European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
Eurofound's ERM database on restructuring-related legal regulations provides information on regulations in the Member States of the European Union and Norway which are explicitly or implicitly linked to anticipating and managing change.
335/2007: §3, 1233/2013: Ch. 5, Sec. 24-25, 28, 449/2007: Sec. 8-9, 1333/2021: Ch.3, Sec.21.
When planning to dismiss or to temporarily lay off one or more employees, or when planning to turn one or more full-time employment relationships into a part-time, the employer is obliged to deliver the negotiation proposal with relevant details to the public employment services (TE Office) before the beginning of the negotiations.
When planning to dismiss 10 or more employees the employer must draw up a plan of action specifying ways to promote the reemployment of workers who are about to lose their jobs. In cooperation with the public employment services, the employer must chart the availability of services available for supporting employment. The plan must include the estimated schedule of the negotiations, the procedures to be followed therein, and principles for the use of public employment services and for supporting reemployment and training during the dismissal notice period.
The clauses are applicable to companies with 20 or more employees.
The Law on Amending the Employment Contracts Act [Laki työsopimuslain muuttamisesta] (403/2023), which entered into force on will enter into force as of January 1st, 2025, states that the employer must immediately notify the labor authority of the dismissal of employees, if there are at least ten employees to be dismissed on economic or production grounds. The notification must state the number of employees to be dismissed, their hometowns, occupations or job duties, and the dates of termination of employment.
The obligation of small companies with fewer than 20 employees to notify the public employment services in case of dismissals was revoked in April 2017. The reform was part of the efforts of the Government of Prime Minister Juha Sipilä to reduce and streamline regulations and to reduce the administrative burden of small companies. The main trade unions did not oppose the reform, but proposed that dismissed individuals be counselled to immediately contact the public employment services to investigate applicable employment services and unemployment benefits. Such a clause was not included in the legislation.
Eurofound (2015), Finland: Public authorities information and consultation on dismissals, Restructuring legislation database, Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/legislationdb/public-authorities-information-and-consultation-on-dismissals/finland
This Eurofound research paper explores key trends in restructuring in recent years, highlighting the companies that announced the largest job losses and job gains in the EU. It builds on an analysis of company announcements recorded in Eurofound’s European Restructuring Monitor (ERM), alongside a new classification of restructuring events involving changes in company location.
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Employers increasingly use tools such as email, SMS and messaging apps like WhatsApp or Signal to communicate with employees. While these technologies offer both efficiency and convenience, their use in communicating sensitive information, particularly for notifying employees of dismissal, raises legal concerns. This article explores the legal framework on dismissals across the EU, with a special focus on the use of digital means for communicating employment dismissals. Drawing on examples from various Member States, it examines the legal validity of digital dismissals.
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In 2023, thousands of workers in big tech lost their jobs. Meta, Amazon, Google, Apple, Microsoft and Salesforce had been considered to offer good and secure jobs up to this point. Giants of the information and communication technology (ICT) sector, these companies are among the highest paying, with Eurostat data from 2022 indicating that workers in ICT had the second-highest median gross hourly earnings (surpassed only by earnings in the financial sector).[1] These layoffs were a shock, especially as the biggest companies had hired extensively during the COVID-19 pandemic. What happened in the two years after this redundancy wave – was that the end of the cuts or did the companies start expanding again?
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In 2024, the automotive sector in the EU came to the fore in public and policy discussions. The focus was on the slowdown in electric vehicle (EV) sales, rising global competition, belated investments in new technologies, and the potential closure of production lines in Europe. A number of European car manufacturers and suppliers announced their intention to make large-scale redundancies and change long-standing collective agreements on job security and wages, while workers raised concerns amid demonstrations and industrial action.
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