Travel expenses
Compensation for travel expenses
An employee who travels on the employer’s order will be compensated for travel expenses according to guidelines approved by the National Board of Taxes.
If an employee is ordered by an employer to travel on a Saturday, Sunday, holiday or other free day and the time spent travelling is at least five hours, the employee will receive a travel day allowance of 55 euros. Time spent travelling is not counted as working time. Compensation is not paid to an employee in a management position or an employee who decides on the date of a trip and work and leisure arrangements related to working hours. Furthermore compensation is not paid if during the day in question time that is counted as working time is accumulated or travel is compensated on the basis of separate provisions in some other way besides what has been agreed.
An employee must travel using the most economical form of transport, taking into consideration any saving in time.
Additional compensation for travel abroad
If the destination of a work trip ordered by an employer is outside Finland’s borders, the employer must compensate the necessary costs of the work trip as follows:
- additional travel costs such as airport tax
- visa charges as well as the cost of medicines and vaccinations directly linked to a trip
- necessary telephone and fax costs linked to arranging a trip and work matters, properly justified
- the cost of a deposit box in connection with hotel accommodation and
- other obligatory costs comparable to the above.
Note: An employer generally has travel insurance covering work trips abroad, which also includes baggage insurance.