Working Conditions in Finland

Permits

Finland is part of the EU. No special permits needed.

General labour framework

The current collective agreement for film & TV will be valid until 31.1.2025. The collective agreement has been binding since June 2023, meaning that it must be followed in all audiovisual productions. Some of the details are negotiable, but for example overtime is set in law and must be followed.

Working Hours

• 40 hours a week / 5 days a week / 8 hours a day
• During shooting period normal work week is often 40-50h/week / 4-5 days a week / 10 hours a day
• Average amount of shooting days in a feature film in Finland is 35 days
• Lunch break is 30 to 60 minutes, not included in working time
• Turnaround is 11 hours
• For period-based work, the minimum uninterrupted rest period is 10 hours, unless a minimum daily rest period of 9 hours is agreed locally.
• Normal travel to work and back is not considered as work except if you’re responsible for the film equipment you are transporting with you
• Travelling during time off at the request of the employer is compensated by 75% of the basic hourly wages for the hours 1-10 (no compensation for travelling less than an hour or for travelling in the capital area).
• The average shooting day in Finland is 10 hours except for lighting, wardrobe and make‐up usually at least 1 hour extra
• An average of two days off is given for each week, while ensuring that there is at least one day off every week.

Overtime

• Work day is 8h, and hours after that are considered as overtime, (except in a period-based system).
• First two hours of overtime are compensated with 50% increased hourly wage,, after that 100% increased hourly wage.
• No extra cost from night work when working on a film. When working on a tv-series with regular night work, the night compensation is 10% between 21.00 - 06.00
• Working hours on a Saturday are the same rate as on weekdays.
• Sundays and Public Holidays are compensated with 100% increased hourly wage.
• If turnaround is less than 11 hours, each hour is paid 100% until 11 hours is full.

Period-based work

Period-based working system is commonly used as it allows dividing the working hours more freely; working over 8h days and evening out the hours later on. This way over 8h work days are possible without overtime costs as long as the total hours worked during the period do not exceed a certain maximum (8 hours x working days).

• Work days can be 4-12 hours long
• Regular working hours are maximum 8h/day on average during a period of min. 2 days (16h) and max. 27 weeks (1080h). Hours exceeding this maximum amount are considered as overtime.
• With period-based system it is common to aim for 4 x 10 hour shoot days / week
• 50% increased compensation is paid for the overtime hours calculated as following: amount of work weeks x 6. Hours after this are compensated with 100% increased hourly wage.
• Example of overtime calculation: if the period is 3 weeks and hours worked are 150hrs: Regular working time is 40 hrs / week = 120hrs. 50% overtime is applied to 3x6 hrs = 18 hrs, and rest of the hours 150-120-18= 12 are 100% overtime.
• Working hours can’t exceed 150h during any 3 week period (possibility to extend to 180h in productions abroad or in certain special cases in Finland)
• Hours should be evened out as frequently as possible (for example not only in the beginning and in the end of the contract).
• The minimum rest period for period-based work is 10 hours, unless a daily rest period of at least 9 hours is agreed locally

Crew Rates

Trade union has set crew minimum wages. These are widely used as a maximum too. The daily rates are for 8-hour days.

• Multiplying the 8-hour daily rate by 1,375, you’ll get the 10-hour daily rate
• dividing 8-hour daily rate by 8, you’ll get rate of one normal hour
• dividing monthly rate by 169, you’ll get rate of one normal hour
• crew rates for film productions are divided into four categories depending on the length of the production:
• 2-10 days
• 11-29 days
• 25 days or over
• monthly salary for over 60 days on film and 30 days on TV-series

Film production wage table effective from 1 April 2024 :

Film production monthly wage table effective from 1 April 2024 :

• On a feature film; The ’creative’ crew members (Set designer, Costume designer, DOP…) might negotiate a flat deal based on the daily or monthly rate. Flat includes overtime.
• Holiday entitlement for crew is 13,5%.
• Others negotiate about the amount of pre-productions days + shooting days, pre-production/prep day is 8-hour day rate, shooting day is usually 10-hour day
• There can be a maximum of one intern per each department. The interns are usually students in a later phase in their studies and should be paid for example a 600-900€ monthly salary. Non student interns are paid 75% of group I rate. Intern rates can’t be applied to a person with 12 months of work experience of the job or to a person with 6 months of work experience of the job and a relevant completed degree.

Actors’ Rates

The Actors association have recommendations for wages. There is no collective bargaining agreement. This recommendations apply on film and there are no recommendations for tv-production work on actors associations website. According to the associations website fee for 8 hrs working day is on average 800€. The pay is divided into salary and rights. The share of the rights are negotiated production bases. Fringes are paid only on top of the share of the salary. Children and amateur actors are usually paid 100-200€/ day. Extras are usually hired through casting agencies or amateur theatre groups and clubs. Extras are normally paid 20-70€/day depending on the length of the day and if it’s a background or featured extra role. It used to be common to compensate extras with movie tickets or gift cards but lately it’s been criticized a lot and there are less extras available who are willing to take part with a movie ticket or a gift card.
The Finnish labour and occupational safety legislation towards children working hours is strict. Special permission is needed. A child actor’s travel, rest, breaks and filming needs special attention.

Fringes

Production Company pays about 35% fringes on top of all the salaries paid to the crew and cast members, depending on the size of the company. Crew/ cast who work under their own company or via an agency pay their own social payments and holiday compensation. These companies add 24% VAT on the invoice.

Allowances

• Travel allowance can be max. 0,53€/km in 2023 for using your own car (max 0,57€/km in 2024)
• Per diem allowance in in 2023 is 48€ and part-day is 22€ (in 2024 full day 51€ and part-day 24€)
• If filming takes place in another city: Full per diem can be paid if no meals are paid by the prod.co. Half day per diems can be paid if the production company offers one hot meal.
• Travel and accommodation costs must be covered as a whole
• Allowances are tax free payments from employer to employee and they are regulated annually

Catering

Production Company facilitates the craft services during the production. In Finland it’s common that the breakfast is offered half an hour-15 minutes before the call time and it’s free of charge. In addition to breakfast, there are snacks available during the shooting day free of charge. The cost of catering per person is about 15-19€ but the employee pays 8,00-12,00€ daily for a lunch/warm meal which is deducted from the wage.

Locations

Locations cost from any negotiable rate upwards. Usually minimum is 500€/shooting day which sometimes includes pre + wrap. Permissions are needed when filming in public transportation or private places and buildings. Parking permissions are required when filming in the city area and if causing any disturbance to traffic. Each cost minimum 50€. The personnel to stop traffic while filming is usually hired from the fire dept. and costs 30€/hour pp.

Car rentals

A passenger car costs about 800€/month with free km, a van is about 1200€/month and a truck is about 150€/day. Make up-van is about 250€/ day. Generator costs 1500-2800€/week, usage 20€/hour, mileage for truck/ generator is 0,80€/km.

Film commissions in Finland

There are eight film commissions in Finland which are Film in Finland, Finnish Lapland, North Finland, East Finland, South east Finland, West Finland, Åland Film Commission and Film Tampere. In addition to these eight, there’s Villilä Studios in the South-West Finland, helping out with locations & crew.

Important Links

• Finnish Film Foundation www.ses.fi
• Finnish film & TV workers unions https://www.teme.fi, https://journalistiliitto.fi/en/
• Finnish Actors Association https://www.nayttelijaliitto.fi/nayttelijaliitto/finnish-actors-union/
• Production incentive for the audiovisual industry https://www.businessfinland.fi/en/for-finnish-customers/services/funding/cash-rebate
• Full collective agreement Film & TV 2023-2025
Download PDF

Åland

Åland is a small 'state' within Finland with own parliament, government, flag, stamps, etc. Åland also has a Film Commission, totally separated from Finland Film Commission with own financial incentives and own cash rebate.
www.film.ax