Occupational health care is the health care system for the working population.

Työterveyshuoltolaki (Occupational Health Care Act) obligates employers to arrange health care for their personnel to prevent the work-related health hazards using the services of professionals and experts in the occupational health care field.

Further information on this legislation click here: 

The contents and scope of the occupational health care, matters related to dismissal, and the practical implementation are defined in the agreement concluded on occupational health care. An occupational health care agreement is a written agreement between the employer and the provider of employer and occupational health care services. Employers are required to inform their personnel of the scope of the occupational health care provided and the parties responsible for it.

Statutory occupational health care includes charting of the health hazards of the workplace, health and hygiene assessments of the workplace, activities maintaining the personnel’s ability to work, supervision of the first aid readiness at the workplace, and directing personnel to rehabilitation.

Statutory occupational health care does not include employees’ the employee' medical treatment. However, employers can offer their employees services exceeding the statutory occupational health care provision, e.g. general practitioner or specialist level medical care and extensive preventive health care services such as age-bracket physical examinations.

The central cooperation body in occupational health care matters at the workplace is the workplace’s work safety organisation. The expertise of work safety personnel is made use of when conducting workplace assessments and measurements and surveys related to working conditions.

Employers are entitled to compensation from Kela (Social Insurance Institution of Finland) for the costs of the occupational health care they provide. This compensation is divided into two categories of compensation: statutory and preventive activity costs of occupational health care belong to Compensation Category I with Kela reimbursing 60% of the associated reasonable costs, and the costs of general practitioner medical care belong to Compensation Category II with Kela reimbursing 50% of the associated reasonable costs . The compensation is paid for costs approved by compensation category. The compensation is determined by the calculatory maximum amounts per employee and these are reviewed annually.

Further information about reimbursement of costs click here.