Confidential and open cooperation and understanding of the customer's situation are the top priority for us. We invest in shared knowledge-based management and continuously develop our services to ensure seamless cooperation between your company's human resource management, supervisors and occupational health care. Our services, developed in cooperation with our customers, help to maintain and promote:
- employees' health and work ability
- safety of the work environment
- activities of the work community
- the prevention of work-related illnesses and accidents
Close cooperation between the multidisciplinary team and the customer company ensures high-quality occupational health care cooperation and partnership. The various needs and changing situations of companies require a wide range of skills and professional skills from our occupational health professionals.
Occupational health care is a statutory activity
The Occupational Health Care Act (1383/2001) and the regulations issued under it govern occupational health care activities and cooperation with companies. If a company has even one employee, the employer must arrange statutory preventive and work ability-supporting occupational health care for its employees. In addition, medical services can also be offered. Employers can procure health care services either from a public or private service provider or arrange them themselves. Occupational health care services must be arranged to the extent required by the work. The content is defined together with the company and recorded in the occupational health care agreement and occupational health care action plan.
The aims of occupational health care are, through cooperation between the employer, employee, and occupational health care, to:
- promote the health and safety of work and work environment
- promote the activities of work communities
- prevent work-related illnesses and accidents
- maintain employees' health and work ability and functional capacity throughout their careers
Occupational health care in brief
An agreement concluded between an employer and an occupational health care service provider in which the general arrangements of occupational health care, the contents and extent of services and the duration of the agreement are laid out. General arrangements refer, for example, to the locations and opening hours of clinics, geographic layout of the services and subcontractors if the company is active in several locations. All of our occupational health agreements include workplace surveys and an action plan.
The contents and extent of services refers to the description of statutory services included in the occupational health agreement that are preventive and support work ability (KL1) as well as any additional non-mandatory health care services agreed upon (KL2).
All occupational health care activities are based on the workplace survey. The purpose of the workplace survey is to study the conditions of the job and its conditions and their impact on health.
The workplace survey includes an analysis of the workplace’s exposure agents, the job’s physical and psychosocial stress factors, resources, work arrangements and risks of accidents. Studying the workplace’s preparedness to perform first aid is also part of the workplace survey. Workplace surveys are always performed by visiting the workplace in person. The survey is used to plan and perform the measures required to promote health and work ability.
Employers must implement a written occupational health care action plan created in cooperation between the employer and the occupational health care service provider. All action plans are based on a workplace survey. The action plan includes the general goals of occupational health care and the needs based on the workplace conditions and the caused measures.
The action plan may be valid for one year at a time, or, as in most cases, for 3–5 years, when it is revised annually. A valid action plan is required in order for the occupational health care activities to be eligible for Kela reimbursement.
Mehiläinen offers its customers the only occupational health questionnaire on the market that is integrated into a patient information system, allowing the individual to get a comprehensive overview of their work ability and health. The company's management can be provided with valuable information about the employees' work ability at the group level while respecting the privacy of individuals. Occupational health questionnaires can be tailored for the company in order to provide an overview of the employees’:
- work ability
- resource and stress factors of work
- lifestyles
- health status
- mental well-being
The information produced by the survey, complemented by Mehiläinen's multidisciplinary team's experience of different industries and the typical challenges therein, provides an extensive and cost-effective way of creating a comprehensive view of the situation of the entire personnel. On the basis of the status analysis, a concrete plan for needs-based services and their allocation to all personnel can be created.
Learn more about the Mehiläinen occupational health questionnaire.
The basic method of monitoring employees’ health status is performing health examinations. The purpose of a health examination is to study, assess and monitor the employee’s health and functional capacity. An occupational health plan can be made in connection with a health examination.
There are two different types of health examinations. Statutory health examinations performed at the beginning of an employment relationship and at regular intervals are based on exposure agents that may cause serious adverse health effects. Such exposure agents include, for example, noise and certain chemicals. Non-mandatory health examinations are based on an agreement between the employer and the occupational health care service provider. These examinations include, for example, pre-employment health examinations and health examinations for certain age groups or job titles.
A sickness-related absence refers to the time an employee is absent from work due to illness. The reason for a sickness-related absence is usually an illness or disability diagnosed by a doctor or nurse that causes incapacity for work. A sick leave certificate can also be issued in certain situations if the condition aggravates at work and alternative work cannot be arranged, or if the employee has to leave work to receive treatment for the illness. In many workplaces, employees can also be absent from work due to illness on their own notice or with the permission of the supervisor without a doctor's or nurse's sick leave certificate.
Kela pays a sickness allowance for the duration of the sick leave, if the person is incapable of performing their job. In order for an employee to be eligible for sickness allowance, they need to be incapacitated for work. Incapacity for work is assessed in relation to one's work. Sickness allowance matters are decided at Kela on the basis of a doctor's statement.
Read more about sickness-related absences and the sickness allowance.
Disability pension can be granted to people under the age of 63 whose work ability has substantially declined for at least 12 months due to illness. Disability pension starts at the end of the sickness allowance period, in other words about one year after the start of the disability if the person is still disabled and the other requirements for granting disability pension are fulfilled.
The evaluation and support of work ability is one of the specialties of occupational health care services. In addition to the occupational health physician and nurse, the activities are attended by the necessary experts, such as an occupational physiotherapist, occupational psychologist, social services expert and specialists such as psychiatrist, orthopaedist or physiatrist. However, the occupational health physician is always responsible for the overall evaluation and conclusions.
Read more about the disability pension.
Companies operating in Finland must take out statutory insurance that covers the treatment costs of occupational accidents and diseases and other costs and financial losses defined by law. In the event of an accident at work, you can always seek treatment also from a private health care provider.
Non-mandatory accident and health insurance and travel insurance policies taken out by companies supplement employees' treatment possibilities in addition to the occupational health agreement in the event that the employee falls ill or an accident occurs in their free time.
Learn more about the treatment of occupational accidents at Mehiläinen.
Mehiläinen offers sickness and insurance funds the opportunity to enter into an agreement that is structured according to separately defined service needs and the fund's rules.
The services included in the agreement are defined in its terms and conditions as well as the details related to invoicing, for example. The agreement may be nationwide, in which case the members of the fund may visit any Mehiläinen clinic or, alternatively, the agreement may apply only to certain Mehiläinen clinics.
The agreement includes a designated contact person, who can be contacted directly whenever necessary.
Occupational health care forms refer to promissory notes, pre-employment health examinations and regular health examinations. Mehiläinen's customer companies have access to CorporateMehiläinen, which contains forms frequently needed by companies.
The employer is compensated for the necessary and reasonable costs caused by the organisation of occupational health care services. Companies can apply for Kela reimbursement if the workplace survey and action plan have been completed. According to the Occupational Health Care Act, the reimbursement covers:
- The expenses of statutory and preventive occupational health care (KL1).
- Costs incurred by preventive activities and activities that maintain employees’ work ability through workplace surveys, workplace visits, health examinations, work ability assessment and support, guidance, instructional activities and maintaining the capacity to administer first aid belong to Kela’s reimbursement category 1.
- The costs of general practitioner’s health care services and other health care services (KL2).
- The costs of any non-mandatory general practitioner level health care services arranged by the employer as well as the costs of any occupational health care services arranged in addition to the statutory services belong to the Kela category 2. Other health care services eligible for reimbursements include, for example, influenza vaccines for high-risk groups and the monitoring necessary for determining the need for treatment before a disease is diagnosed.
The occupational health care service provider pre-fills the information about the employer's occupational health care costs on a form after the end of the financial period when all the invoices related to the claim have been paid. The service provider sends the details of the reimbursement form to Kela's e-service to be completed by the company.
Read more about submitting basic information digitally.
Read more about Kela reimbursements on the Kela website.
Read more about Kela’s reimbursement policy.