The Finnish labor legislation – an introduction part 2
The employment contracts act applies to
contracts entered into by an employee, agreeing
personally to perform work for an employer
under the employer's direction and supervision in
return for pay or some other remuneration.
An employment contract may be done
orally, in writing or electronically, but a written
contract is always advisable. The employer
and the employee may agree on a trial period of
max. 4 months. An employment contract is valid
indefinitely, unless, for a legitimate reason,
it has been made for a fixed term. Fixed-term
contracts made on the employer's initiative
without a legitimate reason are legally considered
to be valid indefinitely. It is prohibited to
use consecutive fixed-term contracts when the
amount or total duration of the contracts or the
totality of contracts indicates a permanent need
of labor. (If you are unsure of the legitimacy
of your fixed-term contract, contact the local
shop-steward). During consecutive fixed-term
contracts under which the employment has
continued without interruption or with only
short interruptions, the employee is entitled to
all benefits he would on a permanent contract.
The employer may not exercise unjustified
discrimination against employees on the basis
of for example age, health, national or ethnic
origin, sexual orientation, trade union activity,
or any other comparable circumstance. This
also applies to hiring an employee. Less favorable
employment terms may also not be applied
to fixed-term or part-time employment.
The employer must ensure occupational safety
and health in order to protect employees from
accidents and health hazards. Employees who
are prevented from performing their work by an
illness or accident are entitled
to pay during illness. A report
from a doctor is usually required.
Employees may not work
for another party or engage in
such activity that would cause
manifest harm to their employer
as a competing activity.
During the term of employment, the employee
may neither utilize nor divulge to third parties
the employer's trade or business secrets. For a
particularly weighty reason related to the operations
of the employer, an agreement of noncompetition
may limit the employee's right to
conclude an employment contract with new
employer who is competing with the firstmentioned
employer, and also the employee's
right to engage in such operations on his own
account.
Employees are entitled to take leave from
work during maternity, special maternity, paternity
and parental benefit periods. Employees
are entitled to take parental leave in 1 or 2 periods,
the min. duration is 12 days. Employees are
entitled to take child-care leave until the child
reaches the age of 3. An employee who has been
employed by the same employer for a total period
of at least 6 months during the previous 12
months is entitled to take partial child-care leave.
The employee must notify the employer of
maternity, paternity or parental leave or child
care leave at least two months before the intended
beginning of the leave.
The employment contracts act is a very
important law and consists of 14 sections.
therefore i have divided this article into two. i
have tried my best to fit in the most important
parts of the law with the limited space i have.
for more details please visit www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/kaannokset/2001/en20010055.pdf.
text Mia Weckman
Lawyer, the Finnish union of
university researchers and teachers
- Painetussa lehdessä sivu 40
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