Grief at work in Finland: occupational health support

When an employee's spouse, parent or child dies, occupational health care supports their work ability: a professional assesses work ability, gives advice, refers the employee to treatment or rehabilitation when needed and helps to plan the return to work. Grief is not an illness, and occupational health care does not handle the practical matters after a death, such as the funeral or the estate inventory. Solace Care, which has started a partnership with StartHealth, helps with those.

This guide is for a founder or team lead in a company of 5–25 people with no HR department. Leave and pay depend on the law, the collective agreement and the workplace's own policy: see bereavement leave in Finland. If the person who died was your own employee, read death of an employee in Finland.

What does occupational health care do when an employee loses a loved one?

Under section 12 of the Occupational Health Care Act (1383/2001), the occupational health care (työterveyshuolto) that an employer must arrange includes:

• Assessment of work ability: investigating, assessing and monitoring the employee's health, work ability and functional capacity.
• Advice and guidance: information, advice and guidance on matters concerning the employee's health.
• Referral to treatment or rehabilitation: advice on rehabilitation and referral to treatment or rehabilitation.
• Support for the return to work: proposals for adapting the work to the employee's capacities, and measures that maintain work ability.

Medical care is a separate matter. Under section 14 of the Act an employer may arrange medical care in addition to the statutory services, and Kela states that this is voluntary for employers. Whether an employee can book a doctor's appointment for an illness through occupational health care therefore depends on the contract.

StartHealth's Minimum package is preventive occupational health care without medical care. Basic adds remote medical care, with a doctor by video, chat or phone, and remote psychologist appointments on a doctor's assessment. Support adds in-person appointments on the basis of a remote assessment, and the limits are confirmed in the offer. The packages are on the services page.

Can you get sick leave for grief in Finland?

Grief is not an illness. Under chapter 2, section 11 of the Employment Contracts Act, sick pay belongs to an employee who is prevented from working by an illness or accident. Kela states that you can get sickness allowance if you cannot do your usual work due to illness.

If a grieving employee is unable to do their job, work ability is assessed by a doctor, not by the manager. Pay during an absence is covered in the guide to sick leave in Finland.

What does occupational health care not do, and who helps with what?

Occupational health care does not handle the practical matters after a death: funeral arrangements, the estate inventory, notifications to authorities and banks, or closing accounts and contracts. For those, Solace Care's guide explains what to do when someone dies.

In an emergency call 112; the MIELI Crisis Helpline gives support in Finnish and Swedish every day around the clock on 09 2525 0111.

What does the law require from the employer when an employee is grieving?

• Act when you learn of harmful strain. Section 25 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (738/2002) says that if an employee is found to be strained at work in a way that endangers their health, the employer must, once informed, use the means available to it to identify the strain factors and to avoid or reduce the risk. The section concerns strain at work, not grief itself.
• Notify occupational health care of a long sickness absence. Under section 10 a of the Occupational Health Care Act, the employer must notify occupational health care of a sickness absence at the latest when the absence has lasted a month.
• Know Kela's checkpoints. Kela's reviews include the 30-, 60- and 90-day marks of the sickness allowance period. Occupational health care must send Kela a statement on the possibilities to continue at work at the latest when sickness allowance has been paid for 90 working days.

The provisions we checked do not say how grief should be raised or for how long work should be lightened. Those are the workplace's own choices, and an early support model is a good basis for them.

How is work adjusted when a grieving employee returns?

Kela states that the workplace can agree on modifying the tasks for as long as needed, for example lighter work, remote work or substitute work. A shorter working day can be agreed too. Write down what changes, for how long and how pay is determined.

If a doctor has found the employee unfit for work and a return to full-time work is not yet possible, part-time work with partial sickness allowance (osasairauspäiväraha) is an option. According to Kela, the arrangement is voluntary and needs the agreement of the employee and the employer as well as a doctor's evaluation. Working hours are reduced to 40–60 per cent of full-time hours for at least 12 working days, and the allowance can be paid for a maximum of 150 working days.

When occupational health care is involved, the return is agreed in a work ability meeting.

Manager's checklist: a grieving employee

The list is a recommendation, not a legal requirement, unless a section of an Act is named.

1. The first day. Offer your condolences briefly. Ask what the team is told and how you stay in touch with the employee. Agree on the absence and move urgent tasks to others.
2. The first week. Explain how to book an appointment with occupational health care and where to get help with the practical matters. Do not ask for decisions on work matters during the absence. Solace Care's guide on how to handle grief at work is a useful support.
3. The return to work. Before the return, have a short conversation about tasks, working hours and remote work. Offer a lighter workload and set a date for looking at the arrangements again.
4. The following months. Ask regularly how work is going. If the work strains the employee in a way that endangers health, act (Occupational Safety and Health Act, section 25). If a sickness absence lasts a month, notify occupational health care (Occupational Health Care Act, section 10 a).

What does the employer learn, and what is the team told?

According to the Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman, occupational health care may not disclose an employee's health data, such as a diagnosis, to the employer without the employee's consent. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the same applies in a work ability meeting: without the employee's consent, occupational health care can only describe at a general level how the illness affects work ability.

Telling colleagues about the loss is the employee's own decision: ask what they want to be told and who tells it, and say only that.

StartHealth and Solace Care: support for practical matters

StartHealth and Solace Care, a Nordic service for support after a loss, have started a partnership, announced on 26 October 2026. According to the press release, employees of client companies that use StartHealth's Support package get support from Solace Care when they lose a loved one: a clear task list for the practical matters after a death and help with handling them. The offer confirms what is included for each company.

The division of work is this: occupational health care supports work ability and coping, and Solace Care helps with the practical matters. Solace Care's Loss Support service has a personal task list for the next steps, instructions and tools for closing accounts and contracts, AI-assisted support for tasks and decisions, a shared task list so that relatives can divide the work, and secure sign-in. Solace Care also publishes guides for managers, such as its guide to AI-supported grief care as an employee benefit.

The goal of the partnership is that the employee spends less time on paperwork in the middle of grief and recovers and returns to work faster, and that the manager gets support for handling the situation. This is a goal, not a measured result. Solace Care is not health care and does not replace occupational health care, therapy or crisis help.

The employer's view is on the page Solace Care for employers. If you would like to learn more about support for your team after a loss, ask for more help at support@solace.care.

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