This document provides information about working in Finland. It notes that 72% of Finnish employees have permanent full-time contracts while 12% work part-time. The unemployment rate in July 2012 was 10.2% and labor shortages existed in healthcare, services, and other sectors. Public services for job seekers are described, including registering at the Employment Office, qualifications for unemployment benefits, and vocational training opportunities. Contact information is provided for the Jyväskylä Employment and Economic Development Office.
Why Bulgaria? What are the advantages for a company to do business here? What is the most important thing to know for starting the investment? How to acquire citizenship and right of residence? What are the applicable incentives in relation to taxation, support by the administration, EU funds, etc.?
The team of Popov & Partners has developed a Doing Business Guide in Bulgaria which includes major issues for the prospective investor related to legislative regulations and requirements for starting a successful business in the country. The experts of the law office have selected and synthesized the relevant and important information for the investors as well as the main advantages of Bulgaria as a business destination.
Why Bulgaria? What are the advantages for a company to do business here? What is the most important thing to know for starting the investment? How to acquire citizenship and right of residence? What are the applicable incentives in relation to taxation, support by the administration, EU funds, etc.?
The team of Popov & Partners has developed a Doing Business Guide in Bulgaria which includes major issues for the prospective investor related to legislative regulations and requirements for starting a successful business in the country. The experts of the law office have selected and synthesized the relevant and important information for the investors as well as the main advantages of Bulgaria as a business destination.
industrial relations, european industrial relations, industrial relations in Europe, labour relations, employment relations, social dialogue, trade, unions, crisis, cross-sector, employers, european company, european framework agreements, european works council, industrial action, industrial action, industrial relations, law, minimum wage, sectoral social dialogue, social dialogue, trade unions, wages, working time, bargaining in the shadow of the law, collective agreements, European commission, EU law, EU treaties, decentralization of collective bargaining, single employer bargaining, multi-employer bargaining, extension of collective agreements, favourability principle, opt-out, opening clause, erga omnes, commodity, ILO, dispute settlement, varieties of capitalism, coordinated market economy, liberal market economy, bi-partite, tri-partite, Val Duchesse, macro-economic dialogue, tri-partite social summit, social dialogue committee, working time, labor productivity, labor cost, trade union density, collective bargaining coverage, pay, autonomous agreements, telework, parental leave, BUSINESSEUROPE, ETUC, CEEP, UEAPME, mega trends, information and consultation
Immigration and multiculturalism have been topics of considerable public debate recently in Finland. SAK is part of the labour movement, so this policy statement and its recommendations will deal only with the world of work.
SAK
There is little previous comparative research on how new EU member state immigrants (NMS12) and their labour market performance differ across the old member states. This paper extends the earlier literature by investigating NMS12 immigrants’ composition and labour market performance in Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, which are characterized by considerable differences in their labour market institutions. These institutional structures might also influence the labour market outcomes of NMS12 immigrants and these countries’ abilities to absorb immigrants. As measures of labour market performance we use labour force participation, employment, type of employment, and occupational attainment. We use pooled cross-sectional data from the European Union Labour Force Survey from the years 2004-2009 in the analyses.
We find that NMS12 immigrants have, on average, a lower probability of employment than similar natives in all other countries except for the UK. As expected with the time spent in the host country, the employment gap between NMS12 immigrants and natives narrows in Finland, Germany and the Netherlands. NMS12 immigrants seem not only to suffer from lower employment (except in the UK), but the disadvantage NMS12 immigrants have in the labour market also shows itself in the type of employment and occupations they hold. NMS12 immigrants work more often as self-employed (except in Finland) and in temporary jobs which are often combined with poorer job quality than regular jobs. In addition, NMS12 immigrants’ likelihood of working in elementary occupations is higher in all four countries. Nonetheless, we also detect interesting differences among the countries in how much the NMS12 immigrants’ labour market position deviates from that of similar natives with regard to the type of employment and occupational attainment which can partly be explained by institutional differences among these countries.
Incentives to foreign companies investing in Finland. Business aid. Loans and guarantees. EU-funded support. R&D&I incentives. Capital investments. R&D tax break.
Lääne-Virumaa is an attractive destination for allocating your company or investment, because:
- Good logistic position: 100 km to the airport in Tallinn,
25 km to port Kunda, 120 km to the east border with
Russia (Narva)
- Highways network in good shape
- A railway and port to ship raw materials and/or goods
for export
- The existence and availability of local raw materials
- Skilled labour force within a radius of 100 km
- Local vocational schools and colleges ensure training
and retraining to labour force
- Long experience and traditions in wood processing,
metalworking, foods industry and transport
- Good cooperation with local authorities and assistance
to investors
industrial relations, european industrial relations, industrial relations in Europe, labour relations, employment relations, social dialogue, trade, unions, crisis, cross-sector, employers, european company, european framework agreements, european works council, industrial action, industrial action, industrial relations, law, minimum wage, sectoral social dialogue, social dialogue, trade unions, wages, working time, bargaining in the shadow of the law, collective agreements, European commission, EU law, EU treaties, decentralization of collective bargaining, single employer bargaining, multi-employer bargaining, extension of collective agreements, favourability principle, opt-out, opening clause, erga omnes, commodity, ILO, dispute settlement, varieties of capitalism, coordinated market economy, liberal market economy, bi-partite, tri-partite, Val Duchesse, macro-economic dialogue, tri-partite social summit, social dialogue committee, working time, labor productivity, labor cost, trade union density, collective bargaining coverage, pay, autonomous agreements, telework, parental leave, BUSINESSEUROPE, ETUC, CEEP, UEAPME, mega trends, information and consultation
Immigration and multiculturalism have been topics of considerable public debate recently in Finland. SAK is part of the labour movement, so this policy statement and its recommendations will deal only with the world of work.
SAK
There is little previous comparative research on how new EU member state immigrants (NMS12) and their labour market performance differ across the old member states. This paper extends the earlier literature by investigating NMS12 immigrants’ composition and labour market performance in Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, which are characterized by considerable differences in their labour market institutions. These institutional structures might also influence the labour market outcomes of NMS12 immigrants and these countries’ abilities to absorb immigrants. As measures of labour market performance we use labour force participation, employment, type of employment, and occupational attainment. We use pooled cross-sectional data from the European Union Labour Force Survey from the years 2004-2009 in the analyses.
We find that NMS12 immigrants have, on average, a lower probability of employment than similar natives in all other countries except for the UK. As expected with the time spent in the host country, the employment gap between NMS12 immigrants and natives narrows in Finland, Germany and the Netherlands. NMS12 immigrants seem not only to suffer from lower employment (except in the UK), but the disadvantage NMS12 immigrants have in the labour market also shows itself in the type of employment and occupations they hold. NMS12 immigrants work more often as self-employed (except in Finland) and in temporary jobs which are often combined with poorer job quality than regular jobs. In addition, NMS12 immigrants’ likelihood of working in elementary occupations is higher in all four countries. Nonetheless, we also detect interesting differences among the countries in how much the NMS12 immigrants’ labour market position deviates from that of similar natives with regard to the type of employment and occupational attainment which can partly be explained by institutional differences among these countries.
Incentives to foreign companies investing in Finland. Business aid. Loans and guarantees. EU-funded support. R&D&I incentives. Capital investments. R&D tax break.
Lääne-Virumaa is an attractive destination for allocating your company or investment, because:
- Good logistic position: 100 km to the airport in Tallinn,
25 km to port Kunda, 120 km to the east border with
Russia (Narva)
- Highways network in good shape
- A railway and port to ship raw materials and/or goods
for export
- The existence and availability of local raw materials
- Skilled labour force within a radius of 100 km
- Local vocational schools and colleges ensure training
and retraining to labour force
- Long experience and traditions in wood processing,
metalworking, foods industry and transport
- Good cooperation with local authorities and assistance
to investors
Presentation by Ralf Resch, General Secretary of CEEP, during the conference on "The impact of the crisis on employment in the Baltic states" in Vilnius (19 Nov 2010)
1. What is Finland like as an operating environment? Why you
should come to Helsinki?
2. What costs and incentives are there involved in setting up a
business?
3. How can we help your business to grow?
1. Living and Working in Finland
Employment and Economic Development Office of Jyväskylä, Finland
2. Finnish labour market
72 % of employees work under a permanent full time contract
Some 15 % of employees work under a fixed-term contract
Some 12 % of employees have part-time contract
1-2 % of employees work as temporary agency workers
Women generally participate in the labour market,
their employment rate being 71 %
About 70 % of the population has a vocational education
Upper secondary school level qualifications 39 %
Higher educations (University of Applied Sciences or University) 28 %
Source: Statistics Finland 7/2012
3. Employment and unemployment
in July 2012
Labour shortages and unemployment commonly occur
simultaneously in the Finnish labour market
Employment rate 72,7 %
Unemployment rate 10,2 %
Espoo 6,9 Turku 14,6
Helsinki 8,9 Oulu 15,4
Vantaa 9,3 Tampere 14,2
Kuopio 11,3 Lahti 15,1
Jyväskylä 14,2
5. Labour shortages
most problematic sectors: health care and services
TOP 10 shortages in May 2012
registered nurses
laboratory nurses, radiographers
medical doctors
social workers
social welfare workers, personal assistants
nursery school teachers
special education teachers
cleaners
sales representatives and telemarketers
accounting staff
Source: Occupational barometer, Ministry of Employment and the Economy
6. Enough unemployed in May 2012
unskilled jobseekers (no education, no experience)
construction workers without vocational education
industrial workers without vocational education
telecommunications engineers
IT operators and IT support persons
assemblers of electric and electronic products
tailors, dressmakers
artists (visual arts)
office workers
travel agents, guides
Source: Occupational barometer, Ministry of Employment and the Economy
7. Searching for a job
National labour administration: www.mol.fi
”Avoimet työpaikat” (vacancies) > under ”Maakunta” select the last option ”Koko
Suomi” (whole Finland) > ”sanahaku” (keyword) > write ”English”> push enter
EURES Portal: http://eures.europa.eu
Academic recruitment services: www.aarresaari.net
Companies often recruit through their own internet sites.
Typical address is: www.companyname.fi
List of 100 largest Finnish companies: www.uranus.fi
Vacancies in the largest newspapers www.oikotie.fi
Private recruitment agencies e.g. www.manpower.fi,
www.adecco.fi, www.barona.fi, www.staffpoint.fi, www.hpl.fi
The national helpline Työlinja +358 295 020 700 Mo-Fri between 8-18:
Personal advice about work, jobs and labour market.
8. Terms of Employment
Collective agreements (ca. 160) specifying pay rates
for various sectors like Commercial sector, Construction
industry, Hotel and restaurant industry, Financial sector etc.
If there is no collective agreement (e.g. domestic helpers),
the salary should be at least 1 103 €/month (in 2012)
More information about labor legislation:
www.tyosuojelu.fi, www.mol.fi/finnwork, www.tem.fi
Ask for the employment contract in written form!
9. Regular working hours are usually at most 8 hours daily
and 40 hours weekly, but in collective agreements it has been
negotiated down to an average of 37,5 hours
Overtime is compensated with a higher rate of pay and there
are limitations on overtime: it’s allowed to do maximum 138
hours of overtime during each four-month period and during a
calender year a maximum of 250 hours
Annual holiday is at least 4 weeks (when the employment has
lasted up to a year) and 5 weeks (when the job has continued
over a year)
There are an average 9 paid national holidays a year
10. Some 68 % of workers belong to a trade union
The central federations are:
I. The Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions SAK
(industries, transport, private service industries)
www.sak.fi
II. The Finnish Confederation of salaried Employees STTK
(white-collar employees, service sector and industries)
www.sttk.fi
III. The Confederation of Unions for Academic
Professionals in Finland AKAVA www.akava.fi
12. Taxation
Income tax:
Up to 6 months: tax at source 35%
NB! Tax deduction of 510 € each month or 17 € per day for each working day
More than 6 months: progressive income tax including:
Social security payments 7,9 %
Members of the Finnish Lutheran/ Orthodox church pay a
church tax 1 – 2,15%
Local taxes vary from one city/municipality to the other
For example the share of all taxes and compulsory contributions
salary 2500 €/month = 25 %, 3000 €/month = 29 %
More information about taxation: www.vero.fi
13. Finnish unemployment benefits
Documents concerning work and education history required
U1/E301-form (transferring work history from other EU/EEA -countries)
I. The Unemployment allowance
(employment condition 34 weeks, ~ 8 months work in last 28 months)
a) Basic allowance (paid by The Social Insurance Institution of
Finland Kela)
b) Earnings-related (unemployment funds, e.g www.ytk.fi )
II. The Labour market subsidy
If you haven’t got enough work history
Benefit for a single person gross 31,36 €/day (in 2012)
www.kela.fi (basic allowance and labour market subsidy)
www.tyj.fi (earnings-related)
14. Services of Employment Office for foreigners
In order to be able to register as a jobseeker you must have:
- a residence permit A or P (continuous or permanent) or
- a residence permit B or an EU/EEA-citizenship.
With B-permit you are not entitled to unemployment benefits.
Registration for B-permit holders is recommended:
- at the last stage of your studies (e.g. in last year) or
- when you speak Finnish well.
Without any registration you can get these services at our
Recruitment centre 1. floor:
- help in creating CVs and applications by appointment
- information on educational possibilities.
15. If you have “Full Rights” for services
you can get:
(Kela has issued you a decision on your right for Finnish social security benefits)
- Unemployment benefits
- Vocational counselling (career planning)
- Labour market training + job seeking training
- Special services for disabled (occupational rehabilitation)
- Subsidized placement and traineeships
- Subsidy for job seeking travels in Finland
- Start-up grant for setting up a business
16. Jyväskylä Employment and Economic
Development Office (TE-Office)
Vapaudenkatu 58 A
Open daily at 9.00–15.45
EURES services, 1. floor
Immigrant services, 3. floor
(Open at 12.00-15.45)