Facilities services sector seeking a solution to extended working hours

Janne Forsman, chief shop steward at SOL Palvelut, and Timo Sairanen, the company’s Director of HR and Legal Issues, have met about a dozen times since the summer holidays to discuss extension of working hours. However, the negotiations are still unfinished to the extent that the reporter was unable to secure any details.

Extension of working hours is part of the competitiveness contract, which was concluded in June after a lot of to and fro. It applies to all those covered by the competitiveness contract – or ‘kiky’ (‘coco’) for short – accounting for about 90% of employees. Their annual working hours will increase by 24 hours while their pay will remain unchanged.

In the facilities services sector that has about 100,000 employees, implementation of the working hours extension will be negotiated at a local level. If the parties fail – or do not even attempt – to reach an agreement, the collective agreement includes a ‘fall-back’ clause introducing models for the extension. In such cases, those working 40-hour weeks will see a reduction in the number of their additional days off from 12.5 to 9.5 days per year, while weekly working hours may increase by 0.5 hours for those working 37.5 hours per week or in proportion to working hours for those working part-time.

- We have so many different employee groups that we also need to find several models for extending working hours, Forsman says. Sairanen adds the company’s perspective: the customers and the needs of their sites are also quite varied. Another issue is all the work that this change will cause for the company’s payroll administration: the more models that there are, the more challenges there will be.

A further question still to resolve is how to implement the extension for part-time employees. PAM recommends that full-time employees should bear the brunt of responsibility for the unpaid increase in working hours. For part-time employees, the extension will probably be adjusted in some way in proportion to their working hours.

At SOL Palvelut, part-time employees account for about one half of all staff.

SOL Palvelut employs about 8,000 people in Finland, 30% of whom are of foreign origin, representing more than 60 nationalities.
- I just challenged a colleague to come up with a good English equivalent for “kiky”, says Forsman.

He says that the extension of working hours presents a challenge for shop stewards.
- Few employees know what the whole thing is all about.

This is why Forsman considers it important to be available, especially when a solution has been reached and the working hours extension becomes a reality – which it will be on the very first working day of 2017.

Sairanen points out that supervisors are an important link once an agreement has been reached and it is time to inform staff. They are in direct contact with people toiling away at customer sites.

Forsman trusts the competence of PAM shop stewards as they negotiate working hours, even though the whole competitiveness contract is a big and new thing. During the autumn, shop stewards have participated in training sessions and PAM officials have also received orientation in the intricacies of the competitiveness contract.

SOL Palvelut launched the negotiations with a low profile.
- We started talks informally – you don’t need to keep minutes right from the start, Forsman says, looking back on the time after the summer holidays.
- It’s a good idea to go through the wildest and craziest ideas first and then start coming down to earth!

The company has three regional chief shop stewards. Based in Helsinki, Forsman has kept them up to speed and they will take a more intensive role once the parties start homing in on a solution.

Neither Forsman nor Sairanen would leave the local bargaining card off the table for the autumn, now that such a card has been dealt. This is also a practice round for the future: it is probably clear that more and more labour market issues will increasingly be negotiated at a company or workplace level.

- Local bargaining is a good opportunity for all sorts of development efforts, Sairanen adds.

What about the timetable? It should be ready by now!

- A decision should certainly be reached soon, Forsman says.
- Once we have some facts, it will also be easier to provide information.

The competitiveness contract will enter into force as follows:

Working hours: Extension of working hours by 24 hours per year will enter into force on 1 January 2017.
Other changes: Other amendments caused by the competitiveness contract will enter into force as the collective agreement period ends and a new one begins in each specific sector. In the facilities services sector, this date will be 1 February 2017.
Sectors: The working hours extension will be agreed locally within facilities services, ski resorts and pharmacies. Other PAM sectors will apply a common model. In the commerce sector, for example, the extension will mostly be implemented as part of a new annual leave system. It is also possible to negotiate details at a local level. The models for different agreement sectors were created in negotiations between PAM and employer organisations.