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Our member survey once again revealed that it is unfortunately common for senior salaried employees to be doing unpaid work.

Summary of the legislation concerning grey (informal) overtime work

• Senior salaried employees, almost without exception, fall within the scope of the Working Time Act, as long as they are not the head of an overall organisation or an independent division thereof. Any other type of agreement is generally void.

• Within the scope of the Working Time Act, there are generally three types of work that can be done outside regular working hours:

  • overtime (work exceeding 8 h/day or 40 h/week) carried out at the employer’s initiative and with the employee’s consent, and for which an increased compensation is paid
  • balance hours/flexible working hours (flexitime) that the employee does voluntarily and which can be compensated with time off (compensatory leave)
  • all other work outside of regular working hours is considered to be grey overtime work, where the employee donates their time and work to the employer.

Misinformation about the Working Time Act

Unfortunately, the majority of those who stated in the survey that they fall outside the scope of the Working Time Act had a faulty understanding of the matter. The most common justifications were:

• The inapplicability of the Working Time Act was agreed in the employment contract
• The employer does not monitor working hours
• Independent expert work or middle management supervisor

None of these justifications are sufficient for exclusion from the Working Time Act.

This is important because much of the grey or unpaid overtime was explained by the erroneous notion that the work was done outside of the scope of the Working Time Act. It was, therefore, interpreted that the employment contract carried an obligation to work clearly more than the normal, slightly under 40 hours per week, without separate financial compensation or even time off.

There is too much work  

Another explanation for grey overtime was even more troublesome: there is simply too much work – it cannot be completed within regular working hours, and the employer does not compensate for the excess. This was explained in more detail as follows (the texts have been modified to preserve anonymity):

• It would be possible to take time off as flexitime, but the work situation does not allow for that.
• There is no way to manage the workload if you don’t use more time than the regular working hours.
• Employers require ‘flexibility’.
• There is no chance to use the accumulated balance hours as time off.
• Doing extra work is part of the job description.
• Independent work is necessary in order to satisfactorily complete the work tasks.
• Occasional work-related phone calls are handled in a few minutes outside working hours.
• Extra hours must be done to ensure that all assigned work is completed on schedule, but these hours are not monitored to avoid any complaints about overtime or exceeding working hours.
• The workload requires more than the normal number of working hours due to projects.
• In my job, it is considered my responsibility to manage my own working time to ensure a balance between work and leisure time, so that the work is done but there is no need to pay overtime.
• You can do more voluntarily, but you won’t get those hours back. We are constantly being reminded of this.

  Overtime work is sometimes mandatory in order to complete work tasks, but the employer does not pay compensation for it. Instead, the employee is expected to be flexible and unwittingly accumulate balance hours. Voluntary work is, therefore, an inaccurate concept since failure to do so results in negative feedback on your work performance.

None of these are legal justifications for the employer to require the performance of work outside of regular working hours. Many of the respondents were already aware of this.

What should we do about it?

It is always the employer’s responsibility to ensure that resources are sufficient. Neglect of working time protection has even been criminalised and can be a matter for both the Occupational Safety and Health Department of the Finnish Supervisory Agency (formerly AVI) and the police.

A senior salaried employee should react to excessive workloads. Tell the supervisor and, if necessary, even someone higher up if the workload is too much. Clearly explain that the work cannot be done during normal working hours – preferably both orally and in writing, e.g. by e-mail. If you personally want to do the excessive work as overtime, ask for permission to do so in order to ensure that you receive overtime compensation. Ask the employer to provide additional resources to handle the excessive work you do not wish to do as overtime. As long as the employer is getting work done for free, they will not feel any need to pay for it – as overtime or increased personnel.

If this does not help, you can contact your occupational safety and health representative and/or the Occupational Safety and Health Department of the Finnish Supervisory Agency. In addition, you can request instructions from ASIA’s Employment-related legal service (see our contact information on the website) www.asia.fi/en/contact

Remember that normal flexitime is voluntary and should not replace the employer’s need for overtime. If you are forced to utilise flexitime, you should receive an increased monetary compensation for it or, if you choose, an increased time-off compensation – not an equivalent time off. In addition, it should be remembered that the employee’s consent is always required for overtime work.

The problem with flexitime is often that there is no time to take advantage of the accrued time off. Many companies also have a principle that accumulated balance hours should not be taken as whole days and certainly not during holiday periods, which also makes it difficult to use the balances rationally. The only way to tackle these problems is to stop voluntarily being flexible if the employer is not flexible.

The reality is, of course, that no senior salaried employee wants to gain a difficult reputation. The desire to do their job as well as possible and to advance in their career often unfortunately leads to grey overtime. This has been a problem for senior salaried employees for a long time across all sectors. In any case, it is worthwhile discussing these issues with your occupational safety and health representative and, if necessary, the lawyers at ASIA.

Sirpa Leppäluoto, Labor Market Director ta ASIA ry

The text has been published in ASIA magazine 1/2026. ASIA’s annual member survey was conducted in November–December 2026. We will publish more detailed results on our website.

Upcoming webinar

Open webinar for everyone: The Basics of Finnish Labor Law on Wednesday, March 4th at 9.15 a.m.