Insights | April 28, 2023

Short business trips – Clarifications to instructions by the Finnish Centre for Pensions regarding A1 certificates

The Finnish Centre for Pensions has clarified its instructions. In a nutshell, the A1 certificate is not required for short business trips abroad, unless it is known that the country where the work is carried out requires it.

The purpose of the A1 certificate is to show which country’s social security laws apply and to which country the employer/employee should pay social insurance contributions. The EU Regulation on the coordination of social security systems does not stipulate any minimum period of work abroad for the A1 certificate to be required.

At the end of 2022, the Finnish Centre for Pensions (in Finnish: Eläketurvakeskus) issued instructions according to which the A1 certificate must be obtained from day one when working abroad, regardless of the duration and nature of the business trip.

The Finnish Centre for Pensions has now clarified its instructions for short business trips. According to the new instructions, the A1 certificate is not required for short business trips abroad, unless it is known that the country where the work is carried out requires it. If it subsequently turns out that a country requires the A1 certificate for short business trips as well, the A1 certificate can be obtained afterwards.

The instructions do not specify how a “short business trip” is defined (i.e., the maximum number of days a trip could comprise). If an employer is unsure about whether an A1 certificate is needed for an employee, it can always be applied for, regardless of the length of the period of work abroad.

If remote work abroad becomes relevant at your organization, please also see our previous article on general matters to consider when working abroad.