Study leave – you can get more education during your working years

You will not be paid a salary or wages during the study leave, but you can get support money for example from Kela or from the Employment Fund.

The right to take study leave

If you have worked for the same employer (company) for at least a year, you have the right to take study leave for the maximum of two years during a period of five years. Your employment relationship may have been continuous, or there may have been breaks in it. You can still take study leave if the employment relationship has breaks in it.

If you have worked for the same employer for at least three months, you can take a maximum of five days of study leave. Your employment relationship may have been continuous, or there may have been breaks in it. You can still take study leave if the employment relationship has breaks in it.

You can use all the study leave at once, or use it in periods and work between the periods. You can also have part-time study leave and work for the rest of the working day.

Applying for study leave

The worker needs to apply for the study leave. Make the application and give it to your employer before your studies begin:

• If you apply for more than five working days of study leave, make the application in writing at least 45 days before the studies begin.
• If you apply for no more than five working days of study leave, make the application in writing or verbally at least 15 days before the studies begin. The employer and the worker may also agree a different way of making the application.

The employer must inform the worker about the decision before the studies begin:

• If you apply for more than five working days of study leave, the employer must inform you in writing at least 15 calendar days before the studies begin.
• If you apply for no more than five working days of study leave, the employer must inform you at least 7 days before the studies begin.

The employer has the right to postpone the leave

The employer has the right to postpone the study leave (move it to a later time) by a maximum of 6 months if the period of study leave that you apply for would cause considerable harm to the company’s operations.

If the training that the worker wants to take is not organised often, and the period between training courses is longer than 6 months, the employer can postpone the study leave until the next training takes place.

The employer also has the right to postpone the study leave when the worker has already taken study leave less than 6 months ago, and the worker does not mean to finish the earlier training during the new study leave.

The employer may postpone the study leave only two times in a row if the employer has at least five regular workers. If the company has no more than four workers, the employer can postpone the study leave more than two times, possibly as many times as they need.

The employer must always have a good reason for postponing the study leave. The study leave can only be postponed if it causes much harm to the company’s operations.

Click here to read more about study leave: 

• Study Leave Act (pdf)
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration website