Finnish trade unions would prefer shortened working hours to lay-offs

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Much has been written lately about the merits of Finland's system of temporary lay-offs as an alternative to outright redundancies when companies feel the need to downsize. However, there are voices that suggest an alternative approach might be still better.
      The Finnish employee organisations take a positive attitude towards the German labour force policy whereby the employees of a given company can work shorter hours for a certain period, while the state pays the employee 60-67% of the lost earnings.
      Moreover, the company is also entitled to apply for some compensation, provided that it does not dismiss its employees permanently.
      In Germany a large number of employees have started the so-called Kurzarbeit (”short-time work”), while the Finnish version of organising work for everybody is to announce temporary lay-offs: scaracely a day has passed lately without notice of such moves.
      Pertti Parmanne, the Director of the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK), pointed out that shortened weekly working hours used to be more common even in Finland in the past.
      ”There has been a change in the attitudes of employers since the 1990s. Could it be that the world has turned into a colder place and employers have become more hard-hearted and do not even consider other alternatives?” Parmanne asks.
     
However, the Finnish trade unions point out that when it comes to employees’ mental well-being, a shortened week would be a better alternative, as it is stressful to see your team breaking up.
      Ralf Sund, an adviser at the Finnish Confederation of Professionals (STTK), says that all possible ways should be used in order to maintain some kind of connection to working life.
      ”After a six-month uninterrupted unemployment, only every second employee comes back to the labour market. The Finnish state has been reluctant to grant corporate subsidies out of tax revenues. However, we cannot afford long-term unemployment now that we will be facing a real shortage of labour as soon as the upswing period starts again”, argues Sund.
      Leila Kurki, a specialist in labour policy at STTK, points out that compared with dismissals even lay-offs are a sign of responsible policy.
      ”Temporary lay-offs are a Finnish version of flexible work arrangements, which can naturally cause distress to employees. During lay-offs the employees should have opportunities to take part in some kind of training”, Kurki argues.
     
Representing the employers, the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK) states that the Finnish lay-off model is a unique and internationally praised system.
      ”The German Kurzarbeit arrangement and the Finnish lay-off system are two alternative methods for solving the problem of cutting work in a flexible way without dismissals”, states EK’s Senior Adviser Seppo Saukkonen.
      According to Saukkonen, temporary lay-offs constitute a kind of part-time work model.
      ”It is true that the Finnish state does not cover any of the costs caused by lay-offs, but the input of the state is crucial to the financing of the entire unemployment security system”, Saukkonen points out.
     
A brand new model is being tested in the municipality of Paltamo near Kajaani, where all unemployed residents are included in the payroll of a new employment house in order that they can earn a basic livelihood through customised jobs. The government-subsidised project will last four years.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Temporary lay-offs are a Finnish version of organising work for everybody (18.2.2009)

Links:
  The Finnish Confederation of Professionals (STTK)
  Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK)
  The Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK)

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