Communication and advice, daily allowance applications, paid benefits and daily allowance decisions, membership fee information, personal contact details
Employees are entitled to take study leave while remaining in the service of the same employer. Study leave may be taken for a course of education under public regulatory supervision, trade union training specifically stated in the collective agreement, or training for farmers. The entitlement to study leave is based on the Study Leave Act.
Study leave entitlement
You can take up to two years of study leave in a five-year period if you have worked for the same employer for one or more periods of at least one year. If the employment relationship has lasted at least three months, the maximum number of days of study leave is five.
The study leave may also be divided into several periods or divided so that the employee works part of the day and takes part of the day off. The right to study leave does not apply to students in an apprenticeship.
Applying and financing your studies
The employee must apply to the employer for study leave. The request must be made in writing to the employer at least 45 calendar days before the start of the studies if the study leave lasts more than five working days. Unless otherwise agreed by the parties to the employment contract, a request for study leave of up to five working days may be made orally or in writing at least 15 calendar days before the start of the study leave.
The request must include: the date of the studies and study leave, the form and purpose of the training and study, the educational establishment or other organiser, whether it is a continuation of training begun during a previous study leave and the approved study plan for full-time self-study.
A worker on study leave is not entitled to a salary. The collective agreement or the parties may have agreed otherwise on the payment of wages during the period of study leave. The Adult Education and Training Allowance paid by the Employment Fund is intended to support the self-directed education and training of adults.
NOTE!The law on the termination of adult education benefits entered into force on 1.6.2024.
As a result, you will no longer be entitled to adult education allowance for studies starting in autumn 2024 or later.
The employer may postpone the study leave if granting it during the period specified in the application would cause significant disruption to the employer’s business. The leave may be deferred for a maximum of six months at a time, or until the beginning of the next training period if the training takes place at intervals of less than six months. The employer may postpone the period of study leave up to two consecutive times if the undertaking has at least five employees working regularly.
An employee may, by giving notice, postpone the use of more than five days of study leave, unless the postponement would cause the employer significant inconvenience. An employee may apply to carry over study leave for a maximum period of one year at a time and must do so in writing. The employer must be informed at least two weeks before the start of the study leave if the employee wishes to cancel the study leave granted to him.
The employee may interrupt the leave and return to work if the leave exceeds 50 working days. The employee must inform the employer in writing of the interruption at least four weeks before returning to work.
The employer is not obliged to reinstate an employee who has interrupted his/her study leave until the employment of a replacement who has been hired for his/her study leave can be legally terminated. Shorter periods of study leave (50 days or less) cannot be interrupted.
Your employment relationship during and after study leave
During the study leave, the employment relationship continues as normal, but the employee is not entitled to a salary. The employee will accumulate up to 30 days of annual leave in the leave year (1 April to 31 March) if the employee returns to work immediately after the study leave. However, the employee is entitled to return to his/her previous or equivalent post after the period of study leave.
An employer may not dismiss an employee for having applied for or taken study leave. However, study leave does not prevent dismissal if there are legal grounds for dismissal. This means, for example, that staff reductions agreed in change negotiations can also apply to employees on study leave.
