Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2007, published 97th ILC session (2008)

Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981 (No. 156) - Finland (Ratification: 1983)

1. Article 3 of the Convention. National policy. Recalling that a major objective of the Convention is the achievement of effective equality of opportunity and treatment for men and women and that the Workers with Family Responsibilities Recommendation, 1981 (No. 165), encourages the sharing of family responsibilities between men and women, the Committee notes that promoting men’s engagement in parenting and caring for children is an integral aspect of the Finnish gender equality policy. However, the Committee notes that according to the Central Organization of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK), the Finnish Confederation of Salaried Employees (STTK) and the Confederation of Unions for Academic Professionals in Finland (AKAVA), younger women are disadvantaged in the labour market because they take family leave more often than men.

2. The Government, in cooperation with social partners, carried out a paternity leave campaign in 2002–03 to disseminate information about the extended paternity leave available since 2003 and to encourage the use of family leave by men. According to information released by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, by the end of 2006, fathers in Finland made use of fewer than four per cent of parental leave days, and according to a 2005 study published by the Social Insurance Institute, paternity leave tended to be taken by men with higher incomes. The Committee notes that legislative amendments made during the reporting period introduced incentives for men to take family leave, inter alia, by linking extended paternity leave to the taking of a minimum period of parental leave and increasing the allowance paid during family leave periods. The Committee also notes that additional legislative measures are being discussed with a view to giving more support for the involvement of men in family matters (Men and Gender Equality Policy in Finland, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, 2007:2). The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken to promote a sharing of family responsibilities between men and women, and to provide statistical information on the extent to which men take family leave.

3. Articles 7 and 8. Return to work following family leave and protection from dismissal. The Committee notes that SAK, STTK and AKAVA indicate that despite the fact that employees taking childcare leave, in principle, enjoy increased protection from termination, the employer can rearrange the work and hire new employees so that there is no longer work available for the person returning from family leave, thus making his or her dismissal possible. The Commission for Local Authority Employers (KT) stated that rapid changes in working life may render dismissal inevitable, for instance in cases where a reorganization of work takes place during extended periods of family leave and the previous job or similar work cannot be offered in accordance with the employment contract.

4. The Committee notes that section 9 of Chapter 4 of the Employment Contract Act provides that at the end of a period of family leave, employees are in the first place entitled to return to their former duties. If this is not possible, employees shall be offered equivalent work in accordance with the employment contract, and if this is not possible either, other work shall be offered in accordance with their employment contract. Section 9 of Chapter 7 provides that the employer shall not terminate an employment contract on the basis of the employee’s pregnancy or because the employee is exercising his or her right to family leave. However, it appears that this provision is primarily concerned with dismissal during a family leave period, rather than dismissals upon return. The Committee requests the Government to clarify whether and how the legislation protects employees returning from family leave from termination in situations such as described by SAK, STTK and AKAVA and to provide information on any assessments made of the practical application and effects of the provisions concerned on the ability of workers returning from family leave to remain integrated in the labour force. In this regard, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on any relevant court decisions.

The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.