PAM’s Selin would like to see an organisation to advise entrepreneurs

Last week, when the Parliament of Finland was having a policy debate on new employment termination rules, government representatives said the legislation was needed above all because entrepreneurs find dismissing employees difficult.

“It would be better if they were properly informed about things”, PAM President Ann Selin stated.

In her opinion the image of Finnish entrepreneurs given out in the autumn by the Federation of Finnish Enterprises was very bizarre.

“I bet very few entrepreneurs identified with all the fuss that was stirred up. We all know that the majority of small entrepreneurs put in long hours themselves. Often their strongpoint is their special skills, for example as a chef. But they might not be quite so on top of the legal stuff and the paper work”, Selin said.

Although the legislation now proposed, with tripartite input, is very close to the current legal practice, it is nonetheless clear that in future dismissals will be taken to court that stretch the limits of the legislation.

“The obvious question is: shouldn’t someone set up an organisation in Finland where entrepreneurs could pay a membership fee to get expert guidance and perhaps legal assistance in dealing with employment matters. There doesn’t seem to be anything like that. Employees have trade unions for that purpose and employers can get advice from the employers’ federations”, Selin stated.

PAM’s Council will hold its regular meeting in Hattula on 20-21 November 2018. The Council will decide among other things on the action plan and budget and discuss the action programme to be approved by the union congress. The Council consists 50 full members, a chairperson and 2 deputy chairpersons.