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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Obligations for Redundancies Affecting at Least 10 Employees

New Legislation Enacted

Author: Antti Rajamäki, Employment Counsel - Dottir Attorneys, Ltd.

Employers will be obligated to notify the local employment office of any redundancies that affect at least 10 employees. In addition, the employer will be obligated to inform the employees about their right for a re-employment plan to be drafted together with the employment office. These legal obligations will be effective April 9, 2020.

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

New Legislation Enacted

Authors: Antti Rajamäki, Employment Counsel and Samuel Kääriäinen, Partner - Dottir Attorneys, Ltd.

Due to COVID-19, a temporary change to the Employment Contracts Act will shorten the notice period for temporary layoff from 14 days to 5 days. The change allows the temporary layoff of employees with fixed-term employment contracts on the same grounds as employees with employment contracts in force until further notice, as well as the possibility to execute immediate trial period terminations for production, financial and/or re-organization related grounds. The temporary package will also include extending the redundancy related re-employment obligation to nine months after the employment has ended. The legislation will be effective April 1, 2020, and shall be in force until June 30, 2020, and may be extended further.

COVID-19: Co-Operation Consultation Period to Shorten to 5 Days

New Legislation Enacted

Authors: Antti Rajamäki, Employment Counsel and Samuel Kääriäinen, Partner - Dottir Attorneys, Ltd.

Due to COVID-19, a temporary change to the Act on Co-Operation within Undertakings will shorten the minimum co-operation consultation period regarding 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 co-operation consultation obligation concerns companies regularly employing at least 20 employees. The legislation will be effective April 1, 2020, and shall be in force until June 30, 2020, and this period may be extended later. There are some collective agreements that require longer consultations and such provisions must be complied with even after the temporary legislation changes.

Supreme Court Ruling on Comparable Positions and Equal Treatment

Precedential Decision by Judiciary or Regulatory Agency

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

On January 15, 2020, the Supreme Court ruled on salary equality between two groups of employees working for the same employer. The factual duties of both employee groups had significant similarities but the salaries were different, in favor for the full time paramedics over firefighters. The city of Helsinki justified the salary difference by identifying differences in the duties and by remarking that the groups were governed by different collective bargaining agreements containing their own salary provisions. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the employer, stating that although as a main rule an employer must treat all of its employees equally, it is allowed to deviate from this main rule for a justified reason relating to the employees’ positions, duties or working conditions. This rule applies where there are several similarities, as long as there are relevant differences. It is not relevant to compare duties that are more challenging than the other, since the two groups are different to one another.

COVID-19: Right to Unemployment Benefit Due to Layoff is Expanded

Proposed Bill or Initiative

Author: Antti Rajamäki, Employment Counsel and Samuel Kääriäinen, Partner - Dottir Attorneys, Ltd.

Due to COVID-19, a temporary change to the Unemployment Benefit Act will expand the employee’s right to unemployment benefits in layoff situations so that the employee’s studies or entrepreneurship would not disable the employees possibilities to receive unemployment benefit during layoff. In addition, the government plans to remove the five-day waiting period from the beginning of the unemployment temporarily. The legislation will be enacted in April 2020, but will affect all temporary layoffs initiated after March 16, 2020, and shall be in force until July 31, 2020.