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    Asiakasnäkymä
    Kunnat
    Updated 24.06.2025

    Pay subsidies (for private clients)

    Pay subsidy is a subsidy intended to promote the employment of unemployed jobseekers that can be granted to employers for salary costs. Pay-subsidised work improves the chances for unemployed jobseekers to find employment in the open labour market.
    Service implementation:
    Financial support
    Life situation and service category:
    Aiming for the open labour market,
    Prolonged unemployment,
    Challenges with work and functional capacity,
    Direct to work,
    Financial support promoting employment,
    Support for return to work
    Service language:
    Finnish
    ,
    English
    Charges:
    The service is free of charge

    Who is the service for?

    Pay subsidy is a discretionary subsidy intended to promote the employment of unemployed jobseekers. The employment authority can grant the subsidy to employers for salary costs within the limits of the budget.

    Granting a pay subsidy

    The purpose of pay-subsidised work is to promote the employment of unemployed jobseekers in the open labour market by improving their professional skills. Pay subsidy may be granted for improving professional competence if the unemployed jobseeker hired for the job: 

    1. is 15–24 years old
    2. is aged 50 or older
    3. has not completed the matriculation examination, a qualification as defined in the Act on Vocational Education and Training, or a comparable foreign upper secondary qualification
    4. is an immigrant for whom an integration plan or multi-sectoral integration plan has been or can be drawn up as defined in the Act on the Promotion of Immigrant Integration
    5. has not been gainfully employed in the previous six months.

    Pay subsidy may also be granted:

    • for hiring a person with reduced work ability
    • for hiring a long-term unemployed person aged 60 or older
    • for an apprenticeship for the entire duration of the training.

    New pay subsidies are not currently granted in Vantaa.

    Participant’s municipality of residence:
    Municipality of residence does not matter
    Age:
    All people of working age

    How can I participate in the service?

    Pay-subsidised work is a normal employment relationship. 

    Conditions for participating in the service:

    The person belongs to one of the five target groups related to improving professional skills. Pay-subsidised work also promotes the chances of finding employment and entering the workforce for those with reduced work ability and the long-term unemployed aged 60 or older. 

    Pay subsidy requirements related to the employer 

    Pay subsidy may be granted to wellbeing services counties, joint municipal authorities for wellbeing, the City of Helsinki for its differentiated social and healthcare activities and rescue services activities, as well as other corporations and employers, but not central government agencies or institutions. Municipalities and joint municipal authorities may only be granted a pay subsidy for hiring a person with reduced work ability or a long-term unemployed person aged 60 or older, with the exception of the City of Helsinki with regard to its differentiated social and healthcare activities and rescue services activities. No pay subsidy is granted to the City of Kerava or the municipality of Sipoo. Pay subsidy may be granted to natural persons only for the purpose of economic activity. The employer must have a business ID. 

    Pay subsidy is not granted if: 

    1. the employer has discharged employees for production-related or economic reasons during the 12 months preceding the employer’s application for pay subsidy and, since then, the employer has not hired employees to the degree that the number of employees employed by the employer at the time of pay subsidy being granted is at least as high as the number of employees employed by the employer at the time of discharge
    2. the employer has materially neglected its obligation to pay wages, salaries, taxes or statutory fees, unless employment services consider granting pay subsidy to be appropriate for specific reasons related to the person being hired with the pay subsidy
    3. the employer has previously been granted pay subsidy or employment subsidy for people aged 55 and above to cover the salary costs arising from employing the same person and it has been less than three years since the discontinuation of the subsidy. 

    Pay subsidy requirements related to the employment relationship 

    Pay-subsidised work is a normal employment relationship. The employment relationship may not start until the decision on pay subsidy is made. 

    The employment relationship may be full-time or part-time, open-ended or fixed-term. The salary or wages must be in accordance with the applicable collective agreement or normal and reasonable if no such collective agreement exists. The salary or wages of the person being hired with pay subsidy must not be determined solely based on work performance.

    Decisions on the continuation of pay subsidy and the cooling-off rule It is possible to grant pay subsidy again for promoting the employment of the same person without following the three-year cooling-off period if the person is being hired for a new job and the requirements for granting the subsidy are met. However, pay subsidy cannot be granted again to the same employer who was previously granted pay subsidy for the salary costs of the same person until three years have passed since the end of the previous pay subsidy period. This restriction does not apply to the hiring of a person with reduced work ability.

     

    Benefits of participating in the service:

    Pay-subsidised work promotes the employment of unemployed jobseekers in the open labour market by improving their professional skills. Pay-subsidised work also promotes the chances of finding employment and entering the workforce for those with reduced work ability and the long-term unemployed aged 60 or older. 

    How is the service organised?

    Implementation

    Amount and duration of the pay subsidy

    Improvement of professional skills. The pay subsidy amount is 50% of salary costs. Pay subsidy is paid for up to five months from the start of the employment contract if the person was unemployed for less than a year. Pay subsidy is paid for up to 10 months if the person being hired was unemployed for at least 12 months during the 14 months preceding the granting of the pay subsidy. However, pay subsidy may be granted for no longer than the duration of the employment relationship.

    Person with reduced work ability. The pay subsidy amount is 70% of salary costs and the subsidy is paid for up to 10 months. The pay subsidy period may be extended by up to 24 months at a time. Continuing the payment of pay subsidy beyond 10 months requires the disability or illness to be deemed to reduce work productivity materially or permanently. Other requirements for the continuation of pay subsidy include a medical certificate drawn up during the pay subsidy period being delivered to the employment authority (unless this is obviously unnecessary), the employer implementing the adjustments recommended by occupational health services, and the application to continue the pay subsidy being submitted to the employment authority before the end of the pay subsidy period. 

    Pay subsidy for a long-term unemployed person aged 60 or above. The pay subsidy amount is 50% of salary costs. Pay subsidy may be granted for up to 24 months from the start of the employment contract but for no longer than the duration of the employment relationship. Pay subsidy may be granted if the person was unemployed for at least 12 months during the 14 months preceding the granting of the pay subsidy. Pay subsidy may be continued if the requirements applicable to the employment relationship and the employer are met and the application to continue the pay subsidy is submitted to the employment authority before the end of the previous pay subsidy period so that the pay-subsidised work may continue without interruption.  

    Pay subsidy for an apprenticeship. When intended for improving professional skills, the pay subsidy amount is 50%, and the pay subsidy is granted for the entire duration of the training. This pay subsidy period may be extended if the duration of the apprenticeship changes during the training on account of reasons attributable to the educational institution and the application to continue the pay subsidy is submitted to the employment authority before the end of the granted pay subsidy period. 

    100% pay subsidy. 100% pay subsidy may be granted to associations, foundations or registered religious communities for purposes other than economic activity. The pay subsidy amount is 100% of the hired person’s salary costs if the person hired with the pay subsidy was unemployed for at least 24 months during the 28 months immediately preceding the granting of the pay subsidy. The salary costs cover salary costs that are equivalent to no more than 65% of the regular maximum working hours for the industry in question. Pay subsidy may be granted for up to 10 months from the start of the employment contract but for no longer than the duration of the employment relationship.