A draft law by the government of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) that aims to make it easier for employers to dismiss workers was sent out for comment on Monday.
The government's programme calls for reforms that would require employers to have a fact-based reason to dismiss employees. At the moment, employers need factual and weighty reasons to do so.
As the draft legislation currently stands, the eventual rule would require employers to have a factual reason for a dismissal, over "which the employer cannot reasonably be expected to continue the contractual relationship".
The draft law would also change employers' obligations to warn employees about their performance, as well as affect employers' obligations to help employees find another job before they are dismissed.
The new rules aim to encourage companies to hire new employees more often, according to the Economic Affairs and Employment Ministry's State Secretary Mika Nykänen.
The changes are meant to create an atmosphere of lower risk for employers and make hiring more attractive, Nykänen said at a press conference on Monday.
However, Nykänen acknowledged that the law's impact on employment figures will likely be moderate.
The bill was prepared by a working group that included employer and employee representatives, as well as the employment ministry. However, the worker representatives opposed the proposed reforms.
Proposed rules
The draft law calls for relaxing the valid reasons an employer could dismiss an employee. It would still demand a "continuous deficiency" in an employee's work performance.
"That is, a certain type of underperformance," senior ministerial adviser Nico Steiner explained at a press conference.
Another substantive reason for dismissal could be, for example, an employee's breach of obligations or neglect, including inappropriate conduct. The terms "substantially" and "serious" were removed from that part of the pending legislation.
With some exceptions, the proposed law would retain certain reasons why an employee cannot be dismissed, including their political opinions or illness or injury.
Fewer warnings required
The government has also proposed that fewer warnings need to be given before dismissal proceedings. Currently, in situations that are not explicitly severe, employees need to be warned and given an opportunity to change their behaviour before they can be dismissed.
Additionally, employers would not need to issue a warning if the employee should have known the seriousness and reprehensibility of their actions even without a warning. In some cases, a previous warning for a similar situation could also be sufficient grounds.
The proposal also entirely eliminates an employer's obligation to determine whether the employee in question could have another position at the company. Such obligations would only apply in circumstances where the worker is unable to cope with their duties, due to a long-term illness, for example.
Employee groups opposed
The proposal as written will be in a round of public comment until 7 April, while the government aims to submit a final draft of the bill in June.
If approved, the changes would go into effect at the beginning of next year.
Employee groups SAK, STTK and Akava all oppose the proposal, and they did not support the government programme's goal in the first place.
SAK, the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions, said in a statement on Monday that the government would continue to "ideologically discipline workers", and strongly opposes the proposal.
The group said such a move would have hardly any effect on employment, pointing out that it offers employers the ability to achieve their goals, but did not offer any "balancing elements" for workers.
Trade union federation STTK criticised the working group's activities. It said the views of employee representatives were hardly taken into account while the opinions of employers were carefully considered.
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