Working time and annual holiday

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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)

See also

Overview New Working Time Act in a nutshell
Labour law, brochures

Further information:

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

Related websites