Inspectors find that Finnish employers often violate basic rights of foreign employees
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Shortcomings in the implementation of labour regulations have been found at about half of workplaces where foreigners are employed.
Inspectors specialising in monitoring working conditions of immigrant workers have been visiting workplaces for the past year. By the end of June, about 900 workplaces with foreign workers had been inspected. In about 40 cases the violations were seen to be so severe that they led to a police investigation.
The most severe problems were in pay and working hours. Foreign workers were often paid less than native Finns for the same jobs, and employers often neglected to pay compensation for working overtime.
Nine special inspectors were employed by Finnish occupational safety districts last year to check on the implementation of labour rules concerning foreign workers. In addition to enforcing minimum labour standards, the inspectors have also checked to see if those requiring work permits had them. In nine out of ten cases, work permits were in order.
Workers' rights are most frequently violated in fields where short-term contracts and subcontracting are common. This is why the inspections focused on construction, the metal industry, cleaning, as well as the hotel and restaurant business.
"The large number of cases that have been brought forward indicates on the one hand that the need for special inspectors is real. On the other hand, it shows that the right places have been chosen for inspection", says Jaakko Itäkannas, of the occupational safety section of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.
The focus of the inspections has been on the south of Finland, which also has the greatest amount of foreign labour.
The inspectors put a high priority on the payment of wages. In the Uusimaa occupational safety district, there were 42 cases in which wages were below the minimum, and just 37 where wages that were paid were in accordance with existing labour contracts.
The problem was less severe in the district of Turku and Pori, and that Häme.
"Numerically, the focus of the inspections has been on small ethnic restaurants and small cleaning companies, where there are many problems", says inspector Katja-Pia Jenu of the Uusimaa occupational safety district.
Last year's figures from the Uusimaa district show that employers were inadequately prepared for the inspections. Papers on foreign workers, as required by law, were kept by just one in four work places, and fewer than half of employers had checked if foreigners working for them had a right to work in Finland.
The misuse of foreign labour is also a key component of the "grey economy". Labour officials have been working closer with police and taxation authorities in recent years to alleviate the problem. A three-year programme of close scrutiny of the restaurant industry in 2002 - 2005 brought to light millions of euros in unpaid taxes.
A police unit monitoring the use of foreign labour has also operated for about two years. There have also been changes in legislation on the monitoring of foreign labour, and there are more changes to come.
The changes are prompted by the enlargement of the EU over two years ago, and the recent end of restrictions on immigration by citizens of the new EU member states.
"The amount of foreign labour will grow in any case. With the reforms we want to avoid the kind of two-tier labour market that exists in Germany", Itäkannas says.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 21.8.2006 - TODAY |
 Inspectors find that Finnish employers often violate basic rights of foreign employees |
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