Hiring a caregiver at home

A child’s family may choose to act as an employer and hire a caregiver of their choice for the child. The family can apply for private day care allowance from Kela, which is paid to the child’s caregiver. Private day care allowance includes the care allowance, income-based care supplement and Espoo supplement. You can check the current amounts of private day care allowance and the Espoo supplement here.

The family has to find and select their own caregiver and checks the caregiver's criminal record extract. The family must contact the City of Espoo’s Early Childhood Education Unit before the caregiver starts working and inform the city of the selected caregiver.

The City of Espoo’s requirements for the caregiver's employment contract and private day care allowance:

• The caregiver must be 18–67 years old.
• The caregiver’s place of residence must be such that they can actually work as a caregiver for the family.
• The caregiver cannot be a person living in the same household or an au pair.
• The caregiver must have a residence and/or work permit issued by the Finnish Immigration Service.

The family and the caregiver must conclude an employment contract containing the following information:

• employer and employee details, including addresses
• place of work (only the family’s home address is accepted)
• duration of employment
• weekly working hours (hrs/week); must be more than 20 hours a week (exactly 20 hours a week is not enough)
• caregiver’s duties (must be related to childcare)
• caregiver’s salary (EUR/month) and payday
• mutual notice period.

Families can also hire a caregiver together so that the caregiver takes care of the children of several families at the same time. In this case, each family must conclude a separate employment contract with the caregiver.

One caregiver can take care of a maximum of four children at the same time. The caregiver can take care of the children at the home of one of the families or as agreed, for example at the home of several families based on a rotation system.

Read more about hiring a private day care provider on the Kela website.(external link, opens in a new window)

The family or the caregiver must contact Espoo’s Early Childhood Education Unit and book an appointment with a private early childhood education specialist before the caregiver starts working.

The specialist will meet the caregiver and approve the employment contract of the caregiver hired by the family. The meeting will be held on the premises of the early childhood education administration at Karaportti 1 or remotely if necessary.

The following documents required by the City of Espoo must be brought to the meeting: 

• The caregiver’s employment contract. The caregiver, the family and the City of Espoo must all have a copy of the employment contract.
• Kela form WH2 (information form, private day care allowance, day care provider). The City of Espoo’s specialist will fill in the details concerning the approval of the private caregiver. A copy of the form must be given to the City of Espoo.
• The caregiver's identity card.
• The caregiver's residence and/or work permit issued by the Finnish Immigration Service.

The family must submit the application for private day care allowance (forms WH1 and WH2) and a copy of the caregiver’s employment contract to Kela.

A caregiver's employment contract can be approved for a maximum of one year at a time. Kela will make a decision on private day care allowance and inform both the family and the caregiver of the decision.

The family must familiarise the caregiver with their duties at the beginning of employment. The family is also responsible for the supervision and guidance of the caregiver.

The family must ask the caregiver to present their criminal records extract.(external link, opens in a new window) The selected caregiver can order an extract from the Legal Register Centre.(external link, opens in a new window) The extract must not be more than six months old. A criminal records extract is subject to a fee.

When a family hires a caregiver, they become an employer and are responsible for an employer’s contributions and obligations:

• withholding taxes on the entire salary, including the private day care allowance paid by Kela
• social security contributions
• statutory insurance contributions, including unemployment insurance contributions, earnings-related pension contributions, and accident insurance and group life insurance premiums
• statutory accident insurance
• reporting the caregiver’s salaries, including private day care allowance paid by Kela, to the Incomes Register
• arranging occupational health care for the caregiver.

The family must notify Kela and the City of Espoo if the caregiver’s employment relationship ends before the date stated in the approval form.

The family must contact Espoo’s Early Childhood Education Unit in good time if they wish to extend the approval of the caregiver’s employment contract.

• Finnish Early Childhood Education
  vaka.yksityinen@espoo.fi
• Swedish Early Childhood Education
  Mia Reimars
  mia.reimars@espoo.fi