In Finnish law workaway is a grey area
Usually workaway is a win-win situation: the business gets affordable workforce that’s easy to get rid of if needed, and the traveller has a chance to get to know the destination a bit better.
From the point of view of the law, however, the situation is complicated.
The negotiating official for the Ministry of Employment and the Economy, Jani Hjelt, points out that voluntary work could be seen as formal employment – but not necessarily.
“Each case needs to be evaluated individually,” he says.
The Employment Contracts Act is applied to work done in Finland despite the employee’s nationality and whether or not the parties have agreed on a wage. According to Hjelt, the law must be applied if the work is not by its nature meant to be done without compensation.
“The premise is that you cannot have a volunteer doing jobs that are usually done as paid work. When the contract is inspected in hindsight, it might be deemed an employment relationship even if this wasn’t intended,” Hjelt specifies.
Hjelt points out that contracts on volunteer work are possible, but they are best suited for non-profit activities.
Olli Sorainen, a ministerial adviser at the Ministry of Employment and the Economy, says that in Finland voluntary work in a for-profit enterprise is equated with normal paid employment. It is possible to work for less than a month in an expert level position with just a visa, and for longer employment periods a residence permit is needed.
In other cases, a worker’s residence permit is required. This includes a needs assessment, also known as an evaluation on whether or not there is an existing need or demand for the type of work the residence permit is applied for.
According to Sorainen, unpaid work is not enough to grant a residence permit to work in Finland.
“In the Finnish Aliens Act there are provisions regarding student exchanges and internships. These might be relevant in some cases.”