Ethical guidelines at Kela
As a public authority with an important mandate, Kela must operate in an ethically sustainable manner. In order to ensure this, Kela has established the following practices and guidelines.
Kela’s Ethical Compass sets out ethical guidelines for all Kela employees, which ensure that we operate ethically and guide our employees as they make choices and decisions in the course of their daily work. The Ethical Compass brings together policies and practices that direct all Kela employees to act in an ethically sustainable and responsible manner, and it ensures that our operations are transparent, reliable and fair.
The Ethical Compass provides guidance on matters such as ensuring independence, good governance, respectful interactions, data protection and ethical decision-making.
It is the duty of every Kela employee to comply with the principles and guidelines set out in the Ethical Compass in the course of their work. The guidelines also apply to individuals who represent Kela or act on its behalf, and they establish the principles we expect our partner organisations to follow.
The Ethical Compass provides instructions on how Kela employees can report their concerns or any wrongdoing they may become aware of. Third parties can report any unethical conduct they may observe or suspect to Kela at compliance@kela.fi.
Kela has established a separate set of ethical guidelines that apply to our suppliers. The guidelines establish minimum standards for responsibility that all suppliers of goods and services to Kela must comply with.
The physician medical advisors employed by Kela
- carefully examine claimants’ health status, fitness for work and functional ability on the basis of the available or requested documents and information relevant to the matter at hand.
- follow the laws and regulations which apply to benefits with medical eligibility criteria
- carefully and impartially evaluate the information included in documents and consider it in light of the applicable legislation
- make the insurance medicine evaluation on the basis of evidence-based information and sound medical practice and do not let their personal attitudes or their own interests or those of another person affect their judgment
- recognise situations in which outside consultation is needed to supplement their own expertise
- settle conflicts professionally, respecting the client and other parties
- recognise that they are not impartial when it comes to the client or the attending physicians and recuse themselves from the process of reviewing the client's claim
- keep their expertise up to date by seeking education and other ways of improving their proficiency
- comply with Kela’s guidelines on privacy protection and handle client data confidentially.