What an electrician is paid on a Finnish data-centre site

Pay in the Finnish electrical contracting sector is set by a collective agreement, not by whoever hires you. The agreement gives a table of hourly rates by pay group. Your employer may pay more; less is not lawful. The figures below are the table for time work, column B, valid from 1 August 2026 until 30 June 2027 — the same table our calculator reads, from the same file.

Shift supplements

Evening work adds 1.49 € an hour and night work 2.72 € an hour to the rate, under the same agreement and the same dates. On a data-centre site with two or three shifts this is the difference between a plain month and a good one: a full month of night shifts at group 2 is about 435 € more before deductions.

Shift supplements are paid for the hours actually worked in that window. They are not part of the group rate, which matters when you compare two offers: the same group can come out differently once you know which shift each one means.

Supplements that have nothing to do with shifts

The same table carries several other hourly supplements. A Finnish further vocational qualification (ammattitutkinto) in your own field adds 0.63 € an hour, a specialist qualification (erikoisammattitutkinto) 1.12 € an hour — one supplement only, and from the start of employment if you show the certificate when you are hired. A foreign diploma is not automatically equivalent: it has to be recognised first, which is a separate process with its own fee and waiting time.

Acting as foreman is paid by the size of the crew, from 0.42 € an hour for one or two people up to 2.84 € an hour above twenty. Demanding and difficult work adds 1.97 € an hour, very dirty or very heavy work 0.50 € an hour. None of these is automatic — each one has a condition in the agreement text, and the condition is what you should ask about, not the number.

What comes off the top

Two employee contributions are deducted from gross pay in 2026: the earnings-related pension contribution (TyEL) at 7.30 % and the unemployment insurance contribution at 0.89 %. Tax follows the percentage on your Finnish tax card. Without a tax card the employer must withhold at the rate the law prescribes for that case, which is far higher than a normal card percentage — so get the card before your first payday, not after it.

If you stay in Finland for six months or less, tax at source of 35 % with a monthly deduction may apply instead, and a progressive option exists. Which one is better depends on your own figures, and it is worth asking the Tax Administration before you choose. Residence status is a question of fact, not of nationality.

What actually decides your group

Not years served. The agreement compares the work you can do independently with the classification of work in the agreement. A person with fifteen years of assisting work can sit below a person with four years of independent installation from drawings. Special entry rules also exist for newcomers and for a recognised Finnish vocational qualification.

The preliminary group is set when the employment contract is signed, and the exact group must be determined within three months. It can move up or down after that check. Where no determination has been made at all, the electrical agreement requires pay according to group 2 — which is a rule about a missing decision, not a starting group everyone gets.

What the hourly table never contains

Daily allowance, accommodation and travel are separate questions with separate rules. For 2026 the tax-free maximums are 54 € a day (full), 25 € (partial), a 13.50 € meal allowance where no daily allowance is paid, and 0.55 € a kilometre for your own car plus 0.04 € per passenger. The electrical agreement adds its own conditions: a full daily allowance for a trip over ten hours, a partial one over six, where the special place of work is at least 40 km from the hiring place and at least 15 km from your home.

Two separate questions, always: is the payment due under the agreement, and can it be paid free of tax? A tax-free maximum is not an entitlement. That is why our calculator keeps allowances out of the monthly figure and lists them beside it instead.