Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181) - Finland (Ratification: 1999)

Article 8 of the Convention. Migrant workers. The Committee notes the detailed information provided by the Government relating to the reform of the legislation on the posting of workers to Finland. The Government indicates that the reform was undertaken to more closely align the Finnish Act on the Posting of Workers with European Union Directive 2014/67/EU on the enforcement of Directive 96/71/EC concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services. The 2020 amendments introduced to the Act on the Posting of Workers (Act) provides for the extension of applicable collective agreements to transfers within a subcontracting or corporate group and expands the obligations of user enterprises, among other things, by requiring them to inform future posted workers about the terms and conditions of their employment. The Committee notes that the Act imposes restrictions on the right of temporary work agencies to offset receivables against an employee’s salary. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed updated information on the nature, scope and impact of the measures taken to provide adequate protection for and prevent abuses of migrant workers placed in Finland by private employment agencies. The Government is also requested to indicate which employers’ and workers’ organizations were consulted with respect to the measures taken. In addition, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on any bilateral agreements concluded in this respect (Article 8(2)).

Articles 10, 11, 12 and 14. Adequate protection of workers employed by private employment agencies and allocation of responsibilities between private employment agencies and user enterprises. Adequate machinery and procedures for the investigation of complaints. The Government refers to the 2015 amendments to the Act on the Contractor’s Obligations and Liability when Work is Contracted Out (1233/2006). It indicates that the amendments facilitated the overall application of the legislation, expanding the obligations of public and private user enterprises to verify, prior to concluding a contract with a temporary employment agency that the agency adheres to occupational safety and health and social security standards and is not barred from providing mediation services. The 2015 amendments also increased to up to €20,000 the amount of the fines that can be imposed on user enterprises in the event that they do not comply with their obligations in this respect. The Committee further notes the Government’s indication that, as part of the 2018 EU project on Occupational Safety in Temporary Work Agencies, the Temporary Work Agencies as Employers 2020–2021 project and the User Companies 2020–2021 project, 874 occupational safety and health inspections were conducted in private employment enterprises between 1 June 2016 and 31 May 2021, in the following categories: 781 (labour recruitment services); 782 (provision of agency and interim labour); and 783 (other personnel acquisition services), pursuant to which 1,494 guidelines and 233 improvement requests were issued. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide updated information on the application of these provisions of the Convention.

Article 13. Cooperation between the public employment service and private employment agencies. The Government reports that, since 2016, to enhance the effectiveness of the public employment services, pilot projects have been carried out through private employment agencies (PEAs). The pilot projects focus on young persons through performance-based procurement of services and as part of regional government reforms. The Committee requests the Government to provide a description of the pilot projects and their impact on the placement of young persons into lasting employment, and to indicate the nature and outcome of consultations held with the most representative organizations of employers and workers in relation to the conditions of these projects and other cooperation activities undertaken (Article 13(1)). The Government is further requested to continue to provide information on the measures taken or envisaged to promote cooperation between the public employment service and private employment agencies.

Practical application of the Convention. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that, according to Statistics Finland’s 2019 Labour Force Survey, there were some 46,000 temporary workers in Finland. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide updated information on the application of the Convention in practice, including on the number of private employment agencies operating in the country, extracts from reports of the labour inspection services and information on the number of workers covered by the Convention. In addition, the Government is requested to indicate whether courts of law or other tribunals have rendered judgments involving questions of principle relating to the application of the Convention (parts IV and V of the report form).