Working time and annual holiday

Clock

The Working Time Act is a general act regulating working time and it applies to both contractual and public-service employment relationships. There are also provisions on working time in the

Young Workers’ Act,
Seamen’s Working Hours Act,
the Act on Working Hours on Vessels in Domestic Traffic and
the EU regulation on driving times and rest periods in road traffic.

The Working Time Act contains provisions for instance on

regular working time, additional work and overtime
general working time
regular working time based on an agreement between the employer and the employee
period-based work
regular working time based on collective agreements
flexiwork
flexible working hours
working time account
maximum working time
night work
emergency work
daily breaks
daily and weekly rest periods.

Provisions on the right of employees to annual holidays are contained in the Annual Holidays Act. The Annual Holidays Act applies to both private and public sector and it contains provisions on the

accrual of annual holiday,
pay during the annual holiday and
the granting of the annual holiday.

Ongoing statute drafting project

Government proposal, amendment to Working Time Act (in Finnish)

Further information:

Guidance and supervision of labour legislation: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Osha)
Law-drafting: Tarja Kröger, tarja.kroger(at)gov.fi