Labour market testing to be re-introduced in cleaning and property services occupations in Uusimaa

The immigration committee of the Uusimaa ELY Centre has decided to update its regional work permit policy for occupations such as cleaning and property services. Labour market testing will be re-introduced in cleaning and property services occupations on June 1st 2024.

Re-introducing labour market testing means that employers must find out whether labour from Finland or elsewhere in the EU/EEA is available for the job in question within a reasonable time. The EEA area includes Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland as well as the  EU countries.

According to PAM’s lawyer Maaret Pulliainen, the re-introduction of labour market testing will not as a rule affect PAM members from outside the EU and EEA already in the labour market who are working in the real estate services sector with a residence permit for an employed person.

Labour market testing and regional work permit policies concern residence permits for employed persons. The right to work can therefore also be based on a student’s residence permit, for example.

– Labour market testing is not normally applied when foreign nationals already in the labour market apply for an extension of a residence permit for an employed person. So PAM members from outside the EU and EEA area who are already working in the property services sector are generally not subject to labour market testing when applying for an extended permit, Pulliainen says.

Re-introdution reflects the employment situation in Uusimaa region

According to Antti Veirto, head of research at PAM, there seems to be a clear justification for reintroducing labour market testing in the light of employment statistics.

– The re-introduction of labour market testing reflects a significant worsening of the employment situation in Uusimaa. The number of vacancies in the property services sector has decreased, unemployment has increased and the duration of available employment contracts has decreased, says Veirto.

Labour market testing and regional work permit policies concern residence permits for employed persons. The right to work can therefore also be based on a student’s residence permit, for example.

In practice, labour market testing is usually carried out by publishing the job in the TE administration’s system. In this case, the job must be published for at least two weeks. Only then can the TE Office make a partial decision on a residence permit for an employed person from a third country.

ELY Centre’s work permit policy (in Finnish)

Text: Pauli Unkuri