The law concerning posted workers changes
In short, the working conditions of posted workers are becoming more aligned with Finnish standards, there is an increased requirement for employers to compensate for travel and accommodation costs, and the obligation for pre-notification by the sending employer is expanded. Additionally, the law introduces a new concept of “long-term posting.”
Regarding the terms of employment
The employment relationships of posted workers would still primarily be governed by the laws of the country of origin and not by Finnish labor laws concerning the formation and termination of employment, non-compete clauses, or professional supplementary pension schemes under any circumstances. In other respects, the new regulation creates a rule of favorability, where Finnish labor legislation, collective agreements, and other laws would be applied if they are more favorable to the employee than the legislation of the country of origin.
If the work of a posted worker lasts more than 12 months, additional conditions, such as paid public holidays and provisions of collective agreements regarding possible allowances and other financial benefits, would be applied to the employment relationship. The employer may apply for an extension of the 12-month period to a maximum of 18 months, on a notifiable basis but some reasoning is always needed. The expiry of this time limit is not interrupted by changing the worker if the task(s) and work location remain the same.
Salary and other compensations
The salary paid to the posted worker must at least correspond to the provisions of the generally binding collective agreement, or alternatively, the provisions of the normally binding collective agreement if such applies to the employer. However, local negotiation is not allowed for posted workers. In practice, the salary may be slightly lower than the comparative value of the collective agreement. The regulation includes a presumption rule, according to which unclear payments are primarily considered as reimbursements of expenses. The purpose of this presumption rule is to force the employer to clearly describe which items are salary and which are reimbursements of expenses. In addition, the employer’s right to offset against the employee is limited schematically to one-third of the employee’s net salary.
The employer’s obligation to compensate the worker’s travel costs to Finland is primarily determined by the legislation or practices of the country of origin. Only if there is no such obligation, or the amount is significantly lower compared to the corresponding Finnish procedure, the employer must compensate these costs as they would be compensated in a corresponding Finnish collective agreement. The same applies to internal travel in Finland or further sending abroad from Finland.
About the notification obligation
Amended Section 7 of the law stipulates the expanded notification obligation of the sending employer. New aspects include the notification obligation for each worker. New information in the notification includes the presumed workplaces, industry, main contractor’s and developer’s contact information, and the worker’s tax number (construction sector) as well as the employer’s and employee’s tax identifiers from the country of origin. There is no notification obligation if the work is not in the construction sector, and the work in Finland lasts a maximum of 5 working days. When counting working days, all working days of the corporate group are considered for the four months preceding the end of the work period. This paragraph is subject to a transitional provision, according to which the paragraph comes into force at the earliest on 1.10.2021.
In the case of temporary agency work, the user company is obliged to provide all the necessary information to the sending employer, and to always notify when a rented worker is sent to another company or abroad.