PAM’s statement: Attention should be paid to preventing labour exploitation rather than driving employees out of the country

PAM has issued a statement on the amendment to the Aliens Act.  

PAM reminds that labour exploitation is a real problem in Finland. This is highlighted, for example, by the cases that have come to light in berry picking and in the restaurant industry where the control mechanisms have not been sufficient to prevent or expose exploitation in time.

PAM believes that the plan to cancel an employee’s residence permit after three months of unemployment is a too quick a measure. Recruitment processes take time, and many immigrants lack social networks that make the process of finding a job easier.

The three-month rule is also problematic from an exploitation point of view. Employees may have to accept worse working conditions and wages to be able to stay in the country.

The employer’s notification obligation

According to the government, the employer’s obligation to notify of a worker’s unemployment would serve as a preventive measure to prevent labour exploitation. In PAM’s opinion, the government’s proposal may rather strengthen the employer’s dominant position by giving the employer a means of pressure.

 Extension of the right to work

The government extends work-based immigrants’ right to work to sectors that have been identified as sectors suffering from a labour shortage. In PAM’s view, this change would be particularly important for those workers who are already in the country and become unemployed as it would better direct labour-related immigration to sectors with a labour shortage.

However, PAM is concerned about how the government intends to define these bottleneck sectors. In today’s situation, the grounds for ELY Centres’ work permits often remain vague and are not based on an objective need for manpower. (see e.g. Labore’s blogs on the issue, Nieminen 8.8.2024)

The situation can weaken the balance in the labour market and make it less fair, because Labore’s study (Nieminen, Kiviholma, Kanninen and Karhunen 2024) shows that the abolition of labour market testing, i.e. defining a sector as a sector with a labour shortage, may lead to reduced wages, especially in low-wage sectors.

PAM believes that it would be important to use uniform and objective criteria based on facts when regional and national bottleneck sectors are defined.

New measures

PAM proposes to the Finnish government that underpayment should be criminalized. It would be an effective way to prevent labour-related exploitation, tax evasion and unfair competition. And if the trade unions were to be given an independent standing to bring legal actions on behalf of an employee, unions could play a more active role in monitoring workers’ rights, which could prevent abuse. This would reduce the resource burden on the authorities and thus contribute to the government’s savings target.

– Fair regulation, with authorities and other arrangements that effectively contribute to and monitor its realization, are in everyone’s interest. Instead, these legal changes, like other changes underway, increase uncertainty among foreign workers and weaken Finland’s attractiveness as a country. Finland should be a forerunner when it comes to attracting competent labour, especially considering our demographic structure, says PAM’s president Annika Rönni-Sällinen.