Chapter 11 - The National Legal Battle against Social Exploitation. National Practices of Finnish Labour Inspection

Summary

There are several public inspection authorities operating in the field of road transport in Finland. The Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment is the competent authority for market access. It grants for example community licences and driver attestations. Police and Customs are responsible for roadside checks. They also control road safety, cabotage transport and social legislation relating to driving times and rest periods.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Labour Inspection) oversees labour law as a whole, including the posting of workers and the health and safety provisions. It also carries out company checks to ensure that the social legislation relating to driving times is respected. Apart from that, labour inspectors also oversee the contractor's obligations which apply to all fields of business. As a whole, there are over 370 labour inspectors working in the field. In 2014, they carried out 25,000 work site inspections, over 1,000 of which were focused on the road transport industry in one way or another.

Labour inspections focus on actions that limit the grey economy and promote longer working careers. The concept of the grey economy also covers aspects of social dumping. Part of the problem of the grey economy is the failure to comply with the rules of the labour market. The grey economy is a serious social phenomenon that can only be successfully prevented if public authorities cooperate with each other. Labour inspections are one part of the comprehensive battle against the grey economy.

Labour Inspectorates check in particular whether employers only hire employees who have the right to work in Finland, whether the conditions of employment comply with the law and whether subcontractors have carried out their social obligations. Monitoring health and safety regulations is also part of the fight against the grey economy. Indeed, undue financial benefit may be gained if health and safety regulations are deliberately ignored.

Labour inspectors can only impose administrative measures. If shortcomings are noticed at the workplace, the inspector can issue a written recommendation or an improvement notice. An improvement notice may be issued only in specific situations and it can lead to a binding administrative decision. Particularly when it comes to matters of labour law, written advice is the only way to remedy an illegal situation.