When you are looking for a new employee, you should first go through your own networks, as well as those of your acquaintances and employees. The right person can be easily found this way. However, a person with the required skills is not always found in these networks, and this is when you should publicly announce the vacancy.

Nowadays, there are a lot of different job search and job posting sites online that allow you to easily search for new employees. Also publish the vacancy on your own website and make sure to submit your job posting to Job Market Finland as well.

As an employer, you should also utilise social media. For example, LinkedIn has a wide range of experts from various fields who are looking for a new job. In addition to this, Facebook and Instagram can be used to find suitable employees. With paid marketing, you get more visibility for your job postings on social media. Job postings are also still published in newspapers.

You can also find aid for recruitment in the employment services offered by your regional employment official.

If you would like to recruit a young employee or skilled labour from abroad, please refer to our related content.

Financial support for recruitment and services for training a new employee

The employment subsidies granted by the employment official, i.e. the pay subsidy, employment subsidy for those aged 55 or over, and the subsidy for arranging working conditions, are based on the needs of both the job seeker and the employer. A job seeker needs help in finding a job and, as an employer, you need to find a skilled person for the job. A new suitable employee may be found in a job seeker whose job seeking is supported. A person who is partially able to work, has been unemployed for a long time, or is young, can also have useful skills and the right attitude to work and learn new things. You should also find out if your municipality offers employment bonuses.

You may also know a person that you would like to hire for your service but who does not have the skills required for the job. You can train employees in your organisation through an apprenticeship, joint procurement training, labour market training, or pay subsidy. In some situations, you can test a person's suitability for work by means of a work try-out.

Paying your employees is not the only obligation that applies to you as an employer. You must also provide occupational health care, take care of occupational safety and health, take out an insurance for your employees, and draw up an equality plan. To ensure that working is as safe as possible, observe the working environment, working spaces and working methods. Remember to also take care of salary-based and other notifications to be sent to different authorities. If there is a valid collective agreement for your sector, the terms of employment must comply with it.

Occupational health care improves the work ability of your employees

As an employer, the Occupational Health Care Act obliges you to arrange occupational health care for your personnel when there is at least one employee. All your employees have the right to occupational health care regardless of their working hours or the length of their employment relationships. The objective of occupational health care is to promote the healthy and safe working conditions of your employees, to support their ability to work throughout their careers, and to prevent work-related illnesses and accidents.

Occupational safety ensures safe working conditions

The aim of occupational safety is to create a safe, healthy, and productive workplace. As an employer, you are obliged to draw up an occupational safety and health policy. Additionally, it is your responsibility to assess and mitigate potential hazards and failures.

Insurances provide cover for accidents

An insurance will provide you with security if your employee is injured in an accident at work, on the way to or from work, or becomes ill with an occupational disease. You can take out an insurance from your preferred non-life insurance company. Different insurance companies have different practices, so the exact prices of insurances vary. If you wish, you can tender for insurance companies. 

Compulsory insurance policies for employees include earnings-related pension insurance, occupational accident and disease insurance, group life insurance, unemployment insurance premiums, and health insurance premiums. If you wish, you can also take out voluntary insurances.

You can prevent problems in an employee’s work ability by agreeing on procedures related to supporting work ability, monitoring sickness absences, cooperating with occupational health care and engaging in conversations on matters related to work ability.

Change measures to support work ability

Are people feeling well in your work community? The values and operating environment of the organisation and its management affect the wellbeing of the work community and individual employees.

As an employer, it is your responsibility to take care of occupational safety. To ensure employee wellbeing at your workplace, anticipate potential problems, set clear goals, and build trust. Also make sure that management works, and that you treat employees equally. When you manage them fairly, openly, and with encouragement, you improve the wellbeing of your work community, and your employees can succeed better in their work.

What can you do as an employer?

• Be flexible whenever possible.   
• Make clear agreements with your employees on objectives and roles.  
• Provide your employees opportunities for developing their expertise, and encourage them to learn new things.
• Make sure that your work community follows the instructions and that it is easy and safe for your employees to report faults and deficiencies.
• Treat each of your employees equally.

You can ask the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for advice and instructions on matters related to health, safety, and terms of employment in the workplace. In addition to this, you must notify occupational health and safety of certain dangerous jobs, confirmed occupational diseases and serious work accidents.

From working life to family leave and back

‘From working life to family leave and back – family leave guide for employers’ contains information that you can use as an employer to facilitate the reconciliation of work and family in your work community and to promote the wellbeing of the entire work community.

The guide summarizes the key issues regarding family leave, the law regarding which was renewed on August 1, 2022. It tells you what you should consider before the employee's family leave, during it, and when the employee returns to work from the leave.

You have various measures at your disposal that may help you find solutions when your employee’s reduced work ability has started to hinder work.

Adjusting work

If the illness or disability of a new or current employee prevents them from working, you can make adjustments at the workplace. Adjustments refer to changes at work in which your employee’s job description is modified to better correspond to and support their expertise and work ability.

Agree with your employee on the necessary job changes and adjustments. You should also make a written agreement on them. In addition, agree when the situation will be re-evaluated together with the employee and occupational health care provider.

Other solutions to challenges caused by reduced work ability

Even if work adjustments or other preventive measures have been taken to maintain work ability, your employee’s work ability may nevertheless decrease during the employment relationship. There are various kinds of options and help available for such situations.

Impact of disability pensions of a person with partial work ability on the employment pension contributions of large employers

If you are a large employer, your employment pension contributions are determined by comparing your disability risk with the average risk. The calculation compares the amount of disability pensions previously granted to the average amount of employment pension contributions.

At the beginning of an employment relationship, a customer of employment services who is finding employment with partial work ability must request a certificate from the employment official stating that they have been entered in the employment services' customer register as a job seeker with partial work ability. After this, they must deliver the certificate to you. As an employer, you must keep the certificate.

If a person with partial work ability becomes incapable of work during the first five years of employment, you must submit the certificate of partial work capacity received from the employee to your employment pension insurance company, in which case the employee's disability pension will not affect your employment pension contributions category.

When your employee requests a certificate of their partial work ability at the beginning of the employment relationship and delivers it to you, you will avoid the effects that your employee's possible retirement on disability pension would have on your employment pension contributions. This may, for its part, encourage the hiring of an employee with partial work ability.

Proactive support for work ability