Finland’s three-party government gave unanimous approval on Thursday to a bill to amend the Act on Cooperation within Undertakings.
The legislation sets conditions for discussions between management and employees on key issues affecting the work force - mainly job cuts.
The agreement was the result of lengthy debate within the government parties. Labour market organisations followed the debate intensely, and put forward a number of compromise proposals.
The government agreed that the cooperation procedure would apply to companies with as few as 20 employees; present law imposes the procedure on companies with 30 or more employees. However, the measure that was approved on Thursday states that there will be a six-month transitional period before the legislation applies to small companies with 20 to 29 employees.
The bill also calls for training and advice for smaller companies on the implications of the procedure.
Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) said that he is "very satisfied" with the proposal, noting that the measure strikes a balance between wage earners and entrepreneurs, and strengthens cooperation in companies.
Vanhanen noted that a few small changes were made to the proposal, which would lower the threshold for companies to take on employees.
Also pleased with the proposal was Minister of Labour Tarja Filatov (SDP), who hoped that the measure would ease what she sees as unnecessary fears among entrepreneurs.
The impact of the legislation on small companies is to be monitored, and the need for possible changes will be assessed after three years.
The Swedish People’s Party pushed through a stipulation, according to which the needs of members of a linguistic minority must be taken into consideration.
