State Civil servants are governed by the Civil Servants’ Act and public employees by the Employment

Contracts Act. In addition, there are Collective Agreements, one for statutory workers and another for
contractual staff corresponding to the two existing categories: civil servants (83%) and public employees
(17 %).

Public employees must act in defence of neutrality, sovereignty and impartiality in their work. In 2001, a
set of common values (with highly ethical contents) were defined for the state, including, among other
things, that activities are result-oriented and open, characterised by quality, strong expertise and trust
and are neutral, sovereign, equal and responsible. The “Values in the Daily Job” Handbook (civil
servants’ ethics) was published in 2005. The Office for the Government as Employer is responsible for
developing conflict of interest tools and participating in international initiatives in this field, particularly
in the OECD. It is worth mentioning that Finland is one of the least corrupt countries in the world.

Recruitment Selection

Finland has no career system except for the military and the foreign service.

Finland does not belong to those countries that have built their civil service system on the so-called
career system. There is no official system of political appointment of civil servants, but there exist
“hidden political appointments”, especially at the highest level of the state central administration and at
the municipal administration. Regardless of the political background of appointment, the position of
these civil servants is the same as other civil servants.

The recruitment system used in the Finnish civil service is substantially more position based than career
based. Entry into the civil service is gained Number of regular working through direct application and
interview for a specific post, with all posts being published and open to internal and external
recruitment. Measures have been taken to increase the use of external recruitment for management,
but decrease it for secretarial positions and technical support. There are general targets to encourage
women to apply for management positions.

Employers are prohibited from discriminating in recruitment and selection on various grounds.

People who are not citizens of the other EU member states, other EEA countries or Switzerland
require a residence permit in order to work in Finland

If a vacancy arises, employers are, in certain circumstances, obliged to offer the work to current or
former employees before recruiting a new employee

Training and Development

Finland does not have any elite educational establishment for the production of future high ranking civil
servants.
Some agencies provide in-house training for almost all of their staff upon entry. Public employees
receive an average of 3-5 days of training per year.

Workplace training is mostly voluntary, with no general statutory obligation on employers to provide
or finance training for their employees, however, there are some exceptions

Apprenticeships are regulated by statute, and are open to people aged at least 15, with no upper
age limit.

Rewards and Benefits

Monthly salaries are calculated mainly around job evaluation systems, measuring the complexity of the
tasks assigned, and individual performance appraisal. Pay systems are specific to each state agency,
although there are some common principles: each pay system is based on individual performance and
competence.

Individual performance component may not exceed 50% of the pay assigned to each post. Agencies also
determine their own performance appraisal methods. In addition, there are annual result-related
bonuses in around 25 State Agencies, which is being extended to other agencies.

Some agencies have other features, such as individualized pay, separate calculations for the
emoluments of senior positions and Ministers, etc. The Office for the Government as Employer does not
publish collective salary scales.

Performance appraisals and qualifications are the key determinants of promotion decisions for all
grades. All openings are published on a transparent listing accessible government wide, and there is
some use of assessment centres to facilitate merit-based selection. Specially directed information
sessions and coaching are available for women, with promotion targets also applying.

Weekly working hours are 36 hours and 15 minutes at office work. Maternity leave is 105 days, which
begins 30-50 days prior to the birth of the child. In addition, there is parental leave of 158 days after the
maternity leave.

Conscripts allowance is paid to those in military service or civil alternative service. The aim is to
compensate for loss of earnings incurred by the period of service. It can take the form of housing
allowance, the payment of interest on student loans, a basic allowance for dependents, housing
allowance and special allowance for dependents, maintenance for the beneficiaries' children.

Households on small incomes can receive housing allowance or housing allowance for pension
recipients for rented, right of occupancy or owner occupancy accommodation. Housing allowance is also
available as a supplement to financial aid to students or the conscripts' allowance.

health insurance. This is paid as sickness benefit, reimbursements for medicines, travel expenses when
receiving treatment, private health care costs, private dental care costs, reimbursements for
examinations and treatment prescribed by physicians.
Disability allowance is paid to people with long-term illnesses or disability to enable them to manage
with day-to-day living, take part in employment or to study.
People undergoing rehabilitation can receive rehabilitation allowance either from a pension insurance
institution or the Social Insurance Institution.
Treatment costs and loss of earnings due to accidents at work or occupational diseases are paid to
employees and farmers in the form of a daily allowance, disability pension, handicap benefit, funeral
grant and survivors' pension.

People in Finland are guaranteed the statutory occupational earnings-related pension, or the national
pension, in the absence of an occupational pension or if it is minimal. The old age pension is an
occupational pension and national pension benefit. The disability pension compensates loss of earnings
due to long-term work incapacity. The unemployment pension enables older long-term unemployed
people to retire.

Social assistance is a last resort form of income security. Municipalities´ welfare office pay means-tested
social assistance when the income and resources of an individual or family are insufficient to cover
necessary daily expenses.
There are three forms of social assistance:

 basic social assistance to cover general expenses,

 supplementary social assistance, to cover extra expenses, such as day care costs and preventive
social assistance
 preventive social assistance

Performance Management

Finland makes substantially less use of performance assessment in HR decisions compared to the
average OECD country, and lies in the lower region of the range. Assessment is mandatory for almost all
employees and takes the form of an annual meeting with the immediate superior, with some
organisations also using 360° feedback. A narrow range of criteria is used, focusing on outputs,
improvement of competencies and interpersonal skills. Assessment is of high importance to
remuneration, and lesser importance to career advancement and contract renewal. Finland uses much
more performance-related pay (PRP) than the average OECD country, and lies in the upper region of the
range. RP is used for most employees in the form of permanent pay increments ranging between 1%
and 50%.