The Occupational Safety and Health Authority supervises foreign companies posting employees to Finland and their buyers. The Occupational Safety and Health Authority also receives posting notifications, which posting companies must always submit before starting work in Finland. In April 2023, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration published a report detailing the supervision carried out in 2022*. The Occupational Safety and Health Authority received more than 18,300 notifications about posting, from 49 different countries. The largest number of workers posted to Finland came from Estonia, Germany and Lithuania.
In the case of posting companies, it was checked whether the companies had made a notification about the posting and appointed a representative for the posted workers, and whether the necessary information required by law was available during the posting. In the extended inspection, the fulfillment of the minimum employment conditions of the posted employees was also investigated by checking the employment terms and conditions, salary and working time records, as well as accident insurance and occupational health care in Finland.
The buyers ordering work from the posting companies were checked to see if they had taken care of informing the posting company regarding the notification obligation and appointing a representative. The buyer has the obligation to ensure that the posting company makes a notification about posting employees and that the representative of the posted workers is available in Finland for the entire duration of the posting. In addition, the buyer is obliged to ensure the right of foreign employees to work in Finland. The buyer’s obligations are monitored especially in connection with construction site inspections.
In the case of posting companies, the most deficiencies were related to posting notifications. There were also deficiencies in pay, timekeeping and the minimum terms of employment. In the case of buyers, the most shortcomings were in the obligation to provide information of having to submit a notification of posting. The occupational health and safety authority issues operating instructions and prompts related to deficiencies, or imposes a negligence fee. A negligence fee can be imposed for the violation of the law on posted workers and it can be imposed on the posting company and the buyer. In addition, in construction work, a negligence fee can also be imposed on the developer or main contractor in certain cases.
In order to avoid negligence fees, operators in different roles (buyer, main contractor, contractor) must clarify their own responsibilities and obligations before starting work and submit the appropriate documents in time. It is good to give clear instructions to foreign companies of the requirements in Finland, so that they know exactly what is required of them by law. If the buyer, the main contractor or the contractor carrying out the work feels that they need help in fulfilling their own obligations or making instructions, it is worth asking for advice from an expert, for example from Checkfin Oy😊
