Vacations

Following vacations are in use during non-military service:

Personal leave (HL) 18 days
Personal leave with a reason (HSL) 180 days
Efficiency leave (KL) 20 days
Paternity leave (IV) 12 days
Sick leave (SL)

Personal leave (HL)

You are entitled to a personal leave (HL) which will be granted without specific reason.
The full amount of HL leave during service time is 18 days.
HL leave is counted as a service time.
HL leave cannot be used during weekends or public holidays.
The vacation should be divided equally during the work service. HL leave should be given one or two days per month for dealing out personal matters.
If it is possible, HL leave can be given according to the need of it, also in such a way that days of HL leave are combined.
It is good to start vacation planning during the service period already in the orientation phase.

Personal leave with a reason (HSL)

For compelling personal reasons, service location may grant your personal leave with a reason (HSL).
HSL leave is a maximum of 180 days during the entire period of service.
HSL leave is not counted as a service time.
HSL leave is granted by the person assigned to be responsible for non-military service matters at the service location.
HSL leave can be based on financial or family reasons, legal matters (court or official matter, such as dealing with a lawyer or driver’s license issue, etc.), performing a position of trust or other reasons. When granting HSL leave for the entire week, the weekly days off are also counted as HSL leave.
At the end of the service period if all personal leave days (HL) have not been used, HSL leave can be subsequently converted into HL days, for which daily allowance is paid retroactively.
While on HSL leave, you are not entitled to reimbursement of travel costs, health care designated by the service location or other upkeeping related benefits.
The service location must immediately enter HSL leave into the non-military service register (Sivariweb), from where the information about HSL leave exceeding 15 days is automatically transferred to Kela (Social Insurance Institution of Finland) and Non-military Service Centre.

Efficiency leave (KL)

You can be granted efficiency leave (KL) for a maximum of 20 days if you have particularly performed exceptionally well during your service.
KL leave is granted at the initiative of service location, for example the superior can recommend KL leave based on individual commendable service behaviour and it should be granted usually as soon as the issue arises.
KL leave is counted as a service time.
KL leave should not be collected to the end of the service time so that the repatriation date is moved by several days.
When service location is considering KL leave for non-military service person, for example diligence, initiative, punctuality, behaviour and successful completion of training or work service must be considered.

Paternity leave (IV)

You have right to a 12-day continuous paternity leave taken in connection with the birth of your own child based on a birth certificate or, if required, a certificate from municipality´s child supervisor.
Paternity leave is counted as a service time.
A daily allowance is paid during paternity leave. Weekends or public holidays are not counted towards paternity leave.
Paternity leave must usually start within one month of the child’s birth.
Kela (Social Insurance Institution of Finland) can pay you paternity allowance for the period of paternity leave based on the application.

Sick leave (SL)

The service location grants sick leave based on a medical certificate from doctor.
Sick leave is counted as a service time.
Non-military Service Centre can discharge you due to a long sick leave (about 2 weeks) or several consecutive short sick leaves, or when a doctor has declared you unfit for service.
Sick leave interrupts other leave which is counted as a service time.
A sick leave certificate must be presented for every day.

The service location decides on granting of leave and the time of leave.

You will be paid a daily allowance for the leave which is counted as service time.
Personal leave (HL), efficiency leave (KL) and paternity leave (IV) are counted as a service time.
Daily allowance is also paid for the period when you are released from service as instructed below.

Exemption from service duties

The service location can exempt you from performing service duties on certain grounds without applying for a leave. The time of exemption is considered as a service time.
Exemption can be granted on the following grounds:

recovery from illness or injury
death of a close relative or sudden serious illness
other personal compelling reason.
quarantine period

Exemption from service duties is generally required from basis on suddenness, seriousness, compulsion, and temporality.

Following are considered as close relatives:

Married or common-law partner
Child, adopted child, permanently dependent child, and spouse’s child.
Own parents, adoptive, foster parents, stepmother and stepfather.
Grandparents and siblings

Another personal compelling reason can be, for example, a summons to a court or an interrogation as a witness ordered by an authority.
Exemption from service duties is not intended to be used in the usual situations of a child’s illness. In these situations, personal leave (HL) should primarily be used.

Other instructions

Leaves are decided by the superior of the service location, or the person assigned to be responsible for non-military service matters at the service location.
HSL leave is always granted by the person responsible for non-military service matters at the service location.
You should apply for a leave well in advance that possible work shifts can be organised.
The application must be processed, and the decision notified to you as quickly as possible.
Only exceptionally your leave can be granted to start from the starting date of training period or work service.
If you need a leave extension while on vacation, you must apply for an extension from the service location without delay and with proof. The leave may not be extended without the application being approved. If necessary, an explanation of the necessity of an extension must be presented in the application.
If you get sick or get injury during vacation, you must first seek to care of a doctor designated by the service location, unless compelling reasons require treatment by another doctor. Sick leave must be reported to the service location without delay. Leave counted as service time is considered interrupted from the start date of the sick leave.
If one-way travel to home (or equivalent) takes more than six hours using public transportation, the service location can compensate for the time exceeding six hours between the start and end of the service flexibly according to the schedules of the inbound and outbound journey (travel extension).

How are the vacation days calculated during public holidays?

1. Are there public holidays during the week and do other people who are doing similar work have an extra day off? (Note! A public holiday falling on the weekend does not result in an extra day off.)
2. Two days out of every week are weekly days off. Vacation days must not be assigned to weekly days off.
3. Are there any working days during the week? The remaining days are counted as vacation days.

Example: The non-military service person works during normal office working hours in a place where Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day, and Epiphany are days off for the staff. The non-military service person wants to take a vacation from Monday 22.12. until Tuesday 6.1. How many vacation days are there in this period?
The total length of the vacation period is 16 days. There are five public holidays. There are four weekly days off. The remaining 7 days are vacation days (HL or KL).

Tervetuloa siviilipalvelukseen -infolehti