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26.02.2025 16:56

Are employees in low-wage sectors threatened by weaker protection from dismissal?

The government has sent a bill on dismissal grounds related to the employee’s person out for public consultation. PAM believes that it is unfair to weaken job security, as it will lead to increased insecurity and inequality. PAM wants to secure the current situation through collective agreements.

nainen seisoo ulkona takki päällä kädet puuskassa.

PAM believes that the proposed changes will only strengthen the employer’s position as the stronger party in the employment relationship and weaken the employee’s position and job security.

The changes that the government is now proposing are aimed at making it easier for employers to dismiss individual employees so that employers can get rid of unsuccessful recruitments.

– We have a six-month trial period during which the employment contract can be terminated. During that time, the employer has enough time to ensure that the recruitment is successful, says Annika Rönni-Sällinen, president of the Service Union United PAM.

The government’s actions have already weakened the livelihoods of low-income earners, and women in particular, in many ways, which has created uncertainty.

– We believe that the current conditions for dismissal are sufficient. The new proposal would only create more uncertainty for employees, says Rönni-Sällinen.

The Industrial Union managed to secure the current level of dismissal protection in its negotiations.

– We will issue a statement where we oppose the proposal. Our goal is to secure the current level of dismissal protection for employees in the service sector and do it through collective agreements. However, employers’ associations have so far shown little interest in this, Rönni-Sällinen notes.

Impact assessments do not support the government’s proposal

The government has justified the bill with improved employment. However, easing the grounds for dismissal has not had any major impact on employment, and other impact assessments do not support the need for legislative amendments either.

The bill was prepared in tripartite cooperation in a working group consisting of government representatives, employee and employer organisations, but the group failed to reach a consensus on the issue.

According to Finnish trade union confederations, the proposed legislative amendments will significantly weaken the position and job security of employees without any balancing measures.

Currently, the law requires “relevant and serious grounds” for a dismissal.  According to the government’s proposal, only relevant ground would be sufficient in the future.

The government also justifies its proposal by saying that it will increase legal security for employers in situations where the legality of a dismissal on grounds related to the employee’s person could previously have been questioned.

– In our opinion, and based on the proposal, it is completely impossible to know where the threshold for a legal dismissal is met in the future. It will probably take a few years before we know what the new provisions mean in practice and where the threshold for a dismissal is. This means increased uncertainty for both employees and employers.

Keywords:

collective agreement politics

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