Violation of employee's right in Finland

[maranatha]

[rinso]

I have not been a member of any labor union.

Which means you're on your own.

Actions you could take:
- report racial discrimination with the police.
(but unless it is a very serious matter they won't do anything)
- Tell your story to the press.
(again it must be juicy otherwise it will be ignored. and since you cannot control the press, so it can backfire at you)
- Go to court and start a civil procedure against your boss.
(this requires a lawyer and they are not cheap)

[Rick1]

Actions you could take:
-- Go to court and start a civil procedure against your boss.
(this requires a lawyer and they are not cheap)

They can probably squeeze you in somewhere in week34 2012. Since you are not important, nobody is in a hurry. Many rules and guidelines concerning work here in Finland are still from the 50's. Anybody working still 6 days a week here? No, but they are still counting saturday as a working day for counting holiday days, very progressive country

[maranatha]

Actions you could take:
-- Go to court and start a civil procedure against your boss.
(this requires a lawyer and they are not cheap)

They can probably squeeze you in somewhere in week34 2012. Since you are not important, nobody is in a hurry. Many rules and guidelines concerning work here in Finland are still from the 50's. Anybody working still 6 days a week here? No, but they are still counting saturday as a working day for counting holiday days, very progressive country

Dont get Rick's point!

[Rick1]

I mean that even if you have a good case it takes 1 till 3 years to have it looked at. They have handled cases from three years old and older.

[maranatha]

I mean that even if you have a good case it takes 1 till 3 years to have it looked at. They have handled cases from three years old and older.

So...No solution...

[Rick1]

Depends on your case, only a lawyer can judge if it is worth or not. I saw some mails of people who are closer with the law. Otherwise I would ask a short visit with a lawyer and make a price for that visit only since you cannot use union lawyer.

[Rosamunda]

I think you have to decide what YOU want.

Do you want your job back? If so, find someone who can help you write a letter asking your boss's boss to consider giving you another chance. We call this a grovelling letter and it means that you basically agree to take no action against them and do whatever they ask you to do in the future. Maybe they could give you a job in a different part of the company (if that would solve your issues).

You don't want your job back? Then write to your boss's boss asking for a kind reference that might help you to get another job somewhere else, assuming you have done nothing wrong and the reasons for your dismissal were not due to any fault of your own.

You want compensation? The Finnish system does not pay out compensation $$$$ in the same way as in some other countries. If you are hoping for some kind of financial deal, forget it.

You want to get SOL in trouble? You could try writing to the MOL, the Minister, your local Member of Parliament etc

If the company failed to pay you correctly then you could try contacting Vero, or Kela and lodging a complaint.

Next time, seriously consider joining PAM.

[Pursuivant]

- Tell your story to the press.
(again it must be juicy otherwise it will be ignored. and since you cannot control the press, so it can backfire at you)

Good luck finding the next job...

[jtammilehto]

No, but they are still counting Saturday as a working day for counting holiday days, very progressive country

Of all the possible injustices I really don't think Finns have anything to complain about 'holiday time'

[riku2]

Of all the possible injustices I really don't think Finns have anything to complain about 'holiday time'

I think they have a lot to complain about:

holiday does not start until you've worked for a company for a long time unless you negotiate it in advance. In the UK if you start work in june 2010 then for june-dec 2010 you have half a year's holiday allowance. In finland you'll get ZERO until May 2011, when for May 2011 - Apr 2012 you'll get about 80% of a normal years allowance.

if public holidays fall on a saturday or sunday then hard luck. no day off work. in english speaking countries the public holiday is always moved to the next monday. christmas day/boxing day on a sat/sun = mon+tue are public holidays.

and then the law in finland actually insists you take at least a two week continuous holiday during the "summer" holiday period in finland. what if you're from south africa and want to go there for three weeks in january.

Finns reading this forum can write below about how the summer is so short in finland, how other european countries follow the same loss of bank holidays if falling on a weekend and how it's essential that it's written into law that long unbroken summer holidays should be taken - actually if you read the law the employer can actually TELL YOU when your summer holiday will be !! no-one in the UK with an education would ever sign a contract like that.

[Rosamunda]

In Espoo employees working for the local municipality take AN AVERAGE of 17 working days off work each year as sick leave!

Nobody seems to complain about that either.... not even the taxpayers Incredible.

Either Espoo is full of very very sick people or the taxpayers are being taken for a ride. Hopefully our new mayor will do something about it (hand out Ibuprofen with the salary slips?)

[Rick1]

What I was trying to say is that the holidays are based on long term work relationship; if you work less than a year (depends when ou start), you are not allowed to have winterholiday or summerholiday. In other countries you just build up every month 2 or 2,5 days and if you start in May in a new job, you can just go into minus for 10 days holiday and if you decide to leave in september, they just deduct these days from your salary. Better system and less fuss with counting the saturdays ( what happens when you take 4 days, they take a saturday anyhow) .

But as we know already, Finns are stuborn and do not want a foreigner to tell them wat to do so it is still paradise here and jsut shut up

And what Penelope mentioned is true, they should be getting better control I would say.

[CatNip]

[I think they have a lot to complain about:

holiday does not start until you've worked for a company for a long time unless you negotiate it in advance. In the UK if you start work in june 2010 then for june-dec 2010 you have half a year's holiday allowance. In finland you'll get ZERO until May 2011, when for May 2011 - Apr 2012 you'll get about 80% of a normal years allowance.

It's not that straight forward as you wrote.

Right to holiday
The employee is entitled to 2,5 weekdays of holiday for each full holiday credit month. However, if the duration of the employment relationship has been an uninterrupted period of less than one year by the end of the holiday credit year, the entitlement is 2 weekdays of holiday for each full holiday credit month.

A calendar month when the employee has been at work 14 days, or accumulated an equivalent period of days comparable to working days. If, in accordance with the employee’s contract, the employee works on so few days that he/she does not accumulate 14 days at work in any month, or accumulates 14 days at work in only some of the calendar months, a full holiday credit month is considered to be a calendar month during which the employee has been at work at least 35 hours, or accumulated an equivalent period of hours comparable to hours at work.

So you earn holiday always for the next holiday period. In 2010 the holiday credit year started April 1 2010 and continues until March 31, 2011. These holidays can be kept during the period of May 2, 2011-September 2011. Also the holiday pay is paid other before the holiday/during the holiday and holiday compensation after you have returned back to work.

Holiday pay and holiday compensation

The holiday pay of an employee receiving monthly pay shall be calculated by dividing the monthly pay by the number of workdays per month, and multiplying the resulting daily pay by the number of weekdays during the annual holiday.

The holiday pay of employees receiving hourly wages or piecework pay is calculated as follows:
1.The pay received by the employee, or his/her pay in arrears, for the time at work during the holiday credit year,
2.excluding any sum payable for emergency work and statutory or agreed overtime work on top of basic pay,
3.is divided by the number of days worked during the holiday credit year,
4.to which is added one-eighth of the hours at work in excess of statutory regular working hours.
5.If, in accordance with the employee’s contract, the employee’s weekly work days number less than or more than five, the average daily pay is multiplied by the number of weekly work days and divided by five.
6.The average daily pay resulting from this calculation is multiplied by a factor determined according to the number of holiday days, as referred to in section 11 of the Annual Holidays Act, or by a factor determined by a holiday pay agreement.

Percentage-based holiday pay is mainly used when calculating holiday pay for part-time employees, or holiday compensation for persons earning leave. The holiday pay is usually 9 percent. If the employment relationship has lasted for at least one year by the end of the holiday credit year preceding the holiday period, the holiday pay is 11,5 per cent of the employee’s pay, or pay in arrears, for the time at work during the holiday credit year. Any sum payable for emergency work and statutory or agreed overtime work is excluded. If the employee has been absent from work for a period considered to be comparable to working, the theoretical pay for that period will be included in the pay that forms the basis for calculating the holiday pay.

Other agreements on the percentage may be made through collective agreements (e.g. construction industry 18,5 percent, commercial part-time work 10 percent or 12,5 percent).

The holiday pay must be paid before the holiday starts, unless the holiday is shorter than 6 days. For employees earning leave, the holiday compensation is paid in connection with the leave or, at the latest, when the holiday period ends.

At the end of an employment relationship, the employee is entitled to holiday compensation instead of annual holiday for any holiday entitlement or holiday compensation earned but not yet received. Holiday compensation is calculated in compliance with the holiday pay provisions, as applicable.

When paying holiday pay or holiday compensation, the employer must give the employee a statement detailing the amount of holiday pay or holiday compensation and the basis on which they are determined.

and then the law in finland actually insists you take at least a two week continuous holiday during the "summer" holiday period in finland. what if you're from south africa and want to go there for three weeks in january.

The employer and the employee may agree that the part of the annual holiday that exceeds 18 days will be taken during the following holiday period, or after it, as saved leave. The employee has a right to carry over any part of his/her holiday exceeding 24 days, provided that this does not cause any serious harm to the production and service operations at the workplace.
An employee is granted annual holiday at a time determined by the employer, unless the employer and the employee agree on arranging the holiday.
The employer and the employee may agree on the following:
•The employee will take the part of the holiday that exceeds 12 weekdays in one or more periods.
•The employer and the employee may agree on the timing of annual holiday in a period that starts at the beginning of the calendar year, includes the holiday period, and ends the following year before the start of the next holiday period.
•The employee will take the part of the holiday exceeding 12 weekdays within one year of the end of the holiday period.
•The employee will take the annual holidays earned up to the end of his/her employment relationship before the employment relationship ends.
•On the initiative of the employee, the employer and the employee may agree on converting the part of annual holiday exceeding 24 weekdays into shortened working hours. The agreement must be in writing.

[Finns reading this forum can write below about how the summer is so short in finland, how other european countries follow the same loss of bank holidays if falling on a weekend and how it's essential that it's written into law that long unbroken summer holidays should be taken - actually if you read the law the employer can actually TELL YOU when your summer holiday will be !! no-one in the UK with an education would ever sign a contract like that.

As a matter a fact, in almost all cases you can agree on when you take holidays with your employer. In many Finnish companies the most wanted times are around Midsummer, and normally there is a system in the companies that everybody get the most wanted period on their turn. I have never had any problems on sorting out my holidays with my employer.
Law also makes sure that annal leave cannot be changed to cash to protect the employees.

[Pursuivant]

Law also makes sure that annal leave cannot be changed to cash to protect the employees.

Communist bastards. I want money, not holiday.