Occupational health during leave and layoff in Finland

Editorial update 26.10.2026

Employment continues during parental leave, study leave and temporary layoff in Finland, but optional medical care does not automatically continue unchanged. Check the occupational health agreement and the employer’s consistent HR policy. A statutory duty to continue occupational health after dismissal applies only under specific conditions.

Separate prevention from the medical-care benefit

Finnish työterveyshuolto, occupational health care, includes preventive services that employers must arrange for employees. The arrangement is based on work-related risks, a workplace assessment and an action plan. General medical care is an optional addition purchased by the employer. Do not combine these into an unrestricted promise that every service always continues until employment ends.

During absences, the preventive obligation concerns employees who are working. Any work performed by an otherwise absent employee, changes in duties and return-to-work needs should still be handled appropriately with occupational health. One employee’s absence is not a reason to cancel the company’s preventive arrangement while others continue working. Check the applicable collective agreement, contracts and employment terms before changing benefits.

Parental leave and the older term äitiysloma

Access to optional medical care during parental leave depends on the agreed services and the employer’s consistent policy. An employment relationship remaining in force does not by itself establish whether a remote doctor appointment or an agreed physical visit is covered during leave.

Vanhempainvapaa means parental leave. The older expression äitiysloma, often translated as maternity leave, remains in everyday use. Current family-leave terminology distinguishes, among other things, pregnancy leave and parental leave. When an employee asks about “maternity leave”, clarify the type of leave and the service they mean before applying the written policy.

Explain access, restrictions and where to find instructions before leave starts. Do not present occupational health as a replacement for every other health service. When planning a return, consider work arrangements and work-ability support without putting diagnoses in shared team channels.

Study leave: check access separately

During opintovapaa, study leave, employment continues, but access to the optional medical-care benefit must be checked separately. Cover both full absence and situations in which the employee also performs agreed work. A booking system still accepting appointments is not evidence of entitlement.

If studies change working hours or duties, agree with occupational health how preventive activities for the work will be handled. Apply the same principles to comparable situations rather than making individual exceptions based on preference. Seek appropriate advice if the collective agreement or existing employment terms leave the position unclear.

Temporary layoff is not dismissal

Lomautus means temporary layoff, not termination of employment. Continued medical-care access depends on the occupational health agreement, applicable terms and employer policy. A complete interruption of work and a reduced working week are different situations: preventive services must still be arranged for employees who are working.

Tell the provider about an agreed change and its timing. Confirm access permissions, employee instructions and billing separately. A changed invoice or employee list does not by itself decide employment rights. For repeated layoff periods, explain what applies on working days between periods and when ordinary working hours resume.

Occupational health after dismissal: the exact rule

According to Kela, the statutory continuation duty applies to dismissal for financial or production-related reasons only when the employer regularly employs at least 30 employees and the employee’s employment has lasted at least five years. Occupational health is continued for six months from the end of the obligation to work. This is not automatically the date notice is given or the date employment ends.

This rule does not impose a general six-month continuation duty on a 5–50-person employer. Outside these conditions there is no general obligation under this rule, although separate agreed terms must still be checked. Confirm the end date and other applicable conditions against Kela’s guidance. Distinguish services during the notice period, including any release from the obligation to work, from services after employment ends.

Do not calculate the continuation period using a generic offboarding template. HR needs to establish the relevant dates and conditions first. For disputed rights or termination arrangements, obtain individual employment-law advice rather than relying on a service provider’s account settings.

HR policy checklist

• Describe preventive services and optional medical care separately.
• Address parental leave, study leave, full layoff and reduced working time.
• Check the occupational health agreement, collective agreement and existing terms.
• Assign an employer owner and a provider contact for changes.
• Tell employees the scope, effective dates and contact channel in advance.
• Confirm access settings and billing without treating them as legal entitlements.
• Schedule a review for return to work or the next change.
• Keep health information separate from access and personnel lists.

A policy should be understandable to employees as well as payroll and management. Give staff one current version rather than several contradictory messages. Do not ask managers to collect medical details in order to administer an ordinary benefit-access change.

Illustrative example

A ten-person office company has one employee starting parental leave and two working a reduced week during temporary layoff. HR checks the contract and established policy first. Preventive activities for people working continue, while optional medical-care access is communicated using the same principles for comparable situations. The company does not promise statutory six-month post-dismissal continuation merely because it has an occupational health contract.

Next step

Check service boundaries before changing access. Read the statutory occupational health guide and first-employee guide. This guide is general planning information, not individual employment-law advice.

Sources

• Kela — changes in employment, checked 26 October 2026.
• Occupational Health Care Act 1383/2001, checked 26 October 2026.
• Kela — reimbursable occupational health, checked 26 October 2026.