Phase
The Employment Contracts Act (55/2001), Act on the Protection of Privacy in Working Life (759/2004), Occupational Safety and Health Act (738/2002), Co-operation Act (1333/2021)
Native name
Työsopimuslaki (55/2001), Laki yksityisyyden suojasta työelämässä (759/2004), Työturvallisuuslaki (738/2002), Yhteistoimintalaki (1333/2021)
Type
Employee monitoring and surveillance
Added to database
17 October 2023

Article

- The Employment Contracts Act (55/2001) - Act on the Protection of Privacy in Working Life (759/2004): articles 4, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21. - Occupational Safety and Health Act (738/2002): articles 27, 63. - Co-operation Act (1333/2021): section 12.


Description

The Finnish Act on the Protection of Privacy in Working Life (759/2004) is the most important Finnish legislation related to the processing of employees’ personal data. According to this act, employers may operate camera surveillance at workplaces only for the purpose of ensuring the personal security of employees and other persons on the premises, protecting property or supervising the proper operation of production processes, and for preventing or investigating situations that endanger safety, property or the production process. The data collected through surveillance must be necessary for the employment relationship, protection of property, and ensuring the safety of employees and other persons on the premises.

Regarding electronic surveillance, employers are allowed to monitor their employees' use of e-mail and the Internet, but only under certain prerequisites. The article does not provide specific details on these prerequisites, but it does mention that the monitoring must be necessary for the employment relationship and that the employer must inform the employees of the monitoring.

In short, the so called 'right to manage' gives the employer the right to decide who does what, where, when and how, during work hours. This includes surveillance of employees' work. The right is however limited by employment agreements, collective agreements and other labour legislation. The protection of an employee's personal data, as well as video surveillance, is regulated in the Act on the Protection of Privacy in Working Life (759/2004). According to the Occupational Safety and Health Act (738/2002), employers must constantly monitor the working environment, the state of the work community and the safety of working practices.

The collection of personal data during recruitment and employment is also subject to regulation under the Co-operation Act (1333/2021), according to which it needs to be included in workplace dialogue. This includes the purpose and methods of surveillance by technical means of employees, the use data networks and the processing of employees' e-mail and other electronic communications.


Commentary

Compliance with the law on Occupational Safety and Health Act is monitored by labor protection authorities, which is the relevant region's Regional State Administrative Agency.

Compliance with the Act on the Protection of Privacy in Working Life is supervised by the occupational safety and health authorities in accordance with their competence, together with the Data Protection Ombudsman.

Occupational health and safety authorities monitor compliance with The Employment Contracts Act. In their supervisory role and, in particular, when monitoring the observance of general binding collective agreements, the labor protection authorities must work in close cooperation with the employers' and employees' associations whose provisions of the general binding collective agreements entered into by the employers must be complied with according to Chapter 2, Section 7.


Additional metadata

Cost covered by
Not available
Involved actors other than national government
National government Employer organisation Trade union
Involvement (others)
None
Thresholds
Affected employees: No, applicable in all circumstances
Company size: No, applicable in all circumstances
Additional information: No thresholds are set in the legislation: the regulations apply to all companies regardless of their size.

Citation

Eurofound (2023), Finland: Employee monitoring and surveillance, Restructuring legislation database, Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/legislationdb/employee-monitoring-and-surveillance/finland

Download as PDF