Employer's notification obligation of posted workers enters into force
The new Posted Workers Act came into force on 18 June 2016. The Act contains a provision obliging companies posting employees to Finland to notify the Finnish Occupational Safety and Health authorities before the work begins.
Due to technical requirements relating to the notification procedure, the notification obligation came into force on 1 September 2017.
The notification must include the following information:
- identification details, contact information and foreign tax identification number of the posting company and information on the responsible persons in the country in which the posting company is established;
- identification details and contact information of the contractor;
- in the case of building work, identification details and contact information of the builder and the general contractor;
- anticipated number of the posted employees;
- identification details and contact information of the representative of the posting company or information on the grounds under which no representative need be appointed;
- starting date of the employees' posting and the anticipated duration of the posting;
- location of the work; and
- sector in which the posted employee will be working.
The posting company has an obligation to notify the Occupational Safety and Health authorities of any significant changes in the information referred to above.
No notification obligation applies if the posting company posts employees to Finland within a group of companies for a period of five working days at maximum. The period of the current posting and any other periods within the last four months are taken into account when calculating the duration of the posting. However, a notification is always required for posted employees in the construction industry. Additionally, in relation to construction work, the posting company is obliged to notify the builder and the general contractor of the issues listed in Sections 3 and 4 above.
In case of a breach of the notification obligation, the Act imposes a penalty fee of EUR 1,000–10,000 taking into account the type, extent and recurrence of the negligence. The penalty fee may also be waived or imposed in reduced amount if the act of the posting company may be considered minor and waiving the penalty or imposing the penalty in reduced amount may be considered reasonable.
Prior to imposing a penalty fee, the Occupational Safety and Health authorities must provide the posting company with an opportunity to provide an explanation, unless the company does not have a representative in Finland.
