Decent work conditions are not self-evident in Finland – service sectors prone to exploitation

The Victim Support Finland’s video aims at emphasizing the conditions for decent work, i.e. a living wage and decent working conditions which do not come true with all workers at all, on a global scale. World Day for Decent Work is celebrated on October 7 everywhere in the world.

Exploitation in varying degrees is common in almost all sectors but the situation is particularly difficult in service sectors where a lot of exploitation of varying degrees takes place.

PAM’s lawyer Suvi Vilches points out that work-related exploitation is a broadly-defined concept with its scale stretching from wages lower than those determined by collective agreements to work-related human trafficking i.e. forced labour.

”Work-related exploitation often affects people with immigrant background who are in a vulnerable position in the labour market, for several reasons. They may not have a common language with the employer or they have poor knowledge of the Finnish working life”, Vilches explains.

In service sectors many workers also work alone or in a group of foreign people which further puts them at risk of being exploited at work.

Typical exploitation includes, for example, forcing people to unpaid work periods or hours, working days which are longer than agreed or making people work for long periods without days off.

In 2017, The Occupational Health and Safety Division at the Regional State Administrative Agency carried out 937 on-the-spot inspections at workplaces, related to the use of foreign labour. In 183 cases, problems related to non-compliance with the generally binding collective agreement or the prohibition of discrimination were reported. Non-compliances were particularly reported in restaurants and cleaning services where approximately half of the inspected workplaces did not comply with the generally binding collective agreement in terms of wages.

Victim Support Finland (RIKU) is a service to support victims of crime, their loved ones and witnesses of criminal cases after the crime has taken place. At the moment, RIKU provides support to more than 80 persons who have been victims of work-related human trafficking or other form of serious labour exploitation. In some cases, foreign workers have suffered from extremely poor working conditions for a long time and the exploitation has become systematic.
Informing people is one of the many ways to prevent exploitation at workplaces.

”Information is key. Both union members and non-members have to be aware of the legislation and collective agreements in force, and aware of their own rights as well. People should also understand that telling about these things in Finland shall not lead to dismissal, and reporting them to the labour protection inspector, for example, is ok. We should also encourage people to ask questions if they feel that everything is not ok in their employment relationship. You can always ask questions”, Vilches stresses.

PAM has an active role in securing the rights of its members but also a more wide-reaching role in protecting labour interests in service sectors in general: preventing the creation of a two-tier labour market and inequality.
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”This involves bringing up these phenomena and cooperating with NGOs, for example”, says Vilches who representes PAM in the Fair Work network, established in 2016 together with the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions SAK’s Employee Rights Advisory Service and RIKU, to develop cooperation to prevent exploitation of foreign workers, in particular, and to help victims.

”If you believe that you or other employees are being exploited at your workplace, please contact your own trade union, SAK’s free-of-charge Employee Rights Advisory Service or the authorities”, Vilches adds.

You can find Victim Support Finland’s video on workers’ rights in English here. Dfferent language versions of videos is found here.