Working Conditions in Finland

Permits

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

General about Labor law/ union Collective bargaining

Production Companies have not agreed a binding Collective bargaining regarding the working conditions and rates for crew and cast. Most of the productions companies follow the recommendation though. Some of the details are negotiable but overtime is set in law and must be followed.

Currency in Finland is Euro (€).

Working Hours

• 50 hours a week / 5 days a week / 10 hours a day
• Lunch break is 30 to 60 minutes, not included in work time
• Turnaround is 11 hours
• 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

Overtime

• Work day is 8-hours
• First two hours overtime are 50%, after that 100%
• No extra cost from night work
• Working hours on a Saturday are same rate as on weekdays if Saturday is NOT the 6th work day in a row
• 6th day is extra 50% for the first 8 hours and 100% thereafter
• Sundays and Holidays are 100%-200%.
• If turnaround is less than 11 hours, each hour is paid by normal hour.

Crew Rates

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

• 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 162, you’ll get rate of one normal hour
• crew rates are divided into four categories depending on the length of the production:
  • 2-10 days
  • 11-29 days
  • 30-60 days
  • over 60 days (can be paid as monthly salaries)
• The rates are then divided into four groups depending on the responsibility of the duty:
  1. assisting roles
  2. actualizing roles
  3. demanding actualizing roles
  4. creative, main responsibility

Please refer to the enclosed PDF about Crew Rates.

Actors Rates

The Actors association have set minimum wages. The Actors association usually tries to negotiate more for the distributions/ broadcasting rights. Minimum wages are widely in use for beginners and not familiar faces on screen. Minimum wages are divided into two categories;

• cast with more than 10 years’ experience and
• cast with less than 10 years’ experience.

The pay is divided into salary and rights. The share of the rights shouldn’t be above 28%. Social fees are paid only of the share of the salary.

Please refer to the enclosed PDF about Actors Rates.

Fringes

Production Company pays about 40% 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 23% VAT on the invoice.

Allowances

• Travel allowance can be max. 0,45€/km for using your own car
• Perdiem allowance in year 2012 is 36€ and part-day is 16€.
• If filming takes place in another city: Full perdiem can be paid if no meals are paid for by the prod.co. Half day perdiems can be paid if the production company offers one hot meal.
• Travel and accommodation costs must be covered as a whole
• Finnish employee’s per diem allowances when travelling abroad.
• Allowances are tax free payments from employer to employee and they are regulated annually

Catering

Production Company facilitates the catering services during the production. In Finland it’s common that the breakfast is offered half an hour 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 14€ but the employee pays 5,60€ daily for a lunch which is deducted from the wage.

VAT (alv)

A film production company will get a 9-23% VAT refund on most Finnish services. Exceptions are alcohol and entertainment expenses.

23% general
13% food & drink
9% tickets, hotels, medicine, culture & sports

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.

Please refer to the enclosed PDF about Locations and traffic arrangements.

Car rentals

A passenger car costs about 800€/month with free km, a van is about 1200€/month and a truck is about 100€/day. Make up-van is about 450€/ day. Generator costs 1500-2800€/week, usage 20€/hour, mileage for truck/ generator is 0,75€/km.

Film commissions in Finland

There are four film commissions in Finland which are Finnish Lapland, North Finland, East Finland and West Finland Film Commission. In addition to these four, there’s Villilä Studios in the South-West Finland, helping out with locations & crew. Most of the Finnish films are shot in Helsinki, the capital. At least 75% of the work force in film & tv are in the Capital Area. 96% of the post production facilities are in the Capital Area.

Commission Helsinki is planned to launch in 2012-2014 to serve on the Capital Area.

Important Addresses

• Finnish Film Foundation www.ses.fi
• Finnish film & TV workers union www.teme.fi/set
• Finnish Actors Association www.nayttelijaliitto.fi
• Film commissions and Locations Finland www.filmfinland.fi

Other:

• www.suomileffa.fi
• www.scandinavianlocations.org
• filmland.fi/facts