Public holidays in Finland, 2020

How Finland public holidays work in 2020

Finland recognises nine state-recognised holidays and three church holidays for a total of twelve recognised days under the Laki kirkollisista juhlapäivistä ja yleisistä juhlapäivistä 1973. The list combines Lutheran dates (Epiphany, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Easter Monday, Ascension, Whit Sunday, All Saints' Day on the Saturday between 31 October and 6 November, Christmas Day, Boxing Day) with civic dates (New Year's Day, May Day on 1 May, Midsummer Day on the Saturday between 20 and 26 June, Independence Day on 6 December commemorating the 1917 declaration of independence from Russia). Several holidays are recognised both as state and church days.

Working days in Finland

Finnish Työaikalaki (Working Time Act) of 2019 sets a 40-hour standard week with collective agreements typically reducing this to 37.5. The standard private-sector week is Monday to Friday with banks operating Monday to Friday. The Code of Judicial Procedure (oikeudenkäymiskaari) rolls procedural deadlines falling on a Saturday, Sunday, public holiday, Midsummer's Eve, Christmas Eve or May Day to the next working day, an unusually broad list including pre-holiday eves. Settlement of euro transactions follows TARGET2; domestic Finnish bank-to-bank clearing observes the Bank of Finland calendar matching the statutory list.

For people planning cross-border meetings, the practical move is to overlay Finland's calendar with the calendars of the other countries on your team. A week that looks completely clear from your end might be a national holiday on theirs. The compare tool above pairs two country calendars and highlights the overlapping closures, so you can spot the weeks where almost no one is at their desk before you put a launch on the board.