Employers in Finland do not necessarily have to pay a salary if an employee cannot travel to work due to a drone threat, according to a statement by the Federation of Finnish Enterprises, the country's largest business lobby.
In the event of a drone threat warning being issued by Finnish authorities, as happened in the Helsinki region on Friday 15 May, people could be instructed to remain indoors. Such an order would naturally have a knock-on effect on the operations of certain businesses.
The federation, which lobbies for the interests of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and their owners, said the obligation to pay a salary when the employee cannot reach the workplace only arises when the issue is related to the workplace itself.
Atte Rytkönen-Sandberg, vice president of the federation, explained that drone threats are not considered to be a "normal business risk".
"If an employee's loss of earnings resulting from official guidelines is to be compensated, it could be done with a separate daily allowance solution, for example," Rytkönen-Sandberg said.
Minister of Employment Matias Marttinen (NCP) will host a meeting with labour market organisations on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the topic.
"The goal is to strengthen political guidance in society's preparedness for disruptive situations as well as the coordination of operations during such situations or states of emergency," a government statement said.
Finland preparing new drone-threat handbook
Separately, Finland's government has announced plans to provide the public with a guidebook on preparing for drone threats situations as well as developing an improved alert system.
The announcement comes after the government held roundtable discussions with regional healthcare and rescue authorities, municipalities and labour market organisations over the past two days.
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) told parliament that more information about the alert system, and the timeline for its roll out, should be available as early as next week.
"The Ministry of the Interior is now working very intensively to get this process in order and moving forward. I believe we will be able to give a more precise time estimate certainly within a week," he said.
Orpo added that the system's procurements could be made in an expedited manner in the name of national security, without the need for time-consuming tendering rounds.
"We are aiming for a very accelerated pace, and we are also looking at examples of how this has been implemented elsewhere in the world and in neighbouring countries," Orpo stated.
Last week, Finnish authorities provided the public with updated instructions on how to act in the event of a drone threat warning.
Article updated on 26/5/2026 at 3:54pm to include details of the government's guidebook and alert system plans.
