Incomes Register reporting and coronavirus

• General
• Reporting absences
• Reporting paid wages
• Deadline for reporting data
• Lay-off

General

Do unemployment funds get all the information they need from the Incomes Register?

If the employer reports earnings payment data using the 200-series income types and enters the earnings periods for the incomes and reports the employment relationship and absence data, the need for separate requests for clarifications will be reduced.

This is all the more important now when there are so many benefit applications due to corona. The employers can thus facilitate the processing of benefit applications.

The information needed in the determination of wages is retrieved from the Incomes Register from an eight-month period preceding the unemployment. The information needed by the unemployment funds is depicted in more detail in the instructions Reporting data to the Incomes Register: mandatory and complementary data in the earnings payment report.

Municipalities and other public-sector bodies help companies and entrepreneurs in the coronavirus situation with financial aid and subsidies. Should these financial aids and subsidies be reported to the Incomes Register?

The payer must report the aid or subsidy to the Tax Administration on the annual information return. These payments are not reported to the Incomes Register and no tax is withheld on them. Read more: Financial aid and subsidies paid to companies in the coronavirus situation

An employee’s family member gets tested for the coronavirus and the employer pays the test on behalf of the employee. Does the employer have to report this to the Incomes Register?

The employer here compensates for the living expenses of the employee’s family member. It is an established practice to regard a family members’ compensated living expenses as a benefit comparable to wages paid to the employee (§ 61, act on income tax (Tuloverolaki 1535/1992), and § 13, act on tax prepayments (Ennakkoperintälaki 1118/1996)).
If the employer pays the compensation to the employee, the payment must be reported under the income type Other compensation (216). If the employer makes the payment directly to the service provider, the payment is reported under the income type Other fringe benefit (317).

What days should be reported as days of stay in Finland, if the person staying in Finland works in another country and there is a compelling reason, such as the coronavirus, for them to stay in Finland?

All days of stay in Finland must be reported regardless of the reason for the stay in Finland, even if the stay in Finland was due to a compelling, unexpected reason in accordance with section 77 of the Income Tax Act.

Reporting absences

An employee is working from home due to the coronavirus outbreak – should this be reported as an absence?

No absence is reported, as the person is working on that day. Remote working is not reported to the Incomes Register.

An employee has fallen ill with the COVID-19 disease caused by the coronavirus. How should the paid absence be reported?

Absences are reported in accordance with the instructions provided for absence data. If the income earner has fallen ill, the code 1 Illness is used.

An employee is in quarantine due to the coronavirus outbreak and is unable to work. How should the paid absence be reported?

If the employee is in quarantine and unable to work but has not fallen ill, the absence is reported using the reason 99 Other.

Does it make any difference to reporting whether the employee has been ordered into quarantine or fallen ill?

Yes.

If the employee has fallen ill, the employee is sick and the employer may be obligated to pay wages on the basis of the collective agreement or Employment Contracts Act. Report 1 Illness as the reason for the absence, even after the paid period has ended.

If the employee is in quarantine but not sick and can work remotely, this is not an absence. Remote working is not reported to the Incomes Register.

If the employee is in quarantine without being sick but cannot work and the employer is paying wages on the basis of a collective agreement, this is paid absence. Report 99 Other as the reason for the absence.

If the employee is in quarantine without being sick but cannot work and the employer is not paying wages, report the unpaid absence using the reason code 99 Other. Read more in Kela’s instructions concerning sickness allowance on account of an infectious disease (in Finnish): https://www.kela.fi/tyonantajat-tartuntatautipaivaraha.

If the employee is laid off, the absence is reported using the reason 16 Lay-off.

An employee stays away from work because the child’s school is closed or the employee does not want to take the child into daycare due to the coronavirus situation. How should the absence be reported?

This is an unpaid absence. Report 99 Other as the reason for the absence.

An employee’s child has fallen ill with the COVID-19 disease caused by the coronavirus and the employee is absent from work because of this. How should the absence be reported?

If the employee is caring for a sick child, the absence is treated like any other absence due to caring for a sick child. The obligation to pay wages is the same as for any absence due to caring for a sick child. Report the absence using the reason 6 Child's illness or a compelling family reason. Read about applying for sickness allowance on account of an infectious disease on Kela’s website.

An employee cannot work because her child is in quarantine but the child has not fallen ill. How should this absence be reported?

If a child is in quarantine but not ill, the unpaid absence is reported using the reason code 99 Other.

Regular wage payments to the employee were discontinued in accordance with the provisions of § 48 a of the Communicable Diseases Act. How should the absence be reported?

Indicate this unpaid absence under the reason code 99 Other.

Reporting paid wages

How are wages paid during a quarantine reported?

If the employee is working normally from home during the quarantine, the wages paid are reported in the normal manner according to the Incomes Register instructions and based on the type of income, e.g. time-rate pay, contract pay or overtime compensation. 

An employee is in quarantine and is not unable to work but cannot work remotely. The employer does not pay wages. What data should be submitted to the Incomes Register?

If the employer does not pay wages during the absence period, only the employee’s unpaid absences are reported to the Incomes Register using the reason code 99 Other. 

Check on Kela's website whether the employer needs to provide data on the quarantine to Kela. https://www.kela.fi/tyonantajat-tartuntatautipaivaraha

An employee is in quarantine and is not unable to work but cannot work remotely. The employer pays wages. How are the wages paid reported?

The wages paid are reported in the normal manner according to the Incomes Register instructions and based on the type of income, e.g. time-rate pay, contract pay or overtime compensation. Paid absence is reported using the reason code 99 Other.

If the employer pays wages for the period of absence, the employer should read Kela's instructions concerning sickness allowance on account of an infectious disease (in Finnish). The employer should check in which situations and what data they need to report to Kela and whether the employer or the employee is entitled to sickness allowance on account of an infectious disease. The employer applies for the sickness allowance on account of an infectious disease in Kela's e-services for employers or using form Y17.

Deadline for reporting data

If I am quarantined, can the deadline for reporting earnings payment data be extended?

The statutory deadline for reporting data cannot be extended. It is vital that the data is available to data users in real time.

Lay-off

How are lay-offs reported to the Incomes Register?

If an employee is laid off full-time, the lay-off is reported to the Incomes Register as an unpaid absence. Unpaid absence is reported using the reason code 16 Lay-off.

How are wages paid at the start of a lay-off reported?

Payments made at the start of a lay-off are reported to the Incomes Register in the normal manner, based on the type of income, e.g. time-rate pay. The unpaid absence is reported using the reason 16 Lay-off.

An employer has laid off their personnel for half a day. How is the lay-off reported to the Incomes Register?

Only full-day absences are reported to the Incomes Register. Unemployment funds receive the data on part-time lay-offs from the TE Office and the applicant’s report.

A company has laid off its entire staff and no wages are paid for April. Does anything need to be reported to the Incomes Register?

If the payer is registered with the Tax Administration's employer register as an employer that pays wages regularly, it must submit the No wages payable data on an employer's separate report to the Incomes Register by the fifth day of the following month. The No wages payable data can be reported for six months in advance. The absences taking place during the lay-off are reported on an earnings payment report.

How are lay-offs reported if the end date is not known?

If the period of absence continues until further notice, the end date can be reported as the end date of employment, the last day of the calendar year or another day starting from which a new, specified report on the absence is to be submitted.

An employee has been laid off part-time, so she works, for example, three full workdays a week instead of five. How is the lay-off reported?

Each continuous period of absence must be reported separately. Only full-day absences are reported to the Incomes Register. 16 Lay-off is reported as the reason for the absence.