Articles

TyEL pension contribution 2026: employer and employee rates

Karma Accounts · Published 13 October 2026

In 2026 the TyEL contribution (työeläkemaksu, the earnings-related pension contribution for employees) averages 24.40 % of pay. Every employee insured under TyEL pays 7.30 %, whatever their age, withheld from their salary, and the employer pays the rest: 17.10 % on average. Your own rate depends on your employer type and your pension company.

TyEL rates in 2026

The contribution is charged on pay for work, such as salary and performance pay; per diems and other reimbursed travel costs are not part of it (TyEL 70 §).

The employee's rate no longer depends on age: in 2025 those aged 53 to 62 paid 8.65 % and others 7.15 %, but their higher pension accrual has ended. The labour market central organisations have proposed the same 24.4 % and 7.30 % for 2027; the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health confirms the figures in November 2026.

Why your rate is not exactly 17.10 %

The 17.10 % is the average employer contribution under TyEL. A small contract employer starts from the basic contribution of 24.85 %, the same at every pension company, which includes the employee's 7.30 %. That leaves 17.55 % for the employer before two adjustments: the pension company's own administration charge (hoitokustannusmaksu) is added on top, and a client bonus (asiakashyvitys), a yearly discount, is deducted.

If your payroll was at least 2 455 500 euros in 2024, your 2026 contribution also includes a disability component set by your payment class (maksuluokka) and a credit-loss discount.

Contract employer or temporary employer

TyEL 147 § draws the line, and the euro limit is index-linked each year.

A first employee hired to stay, on 3 000 euros a month, makes you a contract employer from the start. A summer worker for two months, with nobody else on the payroll, can be paid as a temporary employer, as long as the wages stay under 10 272 euros over six months.

Under TyEL 141 § the pension cover must be arranged before the first wages are due to be reported to the Incomes Register, in practice within five days of the first payday. A temporary employer reports in the Incomes Register that it has no TyEL contract and gives the chosen pension company's company code (yhtiötunnus).

Who is insured under TyEL

You must insure your employee under TyEL:

• from the start of the month after they turn 17
• up to the end of the month they turn 69 if born in 1958–1961, or 70 if born in 1962 or later (TyEL 4 §)
• when you pay them at least 71.72 euros in a calendar month in 2026 (70.08 euros in 2025).

TyEL does not apply to an employee who, under EU social security rules or a social security agreement, is covered by another country's legislation, to someone a foreign employer posts to Finland for up to two years, or to work insured under another earnings-related pension act (TyEL 4 §).

TyEL or YEL in your own Oy

Owning shares alone creates no duty to insure; the work does. A shareholder who works in a leading position, meaning as managing director, board member or with comparable actual control, is insured under YEL, the self-employed persons' pension, if they own more than 30 % of the shares or votes alone, or more than 50 % together with family members (YEL 3 §), provided the other YEL conditions are met: age, at least four months of continuous work and the minimum work income (YEL 4 §). If they own at most 30 % alone and at most 50 % together with family members, the same person is treated as an employee and, when paid for the work, insured under TyEL (TyEL 7 §). Both tests apply to shares and to votes, and indirect ownership through another company counts when the person, alone or with family, owns more than 50 % of that company.

Family means the spouse or cohabiting partner, and relatives in a direct line living in the same household. A managing director who holds exactly 30 % of the shares and votes, and no more than 50 % with family, is under TyEL; above 30 %, even at 30.1 %, the same job is under YEL. A sibling is not a family member here, so an owner's sister who owns 30 % and works in the company for pay, without a leading position, is insured under TyEL. How YEL works, and what it costs, is in our YEL article.

Reporting and paying

1. Payday. You withhold the employee's 7.30 % from the gross salary (TyEL 152 §). You are liable to the pension company for the whole contribution, the employee's share included.
2. Within five calendar days. The wages go to the Incomes Register (tulorekisteri) no later than the fifth calendar day after the payment date, the day the money is available to the employee. If that day is a weekend or holiday, the next business day is enough.
3. The invoice. Your pension company reads the wages from the Incomes Register and calculates the contribution monthly. When you report on time, the invoice is normally due on the last day of the month after the payday month; your insurance terms give the exact date.

For a salary paid on Wednesday 25 March 2026, the report is due on Monday 30 March and the TyEL invoice on Thursday 30 April. If the pension cover is not arranged by the 8th day of the month after payday, the pension company can have a negligence charge (laiminlyöntimaksu) imposed, up to the contribution for the period (TyEL 163 §). A wage report filed after the 8th day of the month following the payment date brings a late-filing penalty (myöhästymismaksu) from the Tax Administration: 3 euros a day for up to 45 days, and beyond 45 days also 1 % of the late-reported pay, up to 15 135 euros for a calendar month. A late TyEL payment carries interest (TyEL 164 §).

An example: 3 000 euros a month, aged 30

An employee aged 30 on a continuing contract, so the employer is a contract employer:

Your real figure moves with the administration charge and the client bonus, so check the estimate your pension company gives you. Health insurance, unemployment and accident insurance come on top; our article on employer costs in 2026 adds them up, and hiring your first employee puts the paperwork in order.

What we do

We run payroll for small employers: the payslips with the 7.30 % withheld, the Incomes Register reports within five days and a check of the pension company's monthly invoice against the payroll. If you are not sure whether an owner belongs under TyEL or YEL, we check the ownership, the Trade Register entries and the person's actual role. Payroll is 15 euros per payslip, and limited company accounting 199 euros a month up to 240 000 euros of turnover (249 euros above), both plus VAT 25.5 %, with software and year-end included and no limit on receipts. We are based in Helsinki and work online across Finland. Request a free introduction.

Sources

• Ministry of Social Affairs and Health: pension insurance contributions for 2026 confirmed, in Finnish
• Finnish Centre for Pensions: earnings-related pension contributions in 2026, in Finnish
• Elo: social insurance contributions 2026 (PDF, in Finnish)
• Elo: the TyEL contribution and its due date, in Finnish
• Varma: contract employer or temporary employer, in Finnish
• Työeläke.fi: employers arrange pension insurance
• Työeläke.fi: how earnings-related pensions change in 2026
• Työeläke.fi: when do I need YEL insurance
• Eläkeneuvotteluryhmä: earnings-related pension contributions in 2027, in Finnish
• Incomes Register: wages, reporting data to the Incomes Register
• Incomes Register: penalty fees
• Incomes Register: temporary employer (no TyEL contract), in Finnish
• Finlex: Employees Pensions Act (TyEL) 395/2006, sections 4, 7, 141, 147, 152, 163 and 164, in Finnish
• Finlex: Self-Employed Persons' Pensions Act (YEL) 1272/2006, section 3, in Finnish

Please note: this is general information about Finnish rules, not advice for your own situation, and the rules change. Ask us before you act on it.

All articles