Local representative for posted workers in Finland
Econia acts as the official local representative of international companies towards the Finnish Authorities. Our local representation service consists of the legal archiving service and consultation in the whole content of the representation. Our service also includes notifications of posted workers (see the duty to notify) and acquiring documentation according to the Contractor´s Liability Act to ensure site access in Finland.
We help you also in situations possibly occurring at the sites. Whether it is the Finnish Occupational Safety and Health authority or the Union shop steward asking questions for your posted workers, we are here to help you.
The Act rules that the local representative must be competent to act for the company posting the worker. The representative must also be reachable in Finland. By selecting Econia to act as your representative, you can avoid a penalty fee for negligence.
A “posted worker” is an employee who is sent by his employer to carry out service in another EU Member State on a temporary basis. If your company wins a service contract in another country and sends its employees there to carry out the contract, this is called posting of workers. These rules also apply if you send a staff member to a business you own in another EU country. In both cases, there must be an employment relationship between you and the posted staff. Posting rules also apply if a placement agency or a temping agency hires someone from a different EU country to work in a business registered in their country. In this case, an employment relationship must exist between the worker and the temping or placement agency.
For the duration of the posting the workers, you must guarantee your staff the same conditions and terms of employment as those in force in the host country. These can be regulated either by law or collective agreements. The EU law defines a set of mandatory rules regarding the terms and conditions of employment to be applied to posted worker.
POSTED WORKERS’ RIGHTS:
- minimum rates of paymaximum work periods and
- minimum rest periods
- minimum paid annual leave
- the conditions of hiring out workers through temporary work agencies
- health, safety, and hygiene at work
- equal treatment between men and women
The employer can also apply working conditions which are more favorable to workers than those of the sending Member State. The employer may also pay costs for travel, boarding, and lodging in the EU country where the worker is posted if this is foreseen in the home country’s legislation. These allowances will have to be paid on top of the normal wage. Requirements are not obligatory if the whole posting lasts for less than 8 days.
The EU law thus provides a clear framework to guarantee fair competition and respect for the posted workers’ rights so that both businesses and workers can take full advantage of the internal market opportunities.
The social security of posted workers is regulated through Regulation no 883/2004 on the coordination of social security systems. As a posted worker, you will continue to be covered by the social security system of your home country for a maximum of 2 years (there are exceptions).
