UPDATE: Employers No Longer Required to Apply for A1 Certificates for Short-Term Work-Related Travel

In our recent legal alert published in January, we discussed the Finnish Centre for Pensions’ revised guidelines pursuant to which employers were required to apply for A1 certificates also for short-term work-related travel. Our previous legal alert is available here.

On 24 April 2023, the Finnish Centre for Pensions revised its policy regarding A1 certificates again, and it now states that there is no need to apply for an A1 certificate for short conference or business trips abroad unless it is known that the receiving country requires the employee to have an A1 certificate. The Finnish Centre for Pensions also emphasises the possibility to apply for an A1 certificate retrospectively if another EU or EEA country, Switzerland or the United Kingdom requires the employee to have an A1 certificate, or if an occupational accident occurs during a trip abroad.

Pursuant to the new policy, the Finnish Centre for Pensions will not provide a precise limit for the length of the trip after which an A1 certificate will be required, but instead, it calls for the employers to consider more carefully for what type of trips an A1 certificate will be required. However, for the time being, the Finnish Centre for Pensions considers that an A1 certificate is at least not required for two-day trips . Previously, before the Finnish Centre for Pensions revised its policy to require A1 certificates for short-term trips as well, an A1 certificate had to be applied for business trips that exceeded one month. Therefore, a satisfactory practice going forward would be to apply for an A1 certificate only when the trip lasts over a month or at least longer than a couple of weeks.

The new policy means a return to the old practices. However, employers should remember to apply for an A1 certificate for longer business trips. Also, the possibility to apply for an A1 certificate retroactively for shorter business trips, when necessary, is worth taking into account to reduce the amount of administrative work.

If you have any questions about the new course of conduct or need assistance with work abroad, please contact the undersigned or other members of our Employment team.