Finland to register workers from other European Union countries

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Finnish labour authorities want to know how many citizens of other European Union countries are working in Finland, and under what terms.
      From the beginning of this week, Finnish employers have been obliged to report to labour authorities information on all employees from other EU countries. Disclosure is also mandatory for workers hired through temp agencies, and those working for subcontractors, if they are in Finland longer than two weeks.
      Most workers from other EU member states have come through temp agencies. The interim period restricting direct employment of citizens of new EU states has expired, and many Finnish employers are considering direct recruitment of foreign labour.
     
At present, nobody really knows how many citizens of other EU member states are working in Finland, and what the terms of employment are. As of Monday, employers are required to submit information on foreign workers to local employment offices. However, no punishments have been set for employers who shirk their obligations.
      Another rule in which enforcement has been somewhat tenuous has been the requirement that foreign temp agencies that send workers to Finland must have a representative in Finland with records on pay and working hours.
      "Ignorance is extensive", says Kristiina Linna, an inspector for the Turku Occupational Safety District. "At times it seems like a representative is pulled out of a hat. Often the person who commissioned the work will come forward as the temp agency representative - the one whose obligation is to see to it that a representative can be found."
      However, Linna adds that inspections and a warning are usually sufficient encouragement for employers to get their acts together.
     
The proliferation of temp agencies was a way for Finnish employers to circumvent the rules delaying access to the Finnish labour market for citizens of Estonia and the other new member states that joined the EU in 2004.
      The interim period expired at the beginning of May, and while the temp agencies still operate, many Finnish employers facing a labour shortage are slowly turning to recruiting their foreign EU workers directly.
      Merja Berglund of the Federation of Finnish Enterprises says that her organisation gets quite a few inquiries on how to go about recruiting foreign employees.
     
Finland’s labour shortage in the construction industry has been eased largely by Estonian temp workers. However, with many Estonians attracted by the prospect of higher wages in Finland and other EU countries, Estonia itself is facing a labour shortage.
      Finnish employers are increasingly looking beyond their southern neighbour, toward other new EU member states, such as Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland, for skilled workers.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Use of temp workers continues to increase (16.5.2006)

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