The Finnish labor legislation – an introduction part 9
Representatives of the Employees at the
Work Place The shop steward and the occupational
health and safety representative systems in Finland.
In Finland, there is a specific shop steward system
that is recognized by the employers and
based on collective agreements I have discussed
before. It provides a representative (a shop
steward, or “luottamusmies”) to the employees
who are organized in trade unions.
In work places such as universities, the shop
steward system is an established structure and
therefore usually works rather well. Shop stewards
may negotiate on behalf of an individual
employee or on behalf of a collective of employees.
In work places that are not bound by a specific
collective agreement and therefore have no
elected shop stewards, the Employment Contracts
Act (chapter 13 section 3) allows the employees
to elect a specially appointed representative
(“luottamusvaltuutettu”).
The shop stewards and the employees’ representatives
receive a certain time off from their
work duties due to the shop steward/representative
duties and also collect a small monthly award
from the employer. An employee who is not organized
in a trade union, may not use the shop steward
services, because the collective agreement
only appoints the shop steward to represent the
organized employees. The representative elected
according to the Employment Contracts Act, however,
may represent the whole employee collective.
The shop steward/representative status
has protection against dismissal according to the
Employment Contracts Act.
The occupational health and safety
representative’s position is not based on the collective
agreement, but on the Act on Occupational
Safety and Health Enforcement and Cooperation
on Occupational Safety and Health at Workplaces. Therefore, the occupational
health and safety representative
is a mandatory representative
at larger work places (places
with at least 10 employees).
The occupational safety
and health representative represents
the employees of the
workplace when dealing with various matters
in cooperation with the employer. Additionally,
it is the duty of the occupational safety and
health representative to become familiar, on his
or her own initiative, with the environment of
the workplace, matters connected with the state
of the work community and matters affecting the
safety and health of employees. They also need to
be familiar with occupational safety and health
legislation. The occupational safety and health
representative shall also participate in inspections
and expert investigations relating to occupational
safety and health, if the expert or occupational safety
and health authority considers the participation
necessary.
The occupational safety and health representative
shall also, for his or her own part, make the
employees he or she represents pay attention to
matters that promote safety and health at work.
The occupational health and safety representative
is also protected against dismissal according to the
Employment Contracts Act.
In the next article, I will discuss the renewed
Non-Discrimination Act and The Act on Equality
between Women and Men.
For more information, please visit:
text Mia Weckman
lawyer, the Finnish union of university researchers and teachers
- Painetussa lehdessä sivu 42
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