Below are listed our average handling times for issues that have become pending on the initiative of the employee, the employer or the self-employed person.

The handling time is the time from the moment the application has become pending until a decision is issued.

The handling times listed here are average handling times, which means that the actual handling time is shorter in some cases and longer in others. The handling time is longer in cases where additional clarification is required before the decision can be issued.

• Decision on whether an employee or a self-employed person falls subject to Finnish social security legislation while working abroad, providing a foreign authority does not need to be contacted: 3 weeks.
  This type of decision is issued for, among others, the majority of posted employees and self-employed persons (when working abroad for less than two years) and for those employed in two or more EU/EEA countries, when the person resides in Finland.
• Decision on whether an employee or a self-employed person will fall subject to Finnish social security legislation while working abroad, if a foreign authority has to be contacted before the decision can be issued: 4 months.
  The handling times vary per country. The handling times may be considerably longer than average for applications which concern employment in, among other countries, Norway, Romania, Denmark or Hungary. For example, in cases where an employee goes to Norway to work for more than two years (and has submitted a so-called application for exemption), the handling process may be up to one year.
• Decision on exemption from the obligation to arrange pension insurance under the Employees Pensions Act (TyEL) for a foreign employer: 1 month.
• Decision on whether the work falls subject to the Employees Pensions Act, the Self-employed Persons’ Pensions Act or the Farmers’ Pensions Act: 4 months.
• Pension decision for a person whose employment does not fall under the earnings-related pension acts: 2 months.
• Decision on transferring the self-employed person, upon his or her own application, under the obligation to take out pension insurance under the Self-employed Persons’ Pensions Act: 1 week.