Pay subsidies are available for:
- companies
- other organisations, such as associations, foundations, registered religious organisations and parishes
- municipalities and joint municipal authorities.
If you would like to recruit a person eligible for a pay subsidy, you can open up a work position supported by a pay subsidy. Contact the business services of the TE Office of Uusimaa at +358 (0)2 95 040 002(Link starts a phone call). You can also announce the vacancy through the E-services of TE Services(Link leads to external service) (in Finnish or Swedish).
Amount and duration
The pay subsidy’s amount and duration are based on the recruit’s background.
The pay subsidy is paid to the employer. The amount of the subsidy is based on the background of the hired person. The subsidy level is determined as a percentage (50%/70%) of the gross salary. The maximum amount of subsidy paid to companies is €1,260/month / €1,770/month.
When a non-profit association or fund hires someone who has been unemployed for more than two years, the subsidy can cover all salary costs if the person’s working hours do not exceed 65% of the industry’s maximum working hours. The duties of the person to be hired may not be in operations classified as business operations. The maximum amount of the pay subsidy is €2,020/month and the Helsinki benefit of €800/month that must be applied for separately.
The pay subsidy’s duration is based on the recruit’s background. In general, the maximum duration is 5 or 10 months, but, for example, the subsidy for hiring a person with partial work ability can be paid for 24 months at a time.. If the person in question will never regain full work ability, the pay subsidy may also be paid on a permanent basis.
A subsidy received on the basis of apprenticeship can last for the entire training period. The pay subsidy for persons over 60 years of age may also have a longer duration.
Conditions
You can receive a pay subsidy if you hire an unemployed jobseeker living in Helsinki. In order to be eligible, however, the other conditions pertaining to the employer, recruit and employment relationship must also be met.
If employment relationships have been terminated for financial and production-related reasons over the previous 12 months, the subsidy can be granted only if the number of employees in the enterprise has not decreased compared to the moment of redundancy. Possible temporary layoffs are not a barrier to receiving a pay subsidy.
The employer cannot receive a pay subsidy if it has materially neglected its obligation to pay wages, salaries, taxes or statutory fees.
The recruit must be an unemployed jobseeker living in Helsinki. For example, entrepreneurs, students or persons moving from job to job are usually not considered to be unemployed jobseekers. The job offered must also boost the recruit’s position on the job market once the pay subsidy period has ended. The City of Helsinki Employment Services assess the appropriateness of a pay subsidy in each case.
You can receive a pay subsidy when you hire an unemployed person living in Helsinki for either a permanent or fixed-term, full-time or part-time employment relationship. You can also receive a pay subsidy for apprenticeship training. The pay subsidy is not suitable for employment relationships in which the employee is paid commissions or is employed under a zero-hour contract. The latter means that the employer is not obliged to provide any minimum number of working hours to the employee.
Pay-subsidised work is a normal employment relationship for the employer and does not give the employer any special rights or impose any special obligations on it.
The employer cannot receive a pay subsidy if the employment starts before a decision can be made on the pay subsidy.
The subsidy is intended for hiring a person over 55 years of age if they have been unemployed for two years. The amount of the subsidy is 70% of the salary, up to a maximum of €1,770 per month, and the maximum duration is 10 months. The subsidy is granted if the statutory conditions concerning the employer, the employment relationship and the person to be hired are met.