably after the crisis. Another objective is to secure jobs and services for Finnish people.

Finnvera primarily offers guarantees; i.e. banks provide financing, and Finnvera provides the guarantee. Finnvera also grants loans.

The Government enables the provision of additional financing of EUR 10 billion to businesses through Finnvera by increasing its maximum domestic financing. In addition, the state will increase its coverage of Finnvera’s credit and guarantee losses from 50% to 80%, enabling Finnvera to take bigger risks in the current conditions of economic uncertainty.

Finnvera will also extend the use of SME guarantee and start guarantee for purposes such as financing required to address the financial challenges caused by the coronavirus. Guarantee decisions on loans of less than one million euros granted by banks can be made quickly. This affects a very large number of loan decisions and thereby helps to make loan decisions quickly available to a significant number of companies. Guarantee decisions for loans larger than one million euros require an assessment process at Finnvera, which is why the decision-making takes longer. 

Companies are advised to first contact their bank regarding flexible repayment and other arrangements involving financing already provided. Finnvera may grant a guarantee, if needed.

More information on Finnvera’s website

The government increased Business Finland’s grant authorisations by EUR 800 million to enable support to companies in financial difficulties due to the coronavirus.

Business Finland has launched two new financial services owing to the coronavirus outbreak. They are intended for SMEs in Finland that employ 6–250 people and for midcaps that may employ more than 250 people but have an annual turnover of less than EUR 300 million.

With this funding, businesses can identify, plan and implement new development measures to deal with these effects and address any further disruption.

Other forms of financing offered by Business Finland are available by application as normally. Financing will be also be granted and paid out as normally. Business Finland is very flexible about any changes in project schedules and loan repayment schedules, and generally seeks flexibility in all its activities. If necessary, Business Finland can extend the duration of funded projects and loan periods, and make payments more quickly.

Further information on Business Finland’s website

The Finnish Industry Investment Ltd Tesi will launch a funding programme to ensure that medium-sized enterprises that have run into temporary difficulties due to the coronavirus epidemic will be able to stay in business. In the programme the Finnish Industry Investment Ltd provides funding to medium-sized enterprises, which are highly important in Finland in terms of their employment effect and turnover (turnover at least EUR 10 million, more than 50 employees, profitable business operations before the crisis and potential for this also in future). The investments will vary between EUR 1 million and EUR 10 million. The Tesi programme covers limited liability companies and public limited companies.

The aim is to prevent viable businesses going bankrupt as a consequence of a highly exceptional crisis that has had nothing to do with their operations. Tesi’s stablisation programme will invest in businesses that are in a good position to overcome the financial difficulties caused by the coronavirus epidemic with additional funding. This programme to deal with the liquidity problems faced by businesses complements the follow-on funding that Tesi announced earlier.

Investments to be made from this temporary programme offer a faster track to helping businesses cope with their liquidity crisis. 

More information on Finnish Industry Investment’s website (in Finnish).

 

The Government will increase the authorisation of ELY Centres to grant business subsidies by EUR 400 million; this is to be used for preparing situation analyses and business development measures in companies. ELY Centres provide financing to companies that employ up to five persons at the time the application was submitted and whose business is suffering from the coronavirus situation. Financing can be made available for small enterprises in all sectors, with the exception of agriculture, fisheries and forestry and the processing of agricultural products. Sole entrepreneurs and self-employed are not covered by the aid scheme; they can apply for support from municipalities. The financing is also intended for private traders (‘yksityinen elinkeinonharjoittaja’, ‘toiminimet’) employing more than five people.

A situation analysis allows companies to explore and plan business activities, and to plan new business activities and the reorganisation of production and services in the production disruption caused by the coronavirus and thereafter. Development measures may involve business reorientation, reorganisation of production, development of products and services, and competence building.

Other business services provided by the ELY Centres, i.e. business development aid, business environment development aid, regional transport subsidies and business development services, can be applied for as normally. Similarly, the granting and payment of aid and subsidies will continue as usual. ELY Centres will be flexible about changes to the content and implementation schedules of companies’ business development projects. If necessary, companies can apply for expedited payment of business development aid in several instalments.

Business development services are provided, subject to a fee, by the ELY Centres to support the development of companies providing expert services and SMEs. These services are intended for companies that are equipped to pursue continuous profitable activities and have the will to build their business. Business development aid is a financing product of ELY Centres, which can cater to the varying needs of SMEs, including support for investment. Business development aid may be used for an SME’s business development or renewal purposes in the event of changes in economic or market conditions, or for production reorganisation.

More information on the ELY Centre websites (in Finnish) 

It is important that we make effective use of the EU level measures in Finland. For instance, the European Investment Bank Group is expected to redirect its programmes.

On 19 March 2020, the European Commission issued a communication on its Temporary Framework which considerably relaxed the EU State aid rules to enable Member States to effectively respond to the exceptional economic difficulties caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. This will facilitate the granting of a comprehensive package proposed by the Finnish Government on 20 March 2020 to companies facing financial difficulties due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Under the Communication, aid may be granted to companies that are facing difficulties due to the emergency conditions caused by the coronavirus. Meanwhile, aid will not be granted to companies that were in financial difficulties on or before 31 December 2019. All support measures referred to in the Communication require a notification of State aid to the Commission, and their introduction requires prior approval by the Commission.

On 20 April 2020, the European Commission approved an aid scheme under which Finnvera can grant guarantees and loans for working capital and for investments to companies facing financial difficulties as a result of the crisis caused by the coronavirus epidemic. This is the first State aid decision taken by the Commission concerning Finland’s actions in the coronavirus situation. The decision is based on the Commission communication of 19 March 2020. 

More information:

Press release of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment 20 March 2020: Temporary flexibility in EU State aid rules to mitigate difficulties caused by the COVID-19 outbreak
Press release of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment 6 April 2020: More flexibilities to the EU State aid rules due to the coronavirus situation
Press release of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment 21 April 2020: Commission approves the first Finnish aid scheme to support companies in the coronavirus outbreak

As a temporary measure, self-employed persons are also entitled to labour market support on the grounds of sudden and unforeseen decline in the demand due to the coronavirus epidemic. Labour market support is one form of unemployment benefits.

What is required to be eligible for labour market support:

• full-time employment of the entrepreneur has ended or
• monthly income from entrepreneurial activities is less than EUR 1,089.67 per each person engaged in it as an entrepreneur.

The termination of full-time employment or decrease in income must be due to an extensive outbreak of an infectious disease, i.e. the coronavirus epidemic.

The decision concerns all entrepreneurs regardless of whether they engage in business as self-employed persons or in the form of a company.

In order to receive labour market support, a person must register as a jobseeker with the Employment and Economic Development Office (TE Office) and the TE Office must issue a labour policy statement on their entitlement to labour market support to the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela).

In practice, the procedure is the following:

1. The person registers with the TE Office as a jobseeker and provides an account of the termination of full-time employment or decrease in income due to the coronavirus epidemic.
2. The TE Office issues a labour policy statement to Kela.
3. The person applies to Kela for labour market support.
4. Kela pays the labour market support to the person.

Studies are no obstacle to being eligible for labour market support.

In most cases the termination of full-time employment will be verified on the basis of information provided by the job seeker. The job seeker must give an account to the Employment and Economic Development Office on the sector where the business operates and how a serious communicable disease and the consequent restrictions and recommendations have caused the termination of full-time employment. Another option is that the job seeker must give an account to the Employment and Economic Development Office on the income earned from the business activities, and that the decrease in income has been due to a serious communicable disease.

Closing down the business is not a condition for being entitled to labour market support.

The maximum limit is the same as the monthly income used for the fulfilment of the employment condition relating the entrepreneurs’ unemployment allowance.

Entrepreneurs registered as a jobseeker no later than on 15 April 2020 will be entitled to labour market support for the period starting on 16 March, even if they were not registered as jobseekers at that time. However, the support will not be paid until the conditions are met.

Starting from 16 April 2020, those registered as jobseekers will be entitled to labour market support from the date of registration or, if the other eligibility conditions for labour market support are met later, from that date onwards.

Labour market support can be paid to self-employed persons between 16 March and 30 June 2020. The Act will remain in force until 30 June 2020.

Self-employed persons have been entitled to labour market support when they have engaged in the business part-time, business activities have been terminated or the employment of a full-time entrepreneur ends (e.g. due to decreased ability to work). The legislative amendment extends unemployment security to self-employed persons who according to the provisions currently in force have not been entitled to unemployment benefits because economic downturns are normally considered a risk to be taken in doing business.

A valid insurance policy under the Self-Employed Persons Pensions Act is not a condition for being entitled to labour market support.

The Act on the Right of Self-Employed Persons to Labour Market Support entered into force on 8 April 2020. This means that such persons may now apply for labour market support.

If self-employed persons register as jobseekers by 15 April 2020, they will be entitled to labour market support for the period starting on 16 March, even if they were not registered as jobseekers at that time. However, the support will not be paid until the conditions are met.

A job seeker who has terminated his or her employment in a business has the obligation mentioned in the Unemployment Security Act to accept employment offered by an employer on an individual basis.

The provisions of the Unemployment Security Act concerning a refusal to accept work offered by the TE Office or any negligence related to an employment plan or another similar plan or service do not apply to the right of a self-employed person to receive labour market support.

Self-employed persons can apply for both the support to solo entrepreneurs and unemployment security. These will not be adjusted to each other; in other words, being eligible for one form of support will not affect the eligibility for or the amount of the other.

Updates of the coronavirus situation can be found on the websites of the Employment and Economic Development Offices and Social Insurance Institution of Finland Kela.

• TE Services in the coronavirus situation 
• TE Services: Information to self-employed persons registering as jobseekers (in Finnish)

• Kela (Social Insurance Institution): Temporary unemployment benefits for self-employed persons 

• Federation of Unemployment Funds in Finland (TYJ): FAQs about lay-offs and corona (in Finnish)

The act submitted by the Government to Parliament on 8 May 2020 applies to those food and beverage service sector operators whose activities have been temporarily restricted under section 3a (1) of the Act on Accommodation and Catering Operations (308/2006). Businesses in the food and beverage service sector include, for instance, restaurants, cafes and licenced premises.

To prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the operations of businesses in the food and beverage service sector have been severely restricted by legislation. Restaurants, cafes and licenced premises have been required to remain closed to customers throughout the country between 4 April and 31 May 2020. When approving the restrictions, Parliament required compensation for reasonable costs and measures to mitigate the effects of the restrictions. In the Government’s view, the forms of support for companies and other mitigation measures put in place to date are not sufficient to meet Parliament’s requirements.

The food and beverage service sector is the only sector whose activities have been prohibited by law. The support and compensation model proposed by the Government meets the requirements set by Parliament when it approved the restrictions on activities in the food and beverage sector.

Other sector-independent forms of support have been made available to businesses. The Government has decided that support will be further developed to better respond to the financial difficulties faced by businesses due to the COVID-19 epidemic.

The model proposed by the Government consists of two complementary elements: support for job retention and re-employment and compensation for the restriction of activities.

The support for job retention and re-employment can be used to re-employ employees once the business resumes its activities. The amount of support will be EUR 1,000 per employee. To receive the support, the business must pay the employee a total of at least EUR 2,500 in salary for a period of three months once the restrictions are lifted. Support can be granted for all employees for whose salary costs the company is not receiving any other support during the same period, however up to a specific maximum amount.

The purpose of the compensation for the restrictions of activities is to support the ability of businesses in the food and beverage sector to manage their running, inflexible costs. It is therefore possible to obtain compensation for the period during which the restrictions have been in force (4 April–31 May 2020). Running, inflexible costs include, for instance, electricity and utility bills and premises rental. Compensation will not be granted for material acquisitions, salaries or investments.

The maximum amount of support is based on the number of full-time workers who worked for the company before the start of the crisis. The support may be granted to an enterprise with a staff of a maximum of 800 persons. Under the State aid rules, no enterprise may receive more than EUR 0.8 million in support for employment.

According to the Government proposal, the granting of support for job retention and re-employment does not depend on the type of employment relationship of the employee. The amount of wages payable for a period of three months determines whether or not support can be granted for that person. The maximum number of persons for whom support can be granted is calculated based on the number of full-time employees, but when determining this, it does not matter whether the amount of wages used in the calculation consists of the wages of full-time or part-time employees.

However, persons who are not in an employment relationship with the food and beverage service sector business are excluded from the support for job retention and re-employment. Consequently, the maximum amount of support or the amount of support paid for employed persons does not take into account the use of temporary agency labour or subcontracting

The size of restaurants and the scope of business in the sector vary greatly. The amount of the compensation therefore varies significantly, as it is determined by the extent of the activities.

The amount of the compensation is based on the decrease in the business’ sales in April compared to the average sales in January–February. The amount of the compensation is determined by the change in the business’ sales in a single month: only the amount of the change consisting of inflexible running costs will be compensated. The compensation does not offset a decrease in sales which is used in determining the compensation in computational terms.

The maximum amount of compensation is EUR 500,000, and it may not exceed 15 per cent of the decrease in sales. The amount of reasonable compensation is based on the understanding that the proportion of inflexible running costs in the food and beverage sector is around 30 per cent. However, only half of these costs will be compensated.

The model also includes reductions. For businesses with an average sales volume of more than EUR one million in January–February, the amount of the compensation for the amount exceeding EUR one million is five per cent.

As a result of the reductions and the limits on turnover, major operators in the sector, which may have several dozen restaurants, will receive relatively less than small operators. The purpose of the reductions and turnover limits is to ensure that the amount of compensation paid to major operators is not unreasonably high. In addition, the largest operators have more negotiating power to reduce inflexible costs, for example.

For example: A company’s sales between January and February totalled EUR 100,000 according to the company’s VAT returns. Sales were 75 per cent less in April. The amount of compensation will be EUR 11,250 per month.

Monthly sales from January/February (benchmark) * 0.75 (decrease in sales) * 0.15 (compensation share) = amount of compensation.

The aim is to ensure that the compensation is paid as reliably as possible to companies that were in operation before the epidemic. The reference period is currently being assessed in connection with the discussion in Parliament.

Business owners can receive both support for job retention and re-employment and compensation for costs. A business does not have to apply for job retention and re-employment support in order to receive compensation. Receiving support for job retention and re-employment does not reduce the amount of compensation for the restrictions on activities or vice-versa.

In its application for support, the business should indicate whether it has applied for or has received other support to assist with costs for either all or part of the three-month period following the closures. Other support that the company has received to cover wage costs will be taken into account in the number of employed persons used to calculate the amount of job retention and re-employment support.

The calculation of the amount of the compensation to be granted will take into account any support granted by the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment or Business Finland.

Detailed instructions on how to obtain support or compensation will be published as soon as possible on the website of the Development and Administration Centre (KEHA Centre) of the Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment and the TE Offices. The guidelines will be published no later than the date of entry into force of the Act.

In most cases, the compensation will be paid to companies without the need for them to apply for it, in the form of a mass payment based on the company’s VAT information obtained from the Tax Administration. If a business is included in the mass payment, the owner will not need to take any measures of their own.

For certain companies, such as those who have applied for other COVID-19 support from Business Finland or a Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment, the compensation will be granted based on an application. The application will be processed and the compensation granted by the Development and Administration Centre (KEHA Centre) of the Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment and the TE Offices. The KEHA Centre will announce the date when the search channel will open.

In the application, the business owner should provide:

• their standard business identification information,
• information on sales subject to VAT for January, February and April 2020,
• information on any other applications for COVID-19 support.

The compensation will be paid in two instalments to the companies that receive it as part of the mass payment. The first instalment will be paid as soon as possible using information on the company’s sales for January-February. The second instalment of the compensation is scheduled to be paid towards the end of June. It will be based on sales information for April, which will not be available until the VAT declarations in mid-June.

A service will be available on the website of the Development and Administration Centre (KEHA Centre) of the Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment and the TE Offices, where business owners can check whether their companies are part of the mass payment or not. Business owners can access the service by providing their business ID.

The compensation for the restriction of operations is provided based on VAT information obtained from the Tax Administration and on other reliable data. Job retention and re-employment support is based on the wage information provided to the Tax Authority.

As with other forms of assistance, unduly paid support or compensation will be clawed back.

The overall cost impact of the support for job retention and re-employment is about EUR 40 million. The total cost impact of the compensation for the restrictions on activities is estimated at around EUR 83 million for two months.

When it approved the restrictions on food and beverage service operations, Parliament required compensation for reasonable costs and measures to mitigate the effects of the restrictions. When considering the Government proposal, Parliament will assess whether the present model is sufficient.

The model proposed by the Government is not intended to cover all damages but rather to provide reasonable compensation for the unexpected shortfall in the liquidity of businesses due to inflexible costs. The aim is to ensure that companies are able to survive once the restrictions have ended. It will also support companies’ ability to retain their employees once the business is resumed.

Restaurants can also apply for other types of business support. More information on support is available on the website of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.

The Government’s objective is for the act on support for job retention and re-employment in the food and beverage service sector and on compensation for the restriction of activities to enter into force as soon as possible. The entry into force of the act requires approval by the European Commission of the government support for businesses included in the bill. The government proposal is included in the third supplementary budget proposal for 2020.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment will provide information separately on the entry into force of the act and on instructions for companies on how to apply for the support and receive compensation.

Valtori’s key task is to ensure that its services operate effectively and without disruption. In support of this in the current situation, an emergency management team meets daily. To ensure effective and undisrupted operation of its services, Valtori draws up various plans, , acts in accordance with these and has  contingency procedures. It closely monitors the situation, ensuring an effective response to any new developments. Critical services are organised in such a way that they can continue to operate in exceptional circumstances. The identification of which services are critical is made in collaboration between Valtori and its client agencies.

Network capacity for remote access is being continuously increased and load sharing is in place. This will continue, and network capacity is being constantly monitored. If necessary, telecommunications traffic for remote access will be prioritised. Many tasks can also be performed without remote access.

At the moment, the situation is largely stable, but any developments will be closely monitored. An exceptional situation may lead to unforeseen failures or overloads that may have an impact on digital public services. Critical services will be secured in all circumstances. There is limited capacity for simultaneous use, which means that certain digital services may need to be prioritised. This may mean temporary restrictions on less critical services.

One cannot just decide to stay out of work, but the obligation to work based on an employment contract applies during virus epidemics as well. In many workplaces arrangements to work remotely are being used, if allowed by the type of work.

Employees may stay out of work if their presence at home is necessary e.g. to take care of small children as daycare centres or schools have been closed down. The law does not entitle to paid absence in such cases, but there may be regulations concerning this in the collective agreements. People should check if this is the case.

 

The obligation to work based on an employment contract applies during virus epidemics as well.

Virus epidemics may cause situations where an unforeseeable event disrupts regular operations or there is a serious risk of such disruptions. In such situations, the employer may order employees to carry out emergency work. Emergency work may also be used in situations where an unforeseeable event may lead to a threat to life, health, property or the environment.

Emergency work on top of regular working hours may only be used to the extent that is truly necessary, and for no more than two weeks at a time. Employees are entitled to overtime pay for the time of emergency work that exceeds their maximum regular 

As a rule, yes they are. However, certain sectors may have specifics features that require different kind of regulation. For example, night work is allowed in hospitals, even if having to work at night on a regular basis is prohibited in many sectors.

During the coronavirus epidemic, it is necessary to secure certain functions that are critical for the functioning of society and human health. This is why it has been considered necessary to apply certain measures under the Emergency Powers Act in such sectors. These include the right of an employer to deviate from certain provisions of the Annual Holidays Act, Working Hours Act and Employment Contracts Act.

The employer and employee usually agree on when the annual holidays are taken. The employer has the power to decide on the timing of annual holidays within the time limits laid down in the Annual Holidays Act, i.e. summer holiday during the summer leave period (2 May–30 September) and winter holiday between 1 October and 30 April. For certain sectors, there may be different rules laid down in the collective agreement or collective agreement for public servants. Summer and winter holiday must both be granted as an uninterrupted period, unless keeping the work going requires that the portion of the summer holiday exceeding 12 weekdays is taken at a different time in one or several parts.

When an employer decides on the timing of the annual holiday, the employee must be informed about this at least one month before the annual holiday starts. Exceptions are allowed only in cases where it is quite impossible to comply with this obligation. If this is the case, the employee must be informed of the time of the annual holiday as soon as possible, but not later than two weeks before the start of the holiday.

If the employer has already informed the employee of the time of the annual holiday, i.e. the time has been decided, or the time when the holiday will be taken has been agreed between the employer and employee, the employer cannot unilaterally, by his or her decision alone, change the time. If the employer unilaterally changes the time of the annual holiday that has already been decided and this causes harm or loss to the employee, the employer must compensate for such harm or loss as specified in the Employment Contracts Act. However, the employee must still comply with the employer’s decisions concerning the new time of the annual leave, even in cases where the employer changes this time in a way that violates the law.

The employer is not allowed to interrupt a holiday that has already started. With regard to public officials, provisions on interrupting the annual holiday are laid down in the collective agreement concerning them.

The time when the annual holiday is taken may be changed by a mutual agreement between the employer and employee.

Please note! In healthcare and social welfare services, the Government Decree issued under the Emergency Powers Act enables the employer to derogate from the provisions concerning the notification of annual leaves, postpone an annual leave that has already been decided and interrupt a leave that has started. This requires that the conditions specified in the Government Decree are fulfilled.

The purpose of change security is to enable employees dismissed for financial or production-related reasons to find new employment faster and support the employee already during the notice period. Employees who have been dismissed or laid off are covered by change security, provided that the conditions are met. 

Employees covered by change security are entitled to paid leave during the notice period for job seeking and for participating in employment planning or measures included in this. The duration of the leave depends on the duration of the notice period (5–20 days). The leave may not cause significant harm to the company, and the employer must be informed of the leave as soon as possible. Change security also includes eligibility for increased earnings-related allowance or labour market support for the time when services in support of finding employment are being used. Increased earnings-related allowance or labour market support may be paid for the maximum of 20 days.

If the number of people employed on a regular basis is at least 30, dismissed person who have worked for the company uninterrupted for at least five years must be offered the opportunity to participate in coaching or training to promote finding employment at the employer’s cost. The employer and employee may agree that the employer will meet this obligation by paying in part or in full for training or coaching procured by the employee.

Change security also includes the employer’s obligation to provide occupational healthcare to employees laid off for financial or production-related reasons for six months from the termination of the obligation to work, in accordance with the employer’s occupational healthcare agreement. This applies to employees who before the termination of the employment relationship had been employed by the employer concerned for at five years and the total number of staff employed on a regular basis is at least 30.

Regular working hours may be arranged as shift work. Any work may be carried out as shift work, unless there are restrictions based on the collective agreement or the employment contract. Employees working in shifts must have similar, but not necessarily identical, tasks. The employer must also ensure that the daily and weekly rest periods of employees take place.

The shifts must change regularly and at intervals agreed upon in advance. Change of shifts is considered regular when a shift does not coincide for more than one hour with the immediately following shift or the shifts are no more than one hour apart.

In shift work, employees must be provided with a written work schedule in good time, or at least one week before the start of the period the schedule concerns. After this, the work schedule may only be changed with the employee’s consent or for a compelling reason relating to the organisation of work.

According to the Employment Contracts Act, salaries shall be paid on the last day of the pay period, unless otherwise agreed. It is possible to agree on the pay period in the employment contract, and in many areas collective agreements stipulate the pay period. These stipulations may be binding.

An employer cannot unilaterally override binding stipulations in an employment contract or collective agreement. In the event of late payment of salaries, the employee is entitled to interest on late payment. If pay is delayed at the end of the employment relationship, the employee is entitled to receive pay for the waiting days for a maximum of six days.

If an employee is incapable of working due to illness, the right to sickness pay is determined by the Employment Contracts Act and collective agreements. Pay during sickness is in practice determined in sectoral agreements that extend the employer's obligation to pay remuneration for a sickness period from that laid down in the Employment Contracts Act.

During incapacity to work, Kela will pay sickness allowance after the waiting period has passed. The waiting period is commonly the first day of incapacity to work and nine weekdays following the beginning of incapacity. In general, employers apply for sickness allowance if they pay salary during absence from work and Kela will pay the sickness allowance to the employer.

If the employee has been quarantined under the Communicable Diseases Act, he or she is entitled to a 100% daily allowance for the duration of the quarantine. If the employer pays a salary during this period, they have the right to receive the daily allowance.

If an employee’s child is placed in quarantine, the Communicable Diseases Act contains provisions to cover that, and communicable disease allowance may be paid in this case as well.

If an employee is placed in quarantine after a business trip, absence from work could be attributed to a reason due to the employer and the employee would then be entitled to his or her salary. The employee is entitled to his or her salary also when he or she is forced to remain quarantined abroad during a business trip. The situation may be different if the employee is placed in quarantine because of travel abroad for holidays. There are no legal principles or general guidelines on this at present. There may be consequences if, for example, the travel has taken place against official instructions.

If the employer is on sick leave because of the coronavirus infection (incapacity to work due to illness), his or her right to sick pay is determined on the basis of the Employment Contracts Act and collective agreements. Payment of salaries during sick leave is included in sectoral collective agreements

 

 

If the employee’s child is under 10 years old and is diagnosed with coronavirus infection, the employee is entitled to temporary childcare leave. The length of temporary childcare leave is determined by the Employment Contracts Act/the applicable collective agreement and the salary payable during this period is determined by the applicable collective agreement.

In specific situations, while the employee may be entitled to absence from work for compelling family reasons (a child who is over 10 years old falls ill; his or her caretaker falls ill; a daycare centre closes down), the grounds for the right to be absent from work are relatively strict. It is clear, however, that children cannot be left unattended. This absence is unpaid (unless otherwise agreed in the collective agreement) and it is not intended for long-term absence.

The obligation to provide a sick leave certificate is laid down in the Employment Contracts Act and stipulated in collective agreements. To avoid unnecessary burden on healthcare personnel and to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, labour market organisations have issued recommendations that the employee's own statement is sufficient to justify the sick-leave pay.

If the employee has been quarantined under the Communicable Diseases Act, he or she is entitled to a 100% daily allowance for the duration of the quarantine. If the employer pays salary during this period, they have the right to receive the daily allowance.

Relevant information can be found on the website of TE Offices. TE Offices follow the guidelines of the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) and the Regional State Administrative Agencies (AVI) for their customer service. As a rule, the customer service has switched to online and telephone services.

While the best and fastest way to manage your affairs is by using the electronic services online, you can also get service by telephone. To minimise congestion, please call the telephone service only in urgent situations.

If you do not have access to online or telephone services, TE Offices also provide forms as printouts. Location-specific information on where the forms are available can be found on the website of your local TE Office. However, due to the prevailing coronavirus situation, a maximum of 10 persons at a time will be allowed in a TE Office lobby.

When you follow the instructions given by the TE Office and the healthcare authorities, your right to unemployment benefit will remain unchanged. Read more at www.te-palvelut.fi/te/en

You can find information on layoffs and cooperation procedures on the websites of TE Offices. If you as an employer must initiate a cooperation procedure, you must notify the local TE Office of the cooperation negotiations. In layoff situations, employees must be personally informed. If necessary, TE Offices advise companies in matters related to large-scale layoffs.

Employees who are given a notice of termination will have access to the change security services offered by TE Offices already during the notice period. The services provide support for job seeking as well as coaching and training for re-employment.

Further information is available on the TE Services website 

Workplace training and traineeships that are organised outside the educational institution will continue if the workplace can do so and the education provider and employer deem the working environment safe for the student.

If there is a high risk of contracting the coronavirus in the workplace, it is recommended that workplace training be suspended and continue only after the risk no longer exists.

In the health care sector, it is worth bearing in mind that health care students might have to help out if there is a shortage of personnel in health care should the epidemic last long.

The provisions of chapter 8 apply when the employer considers measures which may lead to notice of termination, lay-off or reducing a contract of employment to a part-time contract of one or several employees on financial or production-related grounds. When considering such measures, the employer must issue a written proposal for negotiations in order to commence the co-operation negotiations and employment measures at the latest five days before the negotiations begin.

When the employer proposes measures which may lead to termination, lay-off or reduction of a contract of employment into a part-time contract of an employee, the proposal for negotiations or its material contents must also be delivered in writing to the Employment and Economic Development Office no later than at the  start of the co-operation negotiations unless this information has already been provided in some other context.

Duration of negotiations

The duration of co-operation negotiations regarding lay-offs will be shortened from the current six weeks or 14 days to five days. The duration of negotiations is shortened because the company’s financial capacity to overcome the difficult situation caused by the coronavirus could be significantly weakened if the negotiations took longer. This amendment is valid from 1 April to 30 June 2020.

A negotiation period of 14 days and six weeks still applies to negotiations on lay-off or reduction of the employment contract into a part-time contract.

Disregarding the co-operation procedure in certain situations

Derogating from the Act on Co-operation within Undertakings is allowed in certain special cases. The employer may decide not to conduct the co-operation negotiations if they are prevented by particularly serious and unforeseeable reasons that may cause damage to the production or service operations or economy of the company.

All three conditions for the derogation must be fulfilled, i.e. the reasons must 1) cause damage to the production or service operations or economy of the company 2) be particularly serious and 3) be unforeseeable. According to legal literature, the employer’s need to carry out dismissals or temporary layoffs as quickly as possible due to due to a sudden collapse of the company’s finances or volume of orders is not a reason to deviate from the co-operation procedure obligation, except in highly exceptional circumstances.

The employer must also immediately start the co-operation negotiations when the conditions for the deviation no longer exist. In this case the negotiation process includes examining the grounds for the deviation.

Note: Some collective agreements contain provisions on matters such as the duration of negotiations.  If a collective agreement binding on the employer contains such a provision, it is applied instead of the provisions of law. Due to the coronavirus epidemic, exceptional solutions have been adopted in many sectors. More information about these is available from the labour market organisations concerned.

Yes. The re-employment obligation period laid down in the Employment Contracts Act and the Seafarers’ Employment Contracts Act is temporarily extended from four or six months to nine months. This amendment is valid from 1 April to 30 June 2020. The obligation shall apply to employment contracts terminated during the validity of the Act. The date of termination of the employment relationship is irrelevant.

The extended re-employment obligation applies to all employees dismissed on financial or production-related grounds while the Act was in force, regardless of the duration of the employee’s employment relationship.

However, this amendment does not apply to the public sector. In the public sector, the re-employment obligation period continues to be four or six months, depending on the duration of the employment relationship.

Starting from 1 April 2020, employers have the right to lay off an employee in a fixed-term employment relationship under the same conditions as an employee with an employment contract of unspecified duration. This amendment is intended to be in force for three months, or until 30 June 2020.

The grounds for the temporary layoff of employees are laid down in the Employment Contracts Act. Employees in open-ended employment relationships may be laid off when the employer has financial or production-related grounds for terminating the employment contract or the work or the employer's potential for offering work have diminished temporarily and the employer cannot reasonably provide the employee with other suitable work or training corresponding to its needs.

This amendment does not apply to the public sector. Public sector employers are entitled to lay off an employee in a fixed-term employment relationship only if the employee is working as a substitute for a permanent employee and if the employer would be entitled to lay off the permanent employee.

 

Employers must ensure occupational safety also under emergency conditions. In the current coronavirus situation, the primary means of preventing exposure to the virus is avoiding personal contacts.

One way of avoiding contacts is to work remotely. If this is not possible, the working conditions at the workplace must be arranged in such a way that the risk of exposure to the virus is minimised.

Employees’ risk of being infected with the coronavirus can be reduced, among other things, by intensifying cleaning, advising employees on proper hygiene, installing protective screens that prevent droplet infection, and through different work shift arrangements.

If the risk of infection is significantly elevated – for example, in work involving continuous personal contacts – personal protective equipment must be used: respiratory protective devices, protective gloves, safety goggles and, where necessary, protective clothing.

The personal protective equipment must be appropriately and regularly maintained, cleaned and replaced.

Further information and guidelines for employers on how to prepare for the coronavirus epidemic are available on the website of the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.

• FIOH guidelines for employers to prepare for the coronavirus epidemic

Yes. Employers must update their assessment of risks and workplace hazards so that the coronavirus epidemic is taken into consideration. Employers must draw up guidelines and determine procedures to be followed during the coronavirus epidemic.

Further information about risk assessment during the coronavirus epidemic can be found in the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health for workplaces:

• Guidelines of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health concerning employees at risk of serious illness from the coronavirus (COVID-19) 

 

To reduce the risk of spreading the coronavirus, the primary location of remote work during the current epidemic should be the employee’s home. In other words, shared remote work premises should now be avoided.

Employers will provide more detailed instructions on remote work for their employees, but good general guidelines can be found on the website of the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.

• Guidelines for remote work

The provisions of sectoral collective agreements take precedence over the provisions of the Acts. According to the Employment Contracts Act and the Act on Cooperation within Undertakings, national employer and employee organisations may, by collective agreements, derogate from the provisions concerning the period of notice before lay-off and the re-employment obligation period of the Employment Contracts Act, and from provisions concerning the period of negotiation of the Act on Cooperation within Undertakings.

In employment relationships where a collective agreement is deemed generally applicable, the provisions of collective agreements referred to above shall apply. This is the case regardless of whether the collective agreement provides for minimum periods of notice and negotiation that are longer or shorter than five days. In employment relationships governed by general applicability, the period of notice before lay-off agreed in the collective agreement may be applied, while the period of negotiation derogating from the Cooperation Act may not.

An organised employer laying off employees must check

• whether the collective agreement applicable to the employment relationship contains provisions on the period of notice before lay-off and the minimum negotiation period, and
• the content of these provisions between 1 April and 30 June.

An employer complying with a generally applicable collective agreement must check whether the agreement applicable to the employment relationship contains provisions on the period of notice before lay-off.

The provisions of the Act on shortened periods of notice and negotiation shall apply if

• the employment relationship is not governed by a collective agreement binding on the employer 
• the collective agreement does not contain provisions on the period of notice before layoff or negotiation.

The aim is for the transport and communications system to function as normally as possible. Finland's telecommunications networks have good capacity and resilience. The National Cyber Security Centre, which operates within the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency, monitors the situation and issues instructions as necessary.

Temporary financial support due to the epidemic compensates for loss of income when the child does not participate in early childhood education or in contact teaching related to school education, and therefore the parent remains unpaid at home to care for the child during the epidemic, in accordance with the Finnish Government’s recommendations.

The support applies to parents whose children are in early childhood education and care, pre-primary education or in grades 1 to 3. Even parents of pupils in need of special support or pupils in extended compulsory education and preparatory education are entitled to the financial support. 

A parent or guardian in a contractual or public-service employment relationship in Finland has the right to the financial support, or a spouse living in the same household as the parent or guardian. 

The support is payable if the loss of earnings are not compensated under other legislation, such as the Communicable Diseases Act. Obtaining compensation requires an agreement between the employee and the employer on unpaid absence.

The amount of the support is the same as the minimum parental allowance, i.e. EUR 28.94 per weekday (EUR 723.50 per month). The support is available during the emergency conditions, as from 16 March. Parents of schoolchildren will receive support during school term.

The support can be applied retroactively from the Social Insurance Institution Kela. 

Temporary financial support due to the epidemic is available to persons arriving in Finland from abroad, who were placed in quarantine-like conditions and who are therefore away from work without pay.

A group of seasonal workers arriving in the country can also receive the temporary support if their employment relationship starts with two weeks' unpaid absence from work in quarantine-like conditions.

The condition for the compensation is that the person has a contractual or public-service employment relationship in force in Finland but is absent from work without pay. The support will be paid for a maximum period of 14 days from the date of arrival in Finland.

The support will be payable if the loss of earnings were not compensated under other legislation, such as the Communicable Diseases Act. Obtaining compensation requires an agreement between the employee and the employer on unpaid absence.

The support amount is EUR 28.94 per weekday (EUR 723.50 per month). It is available during the emergency conditions, as from 16 March. The support can be applied retroactively from the Social Insurance Institution Kela. 

 

A person who by his or her own decision is staying in quarantine-like conditions, thus also following the Government’s recommendations, is as a rule not entitled to compensation. One cannot just decide to stay out of work, but the obligation to work based on an employment contract applies during a virus epidemic as well. The first thing to do in workplaces is to organise the work in new ways, also making use of remote work, or move persons to tasks where the risk is smaller.

A person is entitled to sickness allowance on account of an infectious disease when ordered to stay in quarantine-like conditions by a physician specialised in infectious diseases. Sickness allowance on account of an infectious disease is applied for from the Social Insurance Institution of Finland Kela. Further details on the application and the conditions for the allowance are also available at Kela.

Temporary financial support due to the epidemic compensates for loss of earnings in a situation where a person stays away from work without pay to care for a child who is entitled to early childhood education and care or contact education during the epidemic. Compensation for loss of earnings is also payable in a situation where a person has been advised to stay in quarantine-like conditions after returning to Finland from abroad. Eligibility for the compensation is subject to the condition that the employee and employer have agreed on the unpaid absence from work. (Pressrelease: Temporary support for those absent from work with no pay due to the coronavirus epidemic)

Sickness allowance on account of an infectious disease and temporary financial support due to the epidemic are intended to compensate for loss of earnings. 

Belonging to a risk group does not automatically entitle anyone to compensation. A person who, by his or her own decision, is staying in quarantine-like conditions, thus also following the Government’s recommendations, is as a rule not entitled to compensation.

In cases where employees belonging to risk groups are working in positions in which remote work is not possible and where the risk of being exposed to infection is high, the employer must try to make arrangements so that these persons can transfer to positions where the risk of being exposed to infection is lower. Remote work is currently advised for all employees whose tasks can be carried out from home.

 

Construction sites should prepare for possible delays and take measures concerning especially moisture protection during the construction process.

The situation caused by the coronavirus is new in the construction sector as well, and it is impossible to say anything definite as yet. It is quite obvious that the constructions sites could not have predicted such drastic changes.

Because of this, the Ministry has set up a working group that will follow the situation in the housing and construction sectors, together with relevant partners and operators, and give proposals for necessary measures.

Preparedness for coronavirus in the administrative branch of the Ministry of the Environment

The purpose of the restrictions and recommendations in force during the coronavirus epidemic is to slow down and prevent the spread of the coronavirus in Finland, to safeguard the resource capacity and resilience of our healthcare system throughout the country, and to protect people, especially those who are the most at risk.

The Government decided on 7 May to extend the temporary restrictions on border traffic in Finland until 14 June 2020. The decision follows on from the decision made by the Government on 19 March to restore border control at internal borders, close certain border crossing points and restrict traffic across external borders.

More information on border traffic during emergency conditions is available in the Border Guard guidelines.

The Government is closely monitoring the development of the disease and is prepared to change the decisions on border traffic if necessary.

 

According to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Finnish missions do not currently accept visa and residence permit applications, but the situation will be reassessed if necessary. Similarly, interviews related to residence permit applications have been suspended for the time being.

Press release: Finland suspends the reception and processing of ordinary visa and residence permit applications in the missions

However, even though immigration-related customer services have been suspended, missions will make every effort to hand over the residence permit cards in their possession to customers. Applicants of residence permit cards are advised to contact the missions directly, but they should bear in mind that the delivery of cards from Finland to Finnish missions abroad may be delayed.

Missions also accept applications for visas and residence permits if the applicant needs them to perform tasks that are essential for security of supply or critical for a specific sector. Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health have provided separate guidelines regarding seasonal work.

List: Tasks essential for security of supply or critical for sector operations

Any changes in the missions’ situation will be announced on the website of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the missions.

The Finnish Immigration Service, TE Offices and the Centre for Economic Development in Uusimaa (ELY Centre) continue to process pending applications for residence permits normally.

The main rule is to restrict unnecessary travel. According to the Border Guard’s guidelines, third-country nationals who have been granted a residence permit and are entering Finland for the first time may enter Finland starting from 1 May 2020. Residence permits for seasonal workers are not included in this category. They are treated as their own special group. To be allowed to enter Finland, a third-country national with a residence permit for seasonal work entering Finland for the first must be included in the seasonal worker quota of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

Entry into Finland as foreign seasonal workers is permitted to citizens of the Schengen area, other EU countries and the United Kingdom under the same conditions as travel for contractual or assignment-based employment. 

The Finnish border authorities will allow entry into Finland of 3,000 seasonal workers, in addition to the previously decided 1,500, who are citizens of third countries outside the Schengen area, other EU countries and the United Kingdom to meet the labour needs in the spring and early summer. The Border Guard will monitor the number of citizens of third countries entering into Finland for critical primary production tasks in the spring and early summer.

More detailed information on border traffic during emergency conditions is available in the Border Guard guidelines.

Seasonal workers who are citizens of third countries (e.g. Ukraine, Belarus, Thailand) are allowed to enter the country if they have the necessary permits for entry into the country and for working, and their employer has filled in the form proving the necessity of their entry into the country.

More frequently asked questions concerning seasonal workers can be found on the coronavirus page of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

To prevent the spread of the coronavirus epidemic, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health have jointly prepared the following guidelines and recommendations:

A person arriving in the country must restrict unnecessary close contacts and enter self-isolation for 14 days. Under self-isolation, movement is restricted to travel between the workplace and place of residence, and other essential movement.

Persons arriving to work in healthcare and social welfare must agree with their employer on any special work arrangements. The employer must assess the risk of infection and, if necessary, make changes to the employee’s duties for 14 days from arrival in the country in order to ensure client and patient safety and the safety of the workplace.

The self-isolation requirement does not apply to first response and emergency service personnel or to employees of the Border Guard and Customs. However, these persons must follow the general guidelines of the authorities on good hygiene practices, maintaining a safe distance and avoiding physical contact in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease.

Anyone who experiences respiratory symptoms should contact healthcare services immediately. Further instructions on the 14-day period of self-isolation will be distributed upon arrival in the country.

No. The current legislation does not allow reimbursement of the application processing fee.

No. The current legislation does not allow reimbursement of the application processing fee.

The residence permit will remain in effect for the duration of the layoff. An extended permit may be granted on condition that the employee has had secure means of subsistence while the previous permit was in effect. More information on working and unemployment benefits while laid off  is available the websites of Kela and the TE Office.

More information on the Finnish Immigration Service’s website

• Frequently asked questions about the coronavirus situation on the website of the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela)
• Current information on the TE Services website
• TE Services: If you are laid off
• TE Services: Instructions for employers regarding layoffs (in Finnish)

 

For now, the Talent Boost action programme will focus on measures taken in Finland. We are monitoring the situation and will adjust measures as necessary.

Pilot projects that were to be implemented abroad to boost international recruitment and attract international talent will be postponed. The international recruitment pilot projects of EURES that were in their early stages will be postponed.  However, EURES experts may continue to contact companies that have job vacancies and prepare assessments of situations in companies. Efforts will be made to complete the ongoing recruitment and coaching programmes online.

Companies and other employers are encouraged to use instruments such as Talent Explorer financing to recruit international experts living in Finland. Action to promote diversity in working life is taken through the Successful Multicultural Company campaign, the Talent Boost metrics and the Global Talent communications campaign.

The emergency conditions do not affect immigrants with valid residence permits. The Finnish Immigration Service and the TE Offices and ELY Centres that make partial decisions are now prioritising work-based residence permit applications considered essential for security of supply or the activities of specific sectors. Applications for extended permits will also be processed.

At the moment, the Centre for Economic Development in Uusimaa (ELY Centre) where partial decisions regarding residence permits for entrepreneurs are centrally processed, only processes permits for entrepreneurs who work as health care professionals, care workers for the elderly, in goods transport, or in other duties considered essential (for example for the security of supply). Applications for extended permits will also be processed. Granting of residence permits for entrepreneurs is always based on an overall consideration of each individual case, which involves the ELY Centre making an assessment of the conditions for profitable business and income security. The effects of the coronavirus on business activities will be taken into account when a partial decision is made. In the assessment, more weight may be given to accounting information for a period before the acute impact of the coronavirus on business activities. Future outlook will also be assessed.

The TE Office publishes vacancies on its website. The employment administration actively targets different jobseeker groupswith campaigns on seasonal work in agriculture. Key target groups of the campaigns are holders of work permits already in Finland who are able to accept other work in the emergency conditions;young Finnish and international students, upper secondary school students, asylum seekers who have the right to work, those who are about to complete their integration training, and all jobseekers and persons who have been laid off for more than three months.

Educational solutions offered by the TE Services can also help employers gain access to skilled labour. TE Services organise customised vocational training courses, including intensive short courses, planned together with the employer. More information is available from the TE Office and the ELY Centre in your region.

Vacancies on the TE Services website

Contact information for TE Offices

Contact information for ELY Centres

 

 

Employers can report vacancies in seasonal work. This is necessary to secure sufficient labour force.  Access to foreign labour has become more difficult in the coronavirus situation because Finland’s borders have been closed. In cases where entry into Finland is granted, the two-week quarantine must be taken into account. The situation may be different for work performed in the late autumn.

In the coronavirus situation, seasonal workers are unable to arrive in Finland and therefore unable to fulfil their key obligation, i.e. obligation to work.

Employers can hire a person in Finland to replace a worker arriving from abroad. This type of temporary job contract can be signed on condition that the contract expires once the foreign worker who is being replaced arrives in Finland and takes the job.

Every effort is made to allow labour force already in Finland to become employed in sectors affected by labour shortage. Following lay-offs and dismissals, there is a significant amount of labour force available in the labour market at the moment. Many young students will have no summer jobs this summer.  In addition, foreign students and other foreigners looking for work in Finland should be considered potential employees. Information about job opportunities should therefore be offered in English. The exceptional situation also severely affects the ability of sole entrepreneurs and, for example, tourism entrepreneurs to employ themselves when there are hardly any customers.  This group also represents potential workforce which is worth keeping in mind.

Vacancies in agriculture, forestry and horticulture should be posted on the TE Services website 

Vacancies can also be advertised on the Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners MTK’s  Töitä Suomesta (Work in Finland) website

Personnel service companies can offer help in finding and recruiting employees and in temporary employment. Your local TE Office can provide contact information for personnel service companies that can help you find seasonal workers.

TE services

Personal service companies

The unloading of waste at the reception hall of an incineration or other waste treatment plant poses a risk to the waste transport staff even in normal conditions. The employees are exposed to all kinds of microbes that spread into the air when waste is being unloaded. This must be taken into account in the guidelines for labour protection, and appropriate protection and good hygiene is always necessary.

Read more about the possible exposure of waste transport staff to the coronavirus on the website of the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.

Finnish Institute of Occupational Health: Further instructions (in Finnish)

According to the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, waste containers can be washed during the coronavirus epidemic, provided that adequate protection is duly taken into account. Further instructions on washing waste containers during the coronavirus epidemic is available on the website of the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.

Finnish Institute of Occupational Health: Further instructions (in Finnish)

International conventions prohibiting forced labour do not apply to any work or service exacted in the event of calamity or threatened calamity, such as an epidemic, that endangers the existence or wellbeing of the population. The emergency conditions now prevailing in Finland constitute such a situation.

Legislation that intervenes in the rights enshrined in the Constitution must be assessed from the perspective of the general conditions for restricting fundamental rights, including the acceptability of the purpose of the legislation and its proportionality.

The objective with introducing the obligation to work in the healthcare sector is to secure a sufficient number of healthcare personnel that is necessary to protect the life and health of the population during the coronavirus epidemic. The aim is to ensure the adequacy of healthcare personnel so that personnel shortage caused by the coronavirus epidemic does not endanger human lives.

From the perspective of the principle of proportionality, it is also essential that the proposed provisions remain in force only for a short period of time. It has been assessed that there are acceptable reasons for restricting fundamental rights temporarily in the current situation.

The obligation to work in the healthcare sector can be introduced in emergency conditions caused by major accidents and widespread hazardous communicable diseases.

Under the Emergency Powers Act, the employment authority (TE office) has the power to issue an order to work to a person covered by the obligation to work. A person who is covered by the obligation to work in the healthcare sector and has been issued with an order to work must carry out necessary work in the healthcare sector. A work order may be issued for a maximum of two weeks at a time, and it may be renewed once.

Provisions on the obligation to work are laid down in the Emergency Powers Act, and they can be activated by issuing a decree on the use of powers under the Emergency Powers Act.

The Emergency Powers Act lays down provisions both on a general obligation to work and on an obligation to work in the healthcare sector. The general obligation to work applies to people working in all sectors, and the obligation to work in the healthcare sector now introduced because of the coronavirus epidemic applies to persons with training in the field of healthcare.

The Emergency Powers Act contains provisions on restrictions on issuing an order to work and on matters to be taken into account in this context. An order to work is always issued based on individual discretion and in consultation with the person concerned.

An order to work must not be issued, for example, to a person who cannot leave his or her home for the time required for the work because he or she needs to care for a child or another person in need of continuous care or, as a rule, to a person in such an employment or public service relationship in which he or she is absolutely required to continue working also under the emergency conditions.

Before issuing a person with an order to work, the TE office must determine the person’s possibilities to accept the work. Factors affecting a person’s possibilities to accept work include the person’s age, health, skills and knowledge, and other similar limitations related to the task in question. As a rule, such persons covered by the obligation to work who are near the upper age limit specified in the law will not be issued with an order to work during the coronavirus pandemic, because we know that older people and those with underlying health conditions are at a higher risk of serious illness from the coronavirus.

An order to work issued by a TE office is subject to appeal. However, under the Emergency Powers Act, an administrative decision (order to work) must be complied with immediately irrespective of appeal, unless otherwise ordered by the relevant authority (TE office).

An order to work can be issued for a maximum of two weeks at a time, and it may be renewed once.  Thus, the same person can be obliged to work for a maximum of one month.

 

A person who has been issued with an order to work has an order-based employment relationship with the employer under whose management and supervision a TE office has ordered him or her to work.

The issue of an order to work does not require the consent of the person concerned. A work order can be issued for a maximum of two weeks at a time, and it may be renewed once.

The person will work for the employer under the management and supervision of the employer and be paid for the work, but there is no employment relationship referred to in the Employment Contracts Act between the person and the employer. Instead, there is an order-based employment relationship, which is very similar to an employment relationship.

• The person obliged to work will be paid for the work.
• The terms and conditions of the order-based employment relationship are determined in accordance with the relevant collective agreement binding on the employer. In the absence of a binding collective agreement, the person obliged to work shall be paid wages that are proportionate to the duties assigned to him or her.
• The provisions and agreements governing the employment or public service relationship and work to be carried out based on these also apply to work to be carried out on the basis of an order-based employment relationship, as appropriate.
• For example, the Occupational Safety and Health Act applies to persons obliged to work similarly as it does to the employer's own employees working alongside the persons obliged to work.

An order to work is issued by the employment authority, i.e. an employment and economic development office (TE office), when a healthcare provider in need of personnel has first approved a given person to work for it. Healthcare units will determine their personnel needs that cannot be met in any other way and report them to the TE office. The primary ways of ensuring sufficient numbers of staff are to purchase services and recruit additional personnel in the normal way and to apply some of the other exceptional measures already introduced under the Emergency Powers Act.

As a rule, the obligation to work in the healthcare sector applies to healthcare professionals and medical, pharmacy and healthcare students who have progressed far enough in their studies. To chart the number of persons covered by the obligation to work, the authorities will use the Terhikki Register, which is a nationwide register containing information on Finnish healthcare professionals maintained by the National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health. 

The Emergency Powers Act contains separate provisions on restrictions on issuing orders to work and on other matters to be taken into account when issuing these orders. An order to work is always issued to a person based on individual discretion.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment will establish a work obligation register, which will be built around information extracted from the Terhikki Register. Terhikki contains information on Finnish healthcare professionals and is maintained by the National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health. More detailed guidelines concerning persons covered by the obligation to work will be prepared in cooperation between the relevant ministries and agencies in their administrative branches.

TE offices will set up a procedure for persons covered by the obligation to work to report to the offices. They will also issue the necessary orders to persons who the healthcare units need and in respect of whom there is assessed to be no limitations or other obstacles referred to in the Emergency Powers Act to issuing an order.

An order to work issued by a TE office is subject to appeal in the same manner as any other administrative decision. An order to work must, however, be complied with immediately irrespective of appeal, unless otherwise ordered by the TE office.

A person obliged to work has the right to return to his or her previous work.

The person's employment or public service relationship in which he or she was serving immediately before the start of the obligation to work will continue for the duration of the order-based employment relationship.

The period that the person has worked in an order-based employment relationship is considered equivalent to work when calculating benefits that are based on the work requirement, other than those relating to pay and earning of annual holiday.

The introduction of the obligation to work is the last resort in an exceptional situation where the adequacy of personnel resources in the healthcare sector must be secured.

The primary measures are the ones that have already been introduced under the Emergency Powers Act, in other words the flexibility in the time limits for the provision of non-urgent care, the derogations from the provisions of the Working Hours Act and the Annual Holidays Act, the arrangements within and between healthcare units, the voluntary recruitment of additional personnel, and the use of purchased services.

If the use of these measures is not possible or they are found to be inadequate, the sufficiency of personnel resources in the healthcare sector can be secured by introducing the obligation to work. The obligation to work can be introduced to safeguard the resources necessary for the performance of any of the tasks in the healthcare sector. Work orders can be issued to ensure the availability of personnel in the care of patients affected by the pandemic, in tasks from which personnel has been transferred to more critical tasks, and in any other place that is experiencing difficulties in providing adequate health services because staff has fallen ill or the number of patients has increased uncontrollably.

The Tax Administration will ease the tax payment arrangements for businesses, and the Government has proposed a lower interest rate on the late payment of taxes that are covered by a payment schedule. These will be temporary changes.

Who are the new arrangements intended for?

The scheme is intended for companies experiencing payment difficulties.

Which taxes will be covered by the new arrangements?

The scheme will apply to all types of taxation.

What kind of easing is planned?

The late-payment interest would be 4 per cent, down from the normal 7 per cent.

The first instalment under the payment schedule would become due in three months, when normally it would be due in one month.

What period of taxes payable would the new arrangement apply to??

The easing of late-payment interest arrangements could also be applied retroactively to taxes that have fallen due in March.

The reduced interest rate would be valid for taxes due no later than the end of August.

What do you need to do to take up the new payment arrangement?

If your business has difficulty paying taxes due to the coronavirus outbreak, you can apply for an adjusted payment arrangement with the eased terms in the Tax Administration’s e-service ‘MyTax’.

Who is eligible for the new payment arrangement?

Businesses can request more time to pay if they have difficulty paying taxes.

What could prevent you being eligible for the new payment arrangement?

The new payment arrangement cannot be made if the applicant has a tax debt being recovered through enforcement or if the applicant has failed to file tax returns or Incomes Register reports. A payment schedule that has lapsed in the past may also prevent a new arrangement.

You will find information on the EU's response on the website of the Council of the European Union.

Coronavirus outbreak and the EU's response

The magnitude and duration of the impact of the pandemic on local government finances will continue to be closely monitored. The crisis is increasing local government spending on healthcare and social welfare and at the same time reducing economic growth and employment, and therefore tax revenue, as well as municipal income from charges and fees. According to the estimates given in the Local Government Finances Programme (in Finnish), the biggest impact of the coronavirus crisis will be caused by the loss of tax revenue. The effects differ from one part of the country to the next, and from one grouping of municipalities to another, depending on factors such as their demographic and economic structure.

Municipalities can, to some extent, influence the economic effects of the crisis. For example, the increase in expenditure will be significantly affected by how municipalities are able to transfer employees to other tasks from activities that have been reduced, and to adjust expenditure on these activities.

Local government and central government should do what they can to prepare for what could be a long period of disruption. The preparations should also take into account that the recovery may be long, even after the immediate crisis is over.

The Government is monitoring the impact of the crisis on municipal expenditure and income, and is also keeping track of how well municipalities are able to secure financing. The Government is also exploring ways of providing financial support to municipalities. The principle underlying such support is that it should be effective: the right instruments in the right place at the right time.

Agreed measures for supporting municipalities:

• Government to provide more than EUR 1 billion to support municipalities during coronavirus crisis 
  • Central government will use discretionary government grants to reimburse hospital districts directly for the extra costs, such as spending on intensive care, caused by the coronavirus crisis.
  • The municipalities’ share of corporation tax revenue will be increased for a fixed period until the end of this year.
  • Central government transfers to municipalities for statutory basic public services will also be increased to the end of 2020.
  • Discretionary central government transfers to local government will be increased.

The aim is to incorporate these support measures into a fourth supplementary budget proposal, to be submitted to Parliament in early June.

• Municipalities to be reimbursed for temporary fall in tax revenues (effective 1 May 2020)

Even in these circumstances, the municipal executive must deal with the financial statements for 2019 by the end of March and then submit them to the auditors. The local council must consider the financial statements before the end of June.

The Accounting Board’s local government sub-committee cannot change the timetable for drawing up and submitting the financial statements, as provisions on these tasks are laid down in the Local Government Act.

Municipal financial statements can be signed electronically. The preparation and signing of the financial statements are described in the general instructions of the Accounting Board’s local government sub-committee on the municipal annual report and financial statements.

The Government submitted a supplementary budget proposal to Parliament on 20 March.

This supplementary budget focuses on the costs of combatting the coronavirus outbreak and of the preparedness measures. These costs relate particularly to the work of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the agencies and bodies within its branch of government.

Government submits supplementary budget proposal to Parliament due to the coronavirus (press release 20 March)

The Government submitted the year’s second supplementary budget proposal to Parliament on 9 April.

This supplementary budget includes measures supporting people’s health and livelihoods, improvements in the situation for municipalities, business activity in general, rural businesses, and culture and sports.

Government reaches agreement on second supplementary budget proposal for 2020 and the General Government Fiscal Plan for 2021–2024 (press release 8 April)

The Government submitted the year’s third supplementary budget proposal to Parliament on 8 May.

This proposal focuses in particular on easing the financial situation of businesses and covering the costs of managing the coronavirus situation and combating the effects. In further supplementary budget proposals to be made this year, the Government will also assess the need for other coronavirus-related appropriation increases and, more broadly, measures to support the economy. The Government plans to submit economic stimulus proposals to Parliament in a supplementary budget proposal at the beginning of June.

Government decided on third supplementary budget proposal for 2020 (press release 8 May)

Communicable diseases such as the coronavirus and especially the measures taken to combat it have adverse impacts on the economy in a number of ways. Some of these negative impacts are direct, some are indirect.

Direct impacts arise from workplaces being closed down, absence from work due to sickness, resources used to treat those who have fallen ill, and loss of earnings.

Pandemic has adverse impacts on the domestic demand, especially in the service sector. At the same time, uncertainty keeps growing and the confidence of both businesses and households weakens, leading to a further and significant decrease in the demand.

In addition, disturbances in both domestic and global production chains delay or permanently reduce production.

Communicable diseases and measures to combat them have indirect impacts e.g. on work efficiency. They may also increase the costs of investments and delay decisions on these, reduce inputs in knowledge and skills of the workforce, and cause costs to the public sector.

The duration of the indirect impacts depends on the duration of the pandemic and measures to combat it, and on whether permanent changes take place in consumer behaviour and in the functioning of the production chains.

Ministry of Finance published its latest Economic Survey on 16 April:

Finnish economy hit hard by coronavirus (press release)

Economic Survey, Spring 2020 

The coronavirus crisis can affect the financial situation of many people. What should you take into account if your income drops? What should you take into account if you are taking out a loan? You can find answers to these and many other questions on the website of the financial and debt counselling services at.

If you need advice concerning your financial situation, you can contact a legal aid office providing financial and debt counselling services or the financial and debt counselling chat. The chat is open from Monday to Friday at 10–12. The chat and the contact details of the legal aid offices are available on the Oikeus.fi website.

Advices also on the website of the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority

Published 26.3.2020 at 13.45, answer has been updated on 3 April 2020 at 16.05

According to the government proposal, the temporary interest rate cap of 10 per cent would apply to consumer credits falling within the scope of application of chapter 7 of the Consumer Protection Act. It is proposed that the interest rate cap would not apply to goods-or-services-related credits, such as general credit card credits, car hire purchase and instalment payment options in e-commerce. The answer is based on the legislative proposal.

According to the government proposal, the ban on direct marketing of consumer credits would apply to consumer credits falling within the scope of application of chapter 7 of the Consumer Protection Act, including goods-or-services-related credits. The answer is based on the legislative proposal.

• Frequently asked questions about the coronavirus situation on the website of the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela)
• Current information on the TE Services website
• TE Services: If you are laid off
• TE Services: Instructions for employers regarding layoffs (in Finnish)

 

According to the Employment Contracts Act, salaries shall be paid on the last day of the pay period, unless otherwise agreed. It is possible to agree on the pay period in the employment contract, and in many areas collective agreements stipulate the pay period. These stipulations may be binding.

An employer cannot unilaterally override binding stipulations in an employment contract or collective agreement. In the event of late payment of salaries, the employee is entitled to interest on late payment. If pay is delayed at the end of the employment relationship, the employee is entitled to receive pay for the waiting days for a maximum of six days.

If an employee is incapable of working due to illness, the right to sickness pay is determined by the Employment Contracts Act and collective agreements. Pay during sickness is in practice determined in sectoral agreements that extend the employer's obligation to pay remuneration for a sickness period from that laid down in the Employment Contracts Act.

During incapacity to work, Kela will pay sickness allowance after the waiting period has passed. The waiting period is commonly the first day of incapacity to work and nine weekdays following the beginning of incapacity. In general, employers apply for sickness allowance if they pay salary during absence from work and Kela will pay the sickness allowance to the employer.

If the employee has been quarantined under the Communicable Diseases Act, he or she is entitled to a 100% daily allowance for the duration of the quarantine. If the employer pays a salary during this period, they have the right to receive the daily allowance.

If an employee’s child is placed in quarantine, the Communicable Diseases Act contains provisions to cover that, and communicable disease allowance may be paid in this case as well.

If an employee is placed in quarantine after a business trip, absence from work could be attributed to a reason due to the employer and the employee would then be entitled to his or her salary. The employee is entitled to his or her salary also when he or she is forced to remain quarantined abroad during a business trip. The situation may be different if the employee is placed in quarantine because of travel abroad for holidays. There are no legal principles or general guidelines on this at present. There may be consequences if, for example, the travel has taken place against official instructions.

If the employer is on sick leave because of the coronavirus infection (incapacity to work due to illness), his or her right to sick pay is determined on the basis of the Employment Contracts Act and collective agreements. Payment of salaries during sick leave is included in sectoral collective agreements

 

 

If the employee has been quarantined under the Communicable Diseases Act, he or she is entitled to a 100% daily allowance for the duration of the quarantine. If the employer pays salary during this period, they have the right to receive the daily allowance.

The provisions on student financial aid make it possible to take review the maximum time limits for student financial aid and sufficient progress in studies in an exceptional situation such as the one caused by the coronavirus.

If it has not been possible to study, the payment of student financial aid may be continued even if study attainment falls short, and the maximum period qualifying for financial aid for studies may be extended.

• More about how the coronavirus affects student benefits  

The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare has published a wide range of questions and answers concerning the coronavirus on its website. The website contains information about the coronavirus, at-risk groups, protection, and contracting the infection. The website also contains information about the effects of the coronavirus on pregnant women, children and older people.

• Frequently asked questions about coronavirus (kela.fi)

Processing of unemployment benefit applications is being accelerated starting 11 May 2020.

The Ministry of Health and Social Affairs has issued instructions to the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela) and municipalities on how to handle social assistance applications as smoothly as possible during the coronavirus epidemic. Due to the crisis, clients’ chances of influencing, for example, their own employment or changing housing are now limited, so some of the requirements imposed on the client have been temporarily waived. Such appendices and explanations are not required that are not necessary in this exceptional situation. This will also reduce the workload of Kela and the municipalities. 

Please contact your own unemployment fund or Kela, the Social Insurance Institution of Finland. Based on unemployment, you are entitled either to unemployment allowance (earnings-related or basic) or to labour market support. Further information on unemployment benefits is available on Kela's website.

Follow Kela's website about unemployment benefits in the coronavirus situation.

 

You can apply for support at your own unemployment fund or Kela. Unemployment funds and Kela are responsible for all matters relating to the applications and their processing.

 

The required period in paid employment will be temporarily shortened to 13 calendar weeks instead of the present 26 calendar weeks.

For non-owner family members of entrepreneurs the required period of employment will be temporarily shortened to 26 calendar weeks instead of the present 52 calendar weeks.

The Acts will enter into force on 15 April 2020 and will remain in force until 6 July 2020. The amendments will be applied retroactively, starting on 16 March 2020.

 

 

As a rule, all available income and assets are taken into account when granting social assistance. Short-term support may be granted in exceptional circumstances without the need to realise assets. However, this does not apply to cash, which is reasonable to use first in order to secure the person’s own subsistence in exceptional circumstances.

In the present situation, unemployment allowances paid on the grounds of layoffs will not be taken into account in calculating the maximum period of payment that applies to the unemployment allowance. This amendment will improve unemployment security should the unemployment be prolonged. 

The Acts will enter into force on 15 April 2020 and will remain in force until 6 July 2020. The amendments will be applied retroactively, starting on 16 March 2020.

 

 

Under exceptional circumstances, additional costs arising from home delivery of medicines may be considered as healthcare costs necessary for the client. The Social Insurance Institution of Finland, Kela, may include such costs in a financial obligation given to a pharmacy if basic social assistance is granted to the client.

Food is covered by basic social assistance, and any additional costs associated with buying food can be covered by supplementary social assistance. If Kela has made a  decision on granting basic social assistance, supplementary social assistance can be applied for at the municipal social administration. Municipalities have introduced even other local arrangements for grocery purchasing. You can ask about the arrangements directly from your municipality of residence.

 

The responsibility for arranging temporary accommodation rests with the social services of your municipality. The authorities placing a person under quarantine must contact the municipal social services if it becomes clear that the person does not have a residence.

The five-day waiting period before a person is eligible for unemployment security will be abolished. This concerns earning-related allowance, basic unemployment allowance and labour market support.

The Acts will enter into force on 15 April 2020 and will remain in force until 6 July 2020. The amendments will be applied retroactively, starting on 16 March 2020.

 

 

The basic social assistance takes into account the actual amount of housing expenditure. In normal circumstances, it would be considered whether the housing costs are reasonable.  However, this requirement has been abandoned for new clients for the duration of this exceptional situation, and therefore the clients are not urged to change housing.

Decisions on basic social assistance must be made within 7 working days by law. As the authorities will probably receive lots of applications, the target period for application processing may be exceeded. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health has recommended that people who have run out of money or have an urgent situation be given priority in the application processing.

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Due to the coronavirus outbreak, rehabilitative work taking place in groups is largely suspended. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health has decided that municipalities may continue to organise rehabilitative work during the epidemic if the municipality is able to carry it out in a manner that minimises the risk of communicable diseases, and if the municipality agrees about the arrangements with the client. In this case, the client can be paid benefits and expense allowances related to the rehabilitative work.

The municipality may also suspend the rehabilitative work activities during the epidemic if the activities cannot be carried out in a way that minimises the risks. Before doing so, the municipality must notify the TE Office and inform the client. The clients will not lose their benefits and their social assistance will not be reduced while the activities are suspended, but they will not receive any expense allowance.

Temporary financial support due to the epidemic compensates for loss of income when the child does not participate in early childhood education or in contact teaching related to school education, and therefore the parent remains unpaid at home to care for the child during the epidemic, in accordance with the Finnish Government’s recommendations.

The support applies to parents whose children are in early childhood education and care, pre-primary education or in grades 1 to 3. Even parents of pupils in need of special support or pupils in extended compulsory education and preparatory education are entitled to the financial support. 

A parent or guardian in a contractual or public-service employment relationship in Finland has the right to the financial support, or a spouse living in the same household as the parent or guardian. 

The support is payable if the loss of earnings are not compensated under other legislation, such as the Communicable Diseases Act. Obtaining compensation requires an agreement between the employee and the employer on unpaid absence.

The amount of the support is the same as the minimum parental allowance, i.e. EUR 28.94 per weekday (EUR 723.50 per month). The support is available during the emergency conditions, as from 16 March. Parents of schoolchildren will receive support during school term.

The support can be applied retroactively from the Social Insurance Institution Kela. 

Temporary financial support due to the epidemic is available to persons arriving in Finland from abroad, who were placed in quarantine-like conditions and who are therefore away from work without pay.

A group of seasonal workers arriving in the country can also receive the temporary support if their employment relationship starts with two weeks' unpaid absence from work in quarantine-like conditions.

The condition for the compensation is that the person has a contractual or public-service employment relationship in force in Finland but is absent from work without pay. The support will be paid for a maximum period of 14 days from the date of arrival in Finland.

The support will be payable if the loss of earnings were not compensated under other legislation, such as the Communicable Diseases Act. Obtaining compensation requires an agreement between the employee and the employer on unpaid absence.

The support amount is EUR 28.94 per weekday (EUR 723.50 per month). It is available during the emergency conditions, as from 16 March. The support can be applied retroactively from the Social Insurance Institution Kela. 

 

A person who by his or her own decision is staying in quarantine-like conditions, thus also following the Government’s recommendations, is as a rule not entitled to compensation. One cannot just decide to stay out of work, but the obligation to work based on an employment contract applies during a virus epidemic as well. The first thing to do in workplaces is to organise the work in new ways, also making use of remote work, or move persons to tasks where the risk is smaller.

A person is entitled to sickness allowance on account of an infectious disease when ordered to stay in quarantine-like conditions by a physician specialised in infectious diseases. Sickness allowance on account of an infectious disease is applied for from the Social Insurance Institution of Finland Kela. Further details on the application and the conditions for the allowance are also available at Kela.

Temporary financial support due to the epidemic compensates for loss of earnings in a situation where a person stays away from work without pay to care for a child who is entitled to early childhood education and care or contact education during the epidemic. Compensation for loss of earnings is also payable in a situation where a person has been advised to stay in quarantine-like conditions after returning to Finland from abroad. Eligibility for the compensation is subject to the condition that the employee and employer have agreed on the unpaid absence from work. (Pressrelease: Temporary support for those absent from work with no pay due to the coronavirus epidemic)

Sickness allowance on account of an infectious disease and temporary financial support due to the epidemic are intended to compensate for loss of earnings. 

Belonging to a risk group does not automatically entitle anyone to compensation. A person who, by his or her own decision, is staying in quarantine-like conditions, thus also following the Government’s recommendations, is as a rule not entitled to compensation.

In cases where employees belonging to risk groups are working in positions in which remote work is not possible and where the risk of being exposed to infection is high, the employer must try to make arrangements so that these persons can transfer to positions where the risk of being exposed to infection is lower. Remote work is currently advised for all employees whose tasks can be carried out from home.

 

Do not travel abroad at this time.

Ministry for Foreign Affairs: Questions and answers about the coronavirus and travel

Guidelines for border traffic | raja.fi

Questions and answers about the effects of COVID-19 on border traffic | raja.fi

Opening hours and border crossings for commercial traffic are unchanged. Airports are an exception to this, as the Government has ordered airport closures. For commercial traffic, remote systems can also be used to make the customs clearance.

Goods traffic is continuing, and so Customs controls and inspections of goods are conducted as usual.

Yes. The restrictions do not apply to public transport. It is advisable to keep your distance from fellow passengers. 

Published 18.3.2020

 

The purpose of the restrictions and recommendations in force during the coronavirus epidemic is to slow down and prevent the spread of the coronavirus in Finland, to safeguard the resource capacity and resilience of our healthcare system throughout the country, and to protect people, especially those who are the most at risk.

The Government decided on 7 May to extend the temporary restrictions on border traffic in Finland until 14 June 2020. The decision follows on from the decision made by the Government on 19 March to restore border control at internal borders, close certain border crossing points and restrict traffic across external borders.

More information on border traffic during emergency conditions is available in the Border Guard guidelines.

The Government is closely monitoring the development of the disease and is prepared to change the decisions on border traffic if necessary.

 

Do not travel abroad at this time.

Ministry for Foreign Affairs: Questions and answers about the coronavirus and travel

Guidelines for border traffic | raja.fi

Questions and answers about the effects of COVID-19 on border traffic | raja.fi

Ministry of Transport and Communications: Coronavirus and the transport system, communication networks and services

Food supply is an important part of the security of supply operations that are being managed in cooperation between the public and private sector in all circumstances. Security of supply in the food sector means that the population has access to the same amount of nutritional energy as in normal conditions (2,800 kcal, i.e. 11.7 MJ per day). Securing the food supply is strongly founded on national agricultural production. 

The latest updates of the situation can be found on the website of the National Emergency Supply Agency (in Finnish) (https://www.huoltovarmuuskeskus.fi/huoltovarmuuskeskuksen-nakemys-koronaviruksen-vaikutuksista-logistiikkaan-ja-huoltovarmuuteen).  

According to the National Emergency Supply Agency, the retail sector works as normally at present. There have been no disturbances in logistics, manufacturing and processing industry, or deliveries. The rapid change in people’s purchasing behaviour may have caused temporary shortages at retail stores. The retail outlets are entitled to place restrictions on the volumes purchased to ensure a good customer experience. We are monitoring the situation very closely in cooperation with the food supply sector. Joint action is taken by the central government, trade and industry, primary production and logistics operators to secure reliable functioning of the markets. 

Even if the people are understandably worried, it is good to remember that there is no need to buy more food or hygiene products than usually. All you have to do is make sure that you have enough food and other essential supplies to last for three days. Guidance (in Finnish) on what this means can be found e.g. on the website of the Martha Organization.  

According to current knowledge, the virus is not transmitted via food, including fish. This means that the primary producers and processors of fish and operators in the supply chains can work as usually, as long as they take particular care of hygiene and of the preservation of fish. Consumers can also use fish and fish products as normally. A key issue for both operators in the fisheries sector and consumers is that the precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the virus are followed with care. It is important to maintain a functioning and viable value chain for fish so that we will have fish and fish products available also in future. Read more about the coronavirus and food on the website of the Finnish Food Authority (in Finnish). Read more about support for the fisheries sector available under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and State aid schemes on the website of the Maritime and Fisheries Network at merijakalatalous.fi/en/. 

The new coronavirus is transmitted directly from human to human. According to current knowledge, there is no evidence that the SARS-CoV-2 virus would spread or be transmitted to humans via food or via pets or farmed animals. E.g. in Belgium, France and Germany pets that have been in close contact with humans suffering from the coronavirus disease COVID-19, especially cats, have been reported as infected with the virus. In some cases the cats had shown no symptoms of the disease. Pets are considered to have no role in spreading the disease, but in all cases the virus had been transmitted from humans. Despite these quite rare and isolated cases considering the extent of the pandemic, pets can and must be cared for in the same way as usually, taking care of regular, good hand hygiene.

Besides pets, minks on four mink farms in the Netherlands have been found to carry the disease. In all these cases staff members caring for the animals had shown respiratory symptoms indicative of COVID-19.

Based on genetic analyses, it has been concluded that the coronavirus COVID-19 would originate from bats because its close relative has been found in Rhinolophus bat (horseshoe bat) populations. Studies on how the coronavirus was transmitted to humans are under way. The hypothesis is that the coronavirus would first have been transmitted from bats to an intermediate host where it had mutated into one that can be transmitted to humans.

Read more:
UN Food and Agriculture Organization FAO

Goods transport continues as usual and we have construction materials in Finland, so running out of these is not the main concern. Cement is being made in Finland and we have the raw materials.

Electronic systems can be used for holding meetings of local government decision-making bodies. Their use must be in accordance with the administrative regulations of the municipality.  The Local Government Act (410/2015) provides ample opportunities for decision-making to be carried out remotely, on a location-independent basis.

A temporary amendment to the Local Government Act came into force at the beginning of May 2020, allowing a municipality or joint municipal authority to decide on the temporary use of electronic meetings and electronic decision-making procedures in all of its decision-making bodies.

Participants who are, for example, in quarantine can also make use of electronic systems to take part in municipal decision-making. Matters pertaining to a decision-making body can be decided on

• at an actual meeting or
• at a meeting taking place in an electronic environment (electronic meeting), or
• by electronic means prior to a meeting (closed electronic decision-making procedure, possible in bodies other than the municipal council).

Under the temporary amendment to the Local Government Act, the local executive in a municipality or joint municipal authority may decide to introduce new digital meeting arrangements that allow the use of electronic meetings on a more flexible basis than before. This type of meeting may be held via, for example, a videoconferencing connection. The visual and audio connections do not necessarily need to remain continuous and unbroken throughout the meeting. The meeting nevertheless requires that:

• the participants in the meeting can be ascertained reliably,
• the chairperson can lead the meeting and
• the participants can follow the course of the meeting and participate in the deliberations.

Meetings can also be arranged electronically in such a way that some participants are present at the meeting venue and others participate remotely. It these cases, however, care must be taken to ensure that everybody has an equal opportunity to participate.

At electronic meetings and in the electronic decision-making procedure, the municipality must ensure information security and take care that information to be kept secret is not accessible by outsiders. In addition, the municipality must ensure that meetings which are publicly accessible can still be accessed and followed when the meeting is held remotely, as an electronic meeting. Under the temporary provisions of the Local Government Act, the local executive may decide that publicly accessible meetings can only be followed electronically.

• Guide to digital meetings and digital decision-making procedures in municipalities. Publications of the Ministry of Finance 2019:6; in Finnish, abstract in English)

The rule does not concern local government bodies. Meetings are not prohibited.

As a precautionary measure, meetings may be held less frequently and only to decide on matters that are mandatory or urgent. The number of members of the public allowed to follow public local council meetings should be limited to ten (50 persons starting from 1 June), and electronic channels should be used to follow the meetings.

The Government’s instruction to avoid meetings does not concern the positions of trust in local government. Persons holding positions of trust who are over 70 years old may also participate in the meetings of local government bodies. However, quarantine or health considerations may in practise constitute an obstacle to participating in a meeting.

The magnitude and duration of the impact of the pandemic on local government finances will continue to be closely monitored. The crisis is increasing local government spending on healthcare and social welfare and at the same time reducing economic growth and employment, and therefore tax revenue, as well as municipal income from charges and fees. According to the estimates given in the Local Government Finances Programme (in Finnish), the biggest impact of the coronavirus crisis will be caused by the loss of tax revenue. The effects differ from one part of the country to the next, and from one grouping of municipalities to another, depending on factors such as their demographic and economic structure.

Municipalities can, to some extent, influence the economic effects of the crisis. For example, the increase in expenditure will be significantly affected by how municipalities are able to transfer employees to other tasks from activities that have been reduced, and to adjust expenditure on these activities.

Local government and central government should do what they can to prepare for what could be a long period of disruption. The preparations should also take into account that the recovery may be long, even after the immediate crisis is over.

The Government is monitoring the impact of the crisis on municipal expenditure and income, and is also keeping track of how well municipalities are able to secure financing. The Government is also exploring ways of providing financial support to municipalities. The principle underlying such support is that it should be effective: the right instruments in the right place at the right time.

Agreed measures for supporting municipalities:

• Government to provide more than EUR 1 billion to support municipalities during coronavirus crisis 
  • Central government will use discretionary government grants to reimburse hospital districts directly for the extra costs, such as spending on intensive care, caused by the coronavirus crisis.
  • The municipalities’ share of corporation tax revenue will be increased for a fixed period until the end of this year.
  • Central government transfers to municipalities for statutory basic public services will also be increased to the end of 2020.
  • Discretionary central government transfers to local government will be increased.

The aim is to incorporate these support measures into a fourth supplementary budget proposal, to be submitted to Parliament in early June.

• Municipalities to be reimbursed for temporary fall in tax revenues (effective 1 May 2020)

Even in these circumstances, the municipal executive must deal with the financial statements for 2019 by the end of March and then submit them to the auditors. The local council must consider the financial statements before the end of June.

The Accounting Board’s local government sub-committee cannot change the timetable for drawing up and submitting the financial statements, as provisions on these tasks are laid down in the Local Government Act.

Municipal financial statements can be signed electronically. The preparation and signing of the financial statements are described in the general instructions of the Accounting Board’s local government sub-committee on the municipal annual report and financial statements.

Residents, service users, organisations and other communities must be informed about the municipality’s operation. Timely, regularly updated, clear and fact-based communication is essential in a crisis situation.

Municipalities should use clear and understandable language and take into account the needs of their different resident groups.

In a state of emergency, municipalities must also provide sufficient information on municipal services, the handling of matters, any decisions taken and the effects of these decisions.

In a state of emergency, municipal management is based on the same management system as in normal circumstances, in accordance with administrative regulations and under the Local Government Act (410/2015). However, special arrangements apply to municipal decision-making. In a state of emergency, municipalities' preparedness obligation is based on the preparedness obligation laid down in the Emergency Powers Act. Under the Act, municipalities, joint municipal authorities and other intermunicipal bodies must ensure, by means of contingency plans, prior preparation of emergency operations and other measures, that their duties will be performed with the least amount of disruption also in emergency conditions (1552/2011, section 12).

Due to the coronavirus outbreak, municipalities should ready their preparedness organisation. The body of the preparedness organisation is made up of the municipality’s senior management group supplemented, for example, by other parties belonging to the local authority corporation (e.g. water supply and services and the support services that are important for the continuity of the municipality’s operation, such as cleaning and catering) and, where appropriate, by other representatives of key stakeholders.

In a state of emergency, the following tasks and areas are of key importance:

• the municipality’s own, broader regional and national situational awareness, access to information and the communication on situational awareness between different parties
• proactive planning and appropriate use of resources
• management in line with the circumstance
• organisation of cooperation and coordination between different parties
• communication within and outside the municipality, taking into account the information needs of residents, cooperation bodies and stakeholders.

Each administrative branch should examine the terms and conditions for managing disruptions, included in the agreements between municipalities and private service providers.

In addition to organising service provision, municipalities should remember to maintain the situational picture concerning the impact of the outbreak and of the state of emergency on the costs and income base of the municipality’s operation.

Processing of unemployment benefit applications is being accelerated starting 11 May 2020.

The Ministry of Health and Social Affairs has issued instructions to the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela) and municipalities on how to handle social assistance applications as smoothly as possible during the coronavirus epidemic. Due to the crisis, clients’ chances of influencing, for example, their own employment or changing housing are now limited, so some of the requirements imposed on the client have been temporarily waived. Such appendices and explanations are not required that are not necessary in this exceptional situation. This will also reduce the workload of Kela and the municipalities. 

Fur producers are not eligible for the support for sole entrepreneurs because the de minimis regulation does not apply to primary production. The de minimis regulation applies to all sectors with the exception of primary agricultural production, fisheries and aquaculture because these have their own de minimis rules. However, to a limited extent, the regulation also applies to undertakings active in the processing and marketing of agricultural products. Fur producers, and farmers, can apply for the state guarantee for a liquidity loan. The call for applications is open at the moment. Finnvera can also guarantee loans, see question above.

Yes, sole entrepreneurs pay tax for the support they receive. Municipalities report the support directly to the tax authorities.

Start-up funding does not overlap with the support for sole entrepreneurs because it is intended to secure the entrepreneur’s income for the period which the business has been estimated to need for starting up and consolidating. In contrast, the support for sole entrepreneurs is intended to cover expenses for premises, equipment purchased for business activities, accounting and other office expenses.  Consequently, an entrepreneur may receive both start-up funding and support for sole entrepreneurs.

Even in an emergency situation, consultations concerning local detailed plans, local master plans and regional land use plans must be organised in such a way that stakeholders have the opportunity to influence them and have access to the documents. The Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities has advised the municipalities on how planning operations should be managed in the coronavirus situation. Guidance is provided (in Finnish) e.g. on how public access to documents can be organised if the City Hall, Town Hall or Municipal Hall is closed.
 
Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities: Frequently asked questions concerning municipalities, paragraphs 10 and 13 (in Finnish)

One of the most significant is that schools reopened in May. Contact teaching resumed on 14 May in early childhood education and care and in primary and lower secondary education. The restrictions were also lifted on the same date for upper secondary educational institutions, but distance learning is still recommended until the end of the term. Outdoor recreational facilities will be opened, subject to restrictions on gatherings.

Borrowing from libraries has been allowed since 4 May. In June, public indoor premises can be reopened in a controlled manner, and the 10-person restriction on gatherings will change to 50 on 1 June.

Assessments will be made of the restrictions and the use of provisions under the Emergency Powers Act.

The restrictions concerning visits to healthcare and social welfare units will remain in force until further notice.

Higher education institutions, educational institutions and other organisations that provide exchange programmes and projects decide how, together with the organisations they cooperate with, to implement their international activities and agree on measures for both outgoing and incoming student mobility.

The higher education institutions and educational institutions are essentially the ones to make the decisions on postponing, suspending and reorganising student exchange periods. They must follow the official press releases, contact those participating in international projects and advise them to contact the Finnish Embassy or Consulate, if necessary, for further instructions.

The international activities of EU projects can be prematurely suspended, carried out with another partner, postponed to a later date or cancelled. Notice of cancellation or postponement must be given as soon as possible to the Finnish National Agency for Education, which gives advice on how to proceed.

It is possible to apply for compensation based on force majeure clauses for mobility periods and expenses financed by the national agency in Finland via the Erasmus Plus and the European Solidarity Corps programmes. Force majeure practices may vary from country to country. The national agency of the country financing the project is always the one to decide on the reimbursement of project costs. For this reason, it is essential that the coordinating organisation should direct the process in line with the instructions of the national agency financing the project.

For non-EU exchange programmes, contact the organisation providing the funding.

For more information, please first contact the international services of your educational institution.

 

The Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (FCC) monitors the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on consumers. The FCC provides information on its website about the outbreak and how it may affect consumers with regard to travel or service and event cancellations. The FCC keeps updating the guidelines on its website as soon as it receives relevant information. Many cases may need to be resolved only afterwards and on a case-by-case basis.

FCC: Coronavirus and consumer rights
Consumer Advice Services answers: 12+1 questions on the Corona Virus

As a rule, yes. However, in case of cancellations, your consumer rights will depend on whether you are an independent traveller (for example, you have booked flights only) or whether you have purchased a travel package (for example, a combination of flights and a hotel). As a rule, the rights of consumers who have purchased a package deal are better than those of independent travellers who have purchased, for example, flights only.

For more information, please visit the FCC’s website

The main rule is that the price paid by the consumer for the service must normally be reimbursed. You should therefore contact the service provider.

For more information, please visit the FCC’s website

If the problem concerns consumer law, you should first try to negotiate with the other party and consult the instructions on the FCC website. If the matter does not progress, you can contact the Consumer Advisory Services, which provide information, instructions and help with mediation in disputes between consumers and businesses.

For more information, please visit the Consumer Advisory Services website
Consumer Advice Services answers: 12+1 questions on the Corona Virus

 

The coronavirus crisis can affect the financial situation of many people. What should you take into account if your income drops? What should you take into account if you are taking out a loan? You can find answers to these and many other questions on the website of the financial and debt counselling services at.

If you need advice concerning your financial situation, you can contact a legal aid office providing financial and debt counselling services or the financial and debt counselling chat. The chat is open from Monday to Friday at 10–12. The chat and the contact details of the legal aid offices are available on the Oikeus.fi website.

Advices also on the website of the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority

Published 26.3.2020 at 13.45, answer has been updated on 3 April 2020 at 16.05

According to the government proposal, the temporary interest rate cap of 10 per cent would apply to consumer credits falling within the scope of application of chapter 7 of the Consumer Protection Act. It is proposed that the interest rate cap would not apply to goods-or-services-related credits, such as general credit card credits, car hire purchase and instalment payment options in e-commerce. The answer is based on the legislative proposal.

According to the government proposal, the ban on direct marketing of consumer credits would apply to consumer credits falling within the scope of application of chapter 7 of the Consumer Protection Act, including goods-or-services-related credits. The answer is based on the legislative proposal.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and Ministry of Social Affairs and Health have given recommendations to water supply plants, municipal health protection authorities supervising these and Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment to secure water supply and sanitation during the coronavirus epidemic. 

According to current knowledge, it is not considered likely that the new coronavirus could spread via drinking water. The virus is also not considered to cause any particular risks to those working at wastewater treatment plants. 

The instructions do not mean any new obligations to water supply plants but their preparedness is based on the current legislation, mainly the Water Services Act and Health Protection Act. 

The Water Services Act obliges water supply plants to ensure access to water supply and sanitation services for properties in emergency situations as well. Water supply plants must draw up plans on their preparedness for disruptions and keep these up to date, and take the necessary measures on the basis of the plans. 

According to the Health Protection Act, health protection authorities must cooperate with other authorities and agencies and draw up a plan to prepare for disruptions affecting the environment where the people live. 

The functioning of water supply and sanitation must be secured to be able to maintain the basic functions of society also during the state of emergency caused by the coronavirus epidemic. Especially large population centres and operations that require a lot of clean water, such as those in healthcare centres, hospitals and food industry, are highly vulnerable to any disruptions in water supply and sanitation services. 

If the epidemic caused by the coronavirus expands, it is important that water supply plants and municipalities, together with the other water supply plants of the region, authorities and key customers using water services, make sure that their plans for disruptions and the instructions included in these are up to date. 

A situation that may threaten the functioning of water supply and sanitation is one where a large percentage of the staff falls ill at the same time. This is why water supply plants are urged to ensure sufficient resources for managing the critical water supply and sanitation tasks, making use of the plans for disruptions. 

Water supply plants are also urged to prepare for possible disruptions in the operations of service providers, including laboratories and suppliers of chemicals. 

Inquiries: 
Jarkko Rapala, Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, tel. +358 2951 63315, firstname.lastname(at)stm.fi 
Katri Vasama, Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Natural Resources and Water Management Unit, tel. +358 50 595 5317, firstname.lastname(at)mmm.fi 

Yes, the courts will continue their operations as usual, as will the rest of the public administration. Some of the scheduled court sessions will probably need to be postponed and the consideration may unfortunately be delayed, but the courts will inform the parties concerned of this personally. 

Published 18.3.2020

 

The new coronavirus is transmitted directly from human to human. According to current knowledge, there is no evidence that the SARS-CoV-2 virus would spread or be transmitted to humans via food or via pets or farmed animals. E.g. in Belgium, France and Germany pets that have been in close contact with humans suffering from the coronavirus disease COVID-19, especially cats, have been reported as infected with the virus. In some cases the cats had shown no symptoms of the disease. Pets are considered to have no role in spreading the disease, but in all cases the virus had been transmitted from humans. Despite these quite rare and isolated cases considering the extent of the pandemic, pets can and must be cared for in the same way as usually, taking care of regular, good hand hygiene.

Besides pets, minks on four mink farms in the Netherlands have been found to carry the disease. In all these cases staff members caring for the animals had shown respiratory symptoms indicative of COVID-19.

Based on genetic analyses, it has been concluded that the coronavirus COVID-19 would originate from bats because its close relative has been found in Rhinolophus bat (horseshoe bat) populations. Studies on how the coronavirus was transmitted to humans are under way. The hypothesis is that the coronavirus would first have been transmitted from bats to an intermediate host where it had mutated into one that can be transmitted to humans.

Read more:
UN Food and Agriculture Organization FAO

The coronavirus crisis can affect the financial situation of many people. What should you take into account if your income drops? What should you take into account if you are taking out a loan? You can find answers to these and many other questions on the website of the financial and debt counselling services at.

If you need advice concerning your financial situation, you can contact a legal aid office providing financial and debt counselling services or the financial and debt counselling chat. The chat is open from Monday to Friday at 10–12. The chat and the contact details of the legal aid offices are available on the Oikeus.fi website.

Advices also on the website of the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority

Published 26.3.2020 at 13.45, answer has been updated on 3 April 2020 at 16.05

The provisions of the Emergency Powers Act do not give additional powers to the Defence Forces.

The Defence Forces are prepared to carry out the tasks necessary for preparedness in all circumstances. They have secured their leadership capability, regular personnel and conscripts are rotated in different tasks to minimise the risk of infection,

and the Defence Forces are prepared to give executive assistance to other authorities, when necessary.  This may include material or transport support or, for example, equipment, personnel and expert assistance needed in rescue operations.

Information on preparedness in the defence administration and the measures to be taken during the coronavirus epidemic are gathered on Ministry of Defence´s webpage.

Ministry of Defence: Preparing for coronavirus outbreak in defence administration
 

The webpage of The Finnish Defence Forces contains general information about the effects of the coronavirus on the Defence Forces and conscript service. 

COVID-19 and the Finnish Defence Forces 

According to the government proposal, the temporary interest rate cap of 10 per cent would apply to consumer credits falling within the scope of application of chapter 7 of the Consumer Protection Act. It is proposed that the interest rate cap would not apply to goods-or-services-related credits, such as general credit card credits, car hire purchase and instalment payment options in e-commerce. The answer is based on the legislative proposal.

According to the government proposal, the ban on direct marketing of consumer credits would apply to consumer credits falling within the scope of application of chapter 7 of the Consumer Protection Act, including goods-or-services-related credits. The answer is based on the legislative proposal.

According to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Finnish missions do not currently accept visa and residence permit applications, but the situation will be reassessed if necessary. Similarly, interviews related to residence permit applications have been suspended for the time being.

Press release: Finland suspends the reception and processing of ordinary visa and residence permit applications in the missions

However, even though immigration-related customer services have been suspended, missions will make every effort to hand over the residence permit cards in their possession to customers. Applicants of residence permit cards are advised to contact the missions directly, but they should bear in mind that the delivery of cards from Finland to Finnish missions abroad may be delayed.

Missions also accept applications for visas and residence permits if the applicant needs them to perform tasks that are essential for security of supply or critical for a specific sector. Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health have provided separate guidelines regarding seasonal work.

List: Tasks essential for security of supply or critical for sector operations

Any changes in the missions’ situation will be announced on the website of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the missions.

The Finnish Immigration Service, TE Offices and the Centre for Economic Development in Uusimaa (ELY Centre) continue to process pending applications for residence permits normally.

The main rule is to restrict unnecessary travel. According to the Border Guard’s guidelines, third-country nationals who have been granted a residence permit and are entering Finland for the first time may enter Finland starting from 1 May 2020. Residence permits for seasonal workers are not included in this category. They are treated as their own special group. To be allowed to enter Finland, a third-country national with a residence permit for seasonal work entering Finland for the first must be included in the seasonal worker quota of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

No. The current legislation does not allow reimbursement of the application processing fee.

No. The current legislation does not allow reimbursement of the application processing fee.

The residence permit will remain in effect for the duration of the layoff. An extended permit may be granted on condition that the employee has had secure means of subsistence while the previous permit was in effect. More information on working and unemployment benefits while laid off  is available the websites of Kela and the TE Office.

More information on the Finnish Immigration Service’s website

The following situations are considered emergencies:

• An armed or equally serious attack against Finland and the immediate aftermath of such an attack;
• A considerable threat of an armed or equally serious attack against Finland such that preventing its effects requires the immediate use of statutory powers in accordance with the Emergency Powers Act
• A serious event or threat to the livelihood of the population or to the foundations of the national economy, as a result of which the functions vital to society are at risk;
• A major catastrophe and its immediate aftermath;
• A widespread outbreak of a serious communicable disease, the effect of which is comparable to a major disaster.

 

The Emergency Powers Act lays down provisions on the power of authorities in emergency conditions. The Act also lays down provisions on how the authorities should prepare for emergencies. The powers defined in the Emergency Powers Act can be exercised only if authorities cannot control the situation with normal powers.

The decision to use the powers laid down in the Emergency Powers Act is made by Government decree (enforcement decree).

The Emergency Powers Act lays down provisions on the use of various powers in emergency situations. The present situation does not mean that all powers included in the Act would have become applicable, but only certain individual powers are now being applied. During a communicable disease epidemic the Emergency Powers Act allows, for example, to decide how education is being organised.

The Government and the President of the Republic have jointly declared that the coronavirus epidemic and the situation it has caused fulfil the criteria for a state of emergency. This means that the authorities need more extensive powers and rights to manage the situation and to safeguard the functioning of society.

The Government and the President of the Republic have jointly declared that the coronavirus situation fulfils the criteria for a state of emergency. The Government gives a decree on implementing the powers laid down in the Act for a maximum period of six months. The decree defines the powers that may be exercised.

The power to make the final decision rests with Parliament. It is for Parliament to decide whether the additional powers defined in the Government decree will be adopted in full or in part. Parliament may also decide to repeal the decree.

In an urgent situation, additional powers may be introduced immediately. In that case, the decree will also be submitted to Parliament without delay. The decree must be submitted to Parliament within a week of its issue or it will lapse.

The purpose of the Emergency Powers Act is to secure the livelihood of the population and the national economy, to maintain legal order and fundamental and human rights, and to safeguard the territorial integrity and independence of Finland in emergency conditions.

A comprehensive assessment of the situation led to the conclusion that the authorities will need additional powers to deal with the situation and to protect the population.

The need for medical care caused by the coronavirus may turn out to be great indeed, and may place a major burden on medical professionals. This is why it is important to slow down the spread of the disease in Finland so that a smaller percentage of the population would fall ill at the same time in such a way that hospital care is required.

The coronavirus epidemic is expected to have highly significant effects on the population, medical care, economy, employment and business environment.

The regular means available under the Communicable Diseases Act and other legislation will not be sufficient. This is why it is now necessary to use the powers specified in the Emergency Powers Act. Under the Emergency Powers Act, the rights and everyday lives of individuals will be restricted only to the extent that is absolutely necessary.

You will find information on the EU's response on the website of the Council of the European Union.

Coronavirus outbreak and the EU's response

The European Union will continue its activities during the exceptional circumstances and will adapt its activities and decision-making as required by the situation. 

Activities of the EU during the COVID-19 pandemic | vnk.fi

• Article 5 of Decision No 1082/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on serious cross-border threats to health lays down the legal basis for the Agreement.
• The Agreement was concluded in 2014. At the time, 19 Member States acceded to the Agreement.
• Finland did not join the Agreement, but it has had an observer status from the very start.
• Finland signed the Agreement in Brussels on 27 March 2020. This spring Sweden and Poland, as well as Norway and Iceland of the countries belonging to the European Economic Area (EEA), have also joined the Agreement.
• The purpose of the Agreement is to strengthen the purchasing power of the Parties and to secure more equitable access to specific medical countermeasures, such as supplies, equipment, medicines and vaccines, and an improved security of supply, together with more balanced prices.
• The Agreement determines the general structures of joint procurement procedures and the practices to be applied in conducting procurements.
• By signing a framework contract, Member States do not commit themselves to making procurements. Those are made through a separate agreement procedure and a competitive tendering process.

Prior to Finland’s accession to the Agreement, four different procurement processes were launched in spring 2020:

1) gloves and surgical gowns, 2) personal protective equipment for eye and respiratory protection, 3) medical ventilators and respiratory equipment, and 4) laboratory equipment.

• Finland cannot take part in the procurement processes that were launched prior to its accession to the Agreement. There are also other European countries that are not involved in the ongoing processes.
• It is likely, however, that new processes will be launched. Finland may, if it so wishes, take part in them.
• Finland and certain other countries have already expressed to the Commission their interest in taking part in any new joint procurements concerning personal protective equipment.
• The Commission is also preparing a joint procurement process concerning experimental medical treatments for COVID-19.
• At present, a joint procurement procedure in line with the Agreement does not seem to be a particularly quick way of purchasing personal protective equipment. The market situation is difficult and the delivery times for products are long. Other channels are faster. None of the Member States has received equipment or other products purchased through joint procurement.

• Finland has well-functioning emergency and obligatory stockpiling systems in place. For this reason, Finland did not consider it necessary to join the Agreement.
• It was thought earlier that the Agreement would be applied to the procurement of vaccines in particular. Finland has managed to procure the vaccines included in the national vaccination programme relatively inexpensively compared to many other European Union countries.
• A joint procurement process under the Agreement was seen to be complicated and relatively slow.
• In the beginning, the Agreement was not considered to guarantee favourable agreement terms or the availability and security of supply of products.
• Finland has, from the start, been involved in the joint procurement procedure as an observer and taken an active role in monitoring the progress made in the process and the experiences gained from the process.

• Finland began to examine the possibility of joining the Agreement in February 2020. This was a collaborative effort by a number of ministries.
• From a legal point of view, the issue is complex, because the nature of the Agreement is very unusual.
• It was necessary to examine, for example, whether Parliament would need to approve accession to the Agreement.