Wellbeing services counties to report their payments of wages and benefits to the Incomes Register

The responsibility for providing health, social and rescue services will transfer from municipalities to new wellbeing services counties at the beginning of 2023. At the same time, certain employees will transfer from municipalities and joint municipal authorities to wellbeing services counties.

Wellbeing services counties report the following to the Incomes Register:

• wages paid and other payments made to employees
• statutory benefits paid.

Together, wellbeing services counties can also form joint authorities for health and wellbeing. Joint authorities report data to the Incomes Register in the same way as wellbeing services counties.

At the same time, wellbeing services counties will also start using income data available in the Incomes Register in their decision making processes. Starting to use this data is subject to a separate agreement with the Incomes Register. Read more about data users’ data permissions.

Do this when reporting data on behalf of a wellbeing services county

Verify the following before starting to report data:

If you are reporting a wellbeing services county’s data to the Incomes Register through an interface, such as payroll software, you need to have the right to use the interface and a certificate for wages.

• • Read more about how to use our services
  • Read more about applying for a certificate

If a wellbeing services county reports data in the Incomes Register’s e-service, those who submit reports must be provided with the authorisation required.

• • For wellbeing services counties, authorisations need to be granted based on an application.
  • When the authorisations required have been granted, users can log in to the service using their personal online banking codes, a mobile certificate or a certificate card.

If a wellbeing services county pays benefits, they must also be reported to the Incomes Register.

• • Before reporting, the wellbeing services county’s representative must confirm the reporting of benefits payment data in the Incomes Register’s e-service.
  • If you are reporting benefits payment data through an interface, request a certificate for benefits.
  • Read more about benefits reported to the Incomes Register

When an employee transfers to a wellbeing services county, use the county’s Business ID and pension policy number when reporting wages. Also report the occupational accident insurance policy number if there are several policies. The previous municipal pension policy number and occupational accident insurance policy number cannot be used.

A municipality corrects previously reported data

If you identify any errors or flaws in data reported before 2023, correct the previous reports submitted using the Business ID of a municipality or joint municipal authority. Use the municipality’s pension policy number and occupational accident insurance policy number that were valid on the payment date indicated on the original report. Wellbeing services counties cannot correct any data reported by municipalities.

Situations where a wellbeing services county pays income earned before 2023

A wellbeing services county can pay overtime or other compensation to an employee that has been accumulated over the time when the employee worked for a municipality or joint municipal authority. In this case, the payer is the wellbeing services county, and the original report does not need to be corrected. The wellbeing services county must submit a report on the payment made in accordance with its payment date and report the period over which the income was earned as the income earnings period. In other words, the earnings period can also extend to the time when the employee still worked for the municipality.

When the payer is a wellbeing services county, enter its pension policy number on the report. Use the wellbeing services county’s pension policy number even if the employee had not been transferred to a wellbeing services county. In such cases, the employment relationship period to report is the validity period of the employment relationship with the municipality or the joint municipal authority. 

A municipality reports an overpayment as an unjust enrichment

If a municipality or joint municipal authority has made an overpayment to an employee, it must correct the original payment date’s report and indicate the overpayment as an unjust enrichment. On the replacement report, use the municipality’s pension policy number and occupational accident insurance policy number that were valid on the payment date indicated on the original report.

Recovery is reported when the overpayment is repaid

After an employee has repaid an overpayment, the recovery must be reported using the report on the pay period, during which the overpayment was repaid. If a wellbeing services county recovers a payment which a municipality has made previously, report the recovery using the wellbeing services county’s Business ID. Enter the pension policy number and any accident and occupational disease policy number valid on the recovery date on the report.

However, try to recover any payments made by a municipality before the responsibility for service provision transfers to wellbeing services counties. In this case, the unjust enrichment and recovery are reported using the municipality’s Business ID.

If a wellbeing services county recovers an overpayment made by a municipality or joint municipal authority, this must always be done using gross recovery. Net recovery must not be used.

Read more about correcting data and processing overpayments

The change of employer ends the employment relationship in Incomes Register reporting

When employees transfer from a municipality or joint municipal authority to wellbeing services counties, the employment relationship is not reported as uninterrupted to the Incomes Register.

A wellbeing services county reports the date on which employees transferred to the county (1 January 2023) as the start date of the employment relationship. Enter the wellbeing services county’s pension policy number and the payer’s suborganisation identifier in accordance with Keva’s submitter codes on the report. Both must be valid on the reported start date of the employment relationship and the payday.

Correspondingly, the municipality or joint municipal authority reports 31 December 2022 as the end date of the employment relationship and enters the pension policy number of the municipality or joint municipal authority on the report.

If an employee is on unpaid leave when transferring to a wellbeing services county, the county must report employment relationship data to the Incomes Register from 1 January 2023 by submitting an earnings payment report without any earnings.

It is recommended that data on the places of business in which wellbeing services counties’ employees work also be indicated on the earnings payment report.

Read more about reporting employment relationship data

A municipality reports and corrects previous absence data

If you are reporting employees’ absence data over the period before the employees transferred to a wellbeing services county, use the Business ID of the municipality or joint municipal authority. If the employment relationship or absence data over this period needs to be corrected, they must be corrected using the Business ID of the municipality or joint municipal authority.

Read more about reporting absence data

A wellbeing services county as a substitute payer: wages of a personal assistant

In the future, wellbeing services counties will also be responsible for providing services for people with disabilities, including the provision of personal assistance. If a wellbeing services county pays the wages of a personal assistant from its assets on behalf of the person being assisted, it acts as a substitute payer. The wellbeing services county must report data to the Incomes Register on wages paid as a substitute payer.

Often, the substitute payer also covers other employer obligations on behalf of the person being assisted, including the actual employer’s reports, the employer’s separate reports and social insurance contributions.

For a wellbeing services county to do this, they must be authorised by the person being assisted. Despite the authorisation, the health insurance contribution obligation still remains with the person being assisted. To also pay health insurance contributions, the wellbeing services county requires a payment reference for the self-assessed taxes of the person being assisted.

Read more about reports submitted by the substitute payer and actual employer

A wellbeing services county pays different fees

Wellbeing services counties must report their payments of fees to the Incomes Register, including non-wage compensation for work, meeting fees and reimbursements of expenses. A payer of non-wage compensation for work covered by the public sector pensions act (Julkisten alojen eläkelaki 81/2016) must pay the employer’s earnings-related pension insurance contribution based on a private person’s commissioning agreement if the income earner is not insured in accordance with the self-employed persons’ pensions act (Yrittäjän eläkelaki 1272/2006). The data must be reported to the Incomes Register, and it does not matter whether the income earner is registered with the prepayment register or not.

Family care and caregiving activities will also transfer to wellbeing services counties. The public sector pensions act covers those family carers who have entered into a commissioning agreement with a wellbeing services county.

Read more about the reporting of different fees and the reporting of reimbursements of expenses

Keva’s instructions on the Incomes Register (in Finnish) provide more information on family care and caregiving fees, non-wage compensation for work covered by the public sector pensions act, and insurance for different fees paid to persons acting in a position of trust.