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21.01.2025 15:34

Fair dismissal protection benefits everyone

The Orpo government plans to make it easier for employers to to fire workers. PAM wants to secure fair and predictable practices through collective agreements.

Currently, dismissals can legally be based on financial or production-related reasons, or on proper and weighty reason related to the employee’s person.

The Orpo government is preparing a law change to remove the requirement for weighty reason, also called serious grounds. In future, only a proper reason would be required for dismissal.

According to current legal practice, a proper reason could be a one-time lateness or a minor failure to follow work instructions, but these are not considered “serious grounds”. The government plans to present its proposal by the end of March, after which Parliament will review it.

Uncertainty that might affect anyone

Tummahiuksinen nainen valkoisessa paidassa istuu sohvalla ja katsoo suoraan kameraan.

— Uncertainty and insecurity will increase if the law changes as the government plans. There would no longer be clear rules or practices regarding dismissals related to the employee’s person, says Sirpa Leppäkangas at PAM.

Clear guidelines for the new rules will only emerge through court rulings. Individual cases often take years to move through the courts. Comprehensive legal precedent could take decades to develop.

— People often think, “This won’t affect me because I’m a good employee.” But none of us are always perfect or faultless. Everyone can be late occasionally or make a mistake, says Leppäkangas.

— It shouldn’t be the case that an employee’s human errors give exploitative employers the right to dismiss people on flimsy grounds.

Current dismissal protections can be safeguarded through collective agreements

PAM aims to ensure that dismissal practices remain fair and predictable for all employees. That’s why one of its goals in collective bargaining is to safeguard dismissal protections.

In some sectors, for example in industry, collective agreements include specific provisions on dismissal protections that reflect the current law. However, this is not the case in most of PAM’s sectors, where dismissal protections are directly based on the law.

— In service sector, many workers are in a weaker position due to the nature of their employment or because they’re not familiar with laws and agreements that . It’s harder for them to stand up for themselves. If the legal dismissal protections are weakened, the imbalance will grow worse, Leppäkangas points out.

Workers’ sense of security at work is essential for their well-being and for maintaining stable working environments. Dismissals related to the employee’s person also leads to a waiting period for unemployment benefit, which can cause serious financial difficulties.

— We want collective agreements to include clauses on dismissal that protect workers and ensure clear rules and practices for everyone.

Text: Hildur Boldt, picture: Shutterstock

Collective bargaining 2024-2025

In collective bargaining, PAM and the employers’ associations negotiate collective agreements with pay rises and other terms of employment for all workers in private service sectors.

Follow the negotiations at
pam.fi/collective-bargaining

Keywords:

collective bargaining employment relationship

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