If you employ people in Finland, the annual leave rules will look a little different from the rest of the EU. Finland counts leave in weekdays rather than working days, accrual is monthly rather than calculated as a single annual entitlement, and there is a near-universal holiday bonus (lomaraha) that most foreign employers underestimate or forget altogether.

This guide explains what the Vuosilomalaki — Finland’s Annual Holidays Act, 162/2005 — actually requires in 2026: how the 25- and 30-day entitlements are earned, who qualifies, employer pay obligations, the rules that protect summer leave, and the pitfalls that catch international employers most often. Every fact below comes from the Vuosilomalaki itself or guidance published by the Finnish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.

Key Takeaways

Statutory annual leave in Finland is 30 weekdays per holiday year for employees with at least one year of continuous service, equivalent to roughly five weeks.
Employees with less than one year of service earn 25 weekdays in the same period.
Leave accrues monthly: 2.5 weekdays per qualifying month for staff with one full year of service, and 2 weekdays per month before that anniversary is reached.
Most employees also receive a holiday bonus (lomaraha or lomaltapaluuraha), typically 50% of holiday pay, set by collective agreement.
Employees have a statutory right to take a portion of leave during the summer holiday season (May to September).
Untaken leave must be paid out as compensation when employment ends.

The Statutory Entitlement Under the Vuosilomalaki

The Vuosilomalaki (Annual Holidays Act, 162/2005) is the single source of truth for Finnish annual leave. It is built around a holiday year that runs from 1 April to 31 March rather than the calendar year — a distinction that trips up payroll teams used to a January-to-December accrual model.

Within that holiday year, the law sets two clear floors based on how long the employee has been in continuous service with the same employer:

At least one year of service by 31 March: 30 weekdays of paid annual leave.
Less than one year of service by 31 March: 25 weekdays of paid annual leave.

A “weekday” (arkipäivä) under the Act is Monday to Saturday, so 30 weekdays equals five calendar weeks of leave and 25 weekdays equals just over four. Sundays and public holidays sitting inside a leave period do not count against the entitlement.

How Accrual Actually Works

Annual leave is earned month by month, not granted as a single block on day one. Two accrual rates apply:

2.5 weekdays per qualifying month once the employee has at least one year of service with the employer.
2 weekdays per qualifying month during the first year of service.

A “qualifying month” is one in which the employee worked enough hours or days to count under the Act — most full-time employees clear this threshold in any month they are on the payroll. Part-time and irregular-hours employees may instead accrue under the Act’s hours-based rules, which typically deliver an equivalent outcome.

Worked Example: New Joiner

Aino joins a Helsinki team on 1 August 2025 as her first job in Finland. The relevant holiday year ends on 31 March 2026.

August 2025 to March 2026 is eight qualifying months.
Because she has less than one year of service by 31 March, she accrues at 2 weekdays per month.
Total entitlement for the 2025–2026 holiday year: 8 × 2 = 16 weekdays.

From 1 April 2026 her next holiday year begins. By the following 31 March she will have crossed the one-year threshold, so the 2.5 weekdays per month rate applies, building toward the 30-weekday ceiling.

Eligibility: Who Is Covered

The Vuosilomalaki applies to all employees working under a contract of employment in Finland — full-time, part-time, fixed-term, and indefinite — with very few exceptions. There is no minimum-hours threshold for coverage; what changes for shorter-hours employees is the accrual rule used, not the right to leave itself.

Genuine self-employed contractors and certain agency relationships fall outside the Act, but misclassification risk is real. If a worker meets the statutory test for an employee, they accrue annual leave regardless of how the contract is labelled.

For comparison with neighbouring jurisdictions where qualifying periods or hour thresholds bite harder, see our guides to annual leave entitlement in the Netherlands and annual leave entitlement in Germany.

Employer Obligations Under the Vuosilomalaki

Finnish leave law places a tight set of duties on the employer. Treat the following as a non-negotiable checklist.

1. Grant the Statutory Entitlement

You must grant 30 weekdays of paid annual leave per holiday year to employees who have completed at least a year of service, and 25 weekdays to those who have not. Contractual provisions that try to fall below these floors are unenforceable to the extent of the shortfall.

2. Pay Holiday Pay at Normal Remuneration

Employees on annual leave must be paid their normal remuneration for the leave period. For salaried staff on a stable wage, this generally means continuing the regular monthly salary across the leave. For hourly and variable-pay employees, the Act prescribes calculation methods that average earnings over a defined reference period so the employee is not financially worse off for taking their leave.

3. Pay the Holiday Bonus (Lomaraha)

This is the obligation foreign employers most often miss. Under almost every Finnish collective agreement (työehtosopimus), the employer must pay an additional holiday bonus — known as lomaraha or lomaltapaluuraha — on top of holiday pay. The standard rate is 50% of the holiday pay for the leave being taken.

The lomaraha is not strictly required by the Vuosilomalaki itself, but the relevant collective agreement typically makes it a contractual minimum across the sector. In practice, if you employ in Finland under any of the major collective agreements, the 50% bonus is mandatory and should be priced into your total cost of employment from day one.

4. Allow Leave During the Summer Holiday Season

The Vuosilomalaki gives employees a statutory right to take a substantial portion of their leave during the summer holiday season, defined as 2 May to 30 September. The summer period must be at least 24 weekdays (roughly four weeks) where the entitlement allows; the balance can be taken during the winter season (1 October to 30 April).

You can negotiate the precise timing with the employee, and operational needs can shape scheduling, but you cannot deny the right to take a meaningful summer block.

5. Pay Out Untaken Leave on Termination

When employment ends, any accrued but untaken leave must be paid out as holiday compensation (lomakorvaus). This is a statutory right and cannot be waived in the employment contract.

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Carry-Over and Postponement

Finnish law treats annual leave as something to be taken in the holiday year it covers, not banked indefinitely. Two practical mechanisms relax this default:

Up to five days can be carried forward without agreement in many circumstances, particularly where business reasons made it impossible to take the leave in time.
Further carry-forward is permitted by agreement between employer and employee, allowing larger blocks of unused leave to be deferred where both sides consent.

Carry-over policy is one of the areas where Finnish collective agreements often add detail beyond the Act, so check the applicable agreement before designing internal rules.

How the Holiday Bonus (Lomaraha) Works in Practice

Because the lomaraha typically lands as a 50% top-up on the holiday pay for each leave block, it is paid in line with when the leave is taken — most commonly just before or just after the summer holiday. For a salaried employee taking four weeks of summer leave, the lomaraha alone can equal two extra weeks of pay in a single month.

Two practical tips for international employers:

Budget for it from day one. A Finnish hire’s effective annual cost is roughly the gross salary plus the proportion of the lomaraha tied to their leave usage.
Pay it when the leave is taken. Splitting lomaraha across the year is common in payroll systems but can confuse employees if the link to specific leave blocks is lost. Itemising it on the payslip removes the ambiguity.

Common Pitfalls for International Employers

If you have only employed in the UK, US, or Australia before, the Finnish framework will surprise you in predictable ways. Watch for these.

Pitfall 1: Forgetting the Holiday Bonus

The lomaraha is not a discretionary perk. Under the prevailing collective agreement it is a contractual right — usually 50% on top of holiday pay — and skipping it is a clear breach. Build it into the cost model before you make a Finnish offer.

Pitfall 2: Treating the Holiday Year as the Calendar Year

Finland’s holiday year runs 1 April to 31 March. A January-to-December accrual schedule will misstate balances, mistime carry-over decisions, and create reconciliation headaches with payslips that quote the statutory year correctly.

Pitfall 3: Counting Leave in Working Days Instead of Weekdays

The Act counts in weekdays (Monday to Saturday). Treating leave as a five-day-week count without converting will under-credit time off relative to the legal definition, especially when leave spans a Saturday.

Pitfall 4: Denying Summer Leave for Operational Reasons

Operational needs can shape the timing of summer leave but cannot extinguish it. Refusing a meaningful summer block — particularly the 24-weekday minimum during 2 May to 30 September — is one of the most common employee complaints and the most easily challenged.

Pitfall 5: Forgetting Holiday Compensation on Termination

Untaken leave at the end of employment converts into a mandatory cash payment. Severance models that overlook this leave the employer exposed in any post-termination dispute.

For a side-by-side picture across the wider region, see the employer’s guide to annual leave entitlement in the UK and our annual leave entitlements in Australia explainer.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many days of annual leave am I entitled to in Finland?

Finland’s Vuosilomalaki provides 30 weekdays of paid annual leave per holiday year for employees with at least one year of continuous service, and 25 weekdays for employees with less than one year of service. A weekday is Monday to Saturday, so 30 weekdays equals five weeks.

How does annual leave accrue in Finland?

Leave accrues monthly under the Vuosilomalaki: 2.5 weekdays per qualifying month once an employee has at least one year of service, and 2 weekdays per qualifying month during the first year. The holiday year runs 1 April to 31 March.

What is the holiday bonus (lomaraha) in Finland?

The lomaraha, sometimes called lomaltapaluuraha, is an additional payment of approximately 50% of holiday pay, set by collective agreement and paid to employees in connection with their annual leave. It is on top of normal holiday pay and is effectively mandatory for employers covered by a collective agreement.

Can my employer refuse to give me summer leave?

No. Employees have a statutory right under the Vuosilomalaki to take a substantial portion of their leave during the summer holiday season (2 May to 30 September). The employer can negotiate the exact dates within that window but cannot deny the right to a meaningful summer block.

What happens to unused annual leave when I leave my job in Finland?

Untaken accrued leave must be paid out as holiday compensation (lomakorvaus) when employment ends. This is a statutory right under the Vuosilomalaki and cannot be contracted away.

Can annual leave be carried over to the next year?

Up to about five days can be carried forward without agreement where the leave could not reasonably be taken in time. Larger amounts can be carried over by agreement between the employer and the employee, often subject to the relevant collective agreement.

Practical Compliance Checklist

If you operate in Finland, your leave management system should handle the following at minimum:

Run accrual on the April-to-March holiday year, not the calendar year.
Apply 2 weekdays per month in the first year of service and 2.5 weekdays per month thereafter.
Count entitlements in weekdays (Monday to Saturday), not working days.
Pay lomaraha in line with the applicable collective agreement (typically 50% of holiday pay).
Schedule a 24-weekday summer block for each eligible employee between 2 May and 30 September.
Track carry-over balances and document agreements where larger blocks are deferred.
Calculate and pay lomakorvaus automatically on termination.

How Leave Balance Helps Finnish Employers Stay Compliant

Managing the Vuosilomalaki correctly across a Finnish workforce — alongside UK, EU, or APAC teams — is the kind of compliance work that breaks generic spreadsheets. Leave Balance is built to handle it.

Country-specific entitlement rules for Finland, including the 25/30-weekday split and monthly accrual.
Holiday-year support so balances follow 1 April to 31 March rather than the calendar year.
Lomaraha tracking that links the bonus payment to the specific leave block taken.
Summer-season scheduling that surfaces who has yet to plan their statutory summer leave.
Multi-country support with separate policies per entity, all on a single dashboard.

At $10 per month for unlimited employees and unlimited policies, Leave Balance gives you the country-specific rule engine you need without the cost of an enterprise HRIS. Start your 14-day free trial — no credit card required.