Browse through brief employment and labor law updates from around the globe. Contact a Littler attorney for more information or view our global locations.

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COVID-19: Faster and More Flexible Temporary Layoffs and Trial Period Terminations

New Legislation Enacted

Author: Samuel Kääriäinen, Partner – Dottir Attorneys, Ltd.

The temporary changes to the Employment Contracts Act, originally in force until June 30, 2020, have been extended until December 31, 2020. The temporary changes have shortened the notice period for temporary layoffs from 14 days to five days. In addition, the temporary changes include the possibility to temporarily lay off employees with fixed-term employment contracts on the same grounds as employees with employment contracts, as well as the possibility to execute immediate trial period terminations for production, financial and/or re-organization (i.e., redundancy) related grounds. These temporary changes aim to help companies survive the COVID-19 effects to the business and will also include extending the redundancy related re-employment obligation to nine months after the employment has ended.

COVID-19: Cooperation Consultations Period Shortened

New Legislation Enacted

Author: Samuel Kääriäinen, Partner – Dottir Attorneys, Ltd.

The temporary amendments to the Act on Cooperation within Undertakings, originally in force until June 30, 2020, have been extended until December 31, 2020. The amendments shortened the minimum cooperation consultation period for layoffs from 14 days or six weeks to five days. The parties to the consultation are free to agree on an even shorter consultation period. The cooperation consultation obligation concerns companies regularly employing at least 20 employees. This is to help the companies survive the COVID-19 effects to the business. It should be noted, however, that some collective agreements require longer consultations and such collective agreement provisions must be complied with even after the temporary legislation changes.

Supreme Court Ruling on Industrial Action

Precedential Decision by Judiciary or Regulatory Agency

Author: Samuel Kääriäinen, Partner – Dottir Attorneys, Ltd.

On June 24, 2020, the Supreme Court ruled on a case relating to a so-called support strike by a fellow trade union. The ruling further highlights the strong constitutional protection to take industrial action in Finland. Based on Finnish law, a trade union may take industrial action (e.g., strike) only when a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is not valid. However, industrial action is also allowed during the validity of the CBA when the sole purpose is to support a fellow trade union and not to seek benefits relating to the supporting union’s own members. Another precondition is that the supported trade union is allowed to take industrial action, i.e., that it is not bound by a valid CBA. The targeted corporation claimed that the strike was unlawful because it failed to target any other companies in the same industry. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the trade union, stating that, in this case, the corporation failed to identify the discriminatory and inappropriate features of the support strike.

Supreme Court on Reinstatement Right and Transfer of Business

Precedential Decision by Judiciary or Regulatory Agency

Author: Samuel Kääriäinen, Partner – Dottir Attorneys, Ltd.

On May 15, 2020, the Supreme Court of Finland ruled on a case relating to transfer of business and the right of a municipal office holder. Unlike Finnish employees, Finnish public office holders are entitled to reinstatement if the termination of their service agreement is deemed unlawful. In this case a municipal office holder was made redundant, after which the department he was working for was transferred to a private company, resulting in a transfer of business and the automatic transfer of all personnel who had a valid employment. The redundancy was later deemed unlawful, however, the office holder could not be reinstated due to the transfer of the department. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the private company, stating that the municipal office holder had not been transferred to the company in the transfer of business. Although the company could have re-evaluated the earlier redundancy, it did not do so and was entitled to trust that the redundancy decision was appropriate.

COVID-19: Temporary Extension of the Annual Summer Holiday Season

Proposed Bill or Initiative

Author: Samuel Kääriäinen, Partner – Dottir Attorneys, Ltd.

The Finnish parliament is processing a proposal that would extend the period during which the majority of the annual holidays is to be taken. Based on the Finnish Annual Holidays Act, the summer holiday season is the period between May 2 and September 30, unless otherwise stated in a national collective bargaining agreement. The employer is entitled to allocate the majority of an employee’s annual holidays in this period, but does not have the same authority to allocate holidays outside of this period. According to the proposal, the period would be extended until the end of the year for 2020. This would give more flexibility for companies that would need to balance their employees’ holidays during a longer period of time.