Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Finland (Ratification: 1950)

Article 3(2) of the Convention. Additional functions entrusted to labour inspectors. The Committee notes that the number of inspectors specializing in the supervision of foreign workers has increased from nine to 14, and that inspections focus on whether foreign nationals have the required work permit and compliance with minimum working conditions in certain sectors. The Committee had previously noted that labour inspectors reported the unauthorized employment of foreign workers to the police, and that joint inspections targeted at undeclared work were also carried out jointly with the police, tax authorities and the Finnish Pension Fund. Referring to its previous direct request and paragraphs 75–78 of the 2006 General Survey on labour inspection, the Committee asks the Government to indicate the proportion of inspections devoted to verifying the legality of employment in relation to the total number of inspections carried out.

In this respect, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide disaggregated data on undeclared work and specify the number of cases involving foreign workers in an irregular situation. It also asks the Government to supply other relevant information, such as statistics on the violations found following inspections and the legal provisions to which they relate, the legal proceedings instituted and the nature of the penalties imposed. Please also provide information on any joint controls undertaken with the police and the tax authorities, and their results.

Since the Government has not replied to a request for information in this regard, the Committee once again asks the Government to indicate the manner in which the labour inspection services ensure the enforcement of employers’ obligations with regard to the statutory rights of undocumented foreign workers for the period of their effective employment relationship, including in cases where the unauthorized employment of foreign workers is reported to the police and where such workers are expelled from the country. Please explain in detail the applicable procedures and indicate the relevant provisions in national law, where possible, in one of the working languages of the ILO. Please also provide information on the number of cases in which foreign nationals in an irregular situation have been granted their rights resulting from their past employment relationship (wages, social security benefits, etc.).

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