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.
Finland: Staff information and consultation on business transfers
Phase
Employment Contracts Act (55/2001), Co-operation Act (1333/2021), Act on Cooperation within […] Groups of Undertakings (335/2007), Act on Cooperation within Government Agencies and Institutions (1233/2013), Act on Cooperation […] within Municipalities (449/2007)
Native name
Työsopimuslaki (55/2001), Yhteistoimintalaki (1333/2021), Laki yhteistoiminnasta suomalaisissa ja yhteisönlaajuisissa yritysryhmissä (335/2007), Laki yhteistoiminnasta valtion virastoissa ja laitoksissa (1233/2013), Laki työnantajan ja henkilöstön välisestä yhteistoiminnasta kunnissa (449/2007)
Type
Staff information and consultation on business transfers
Added to database
15 July 2015
Article
55/2001: Ch. 1, Sec. 10. 1333/2021: Ch. 4. 335/2007: Ch. 4 Sec. 44. 1233/2013: Ch. 4, Sec. 17. 449/2007: Sec. 11
Description
The transferor and transferee shall inform the representatives of the personnel groups affected by the transfer of the following:
time or intended time of transfer;
the reasons for the transfer;
the legal, economic and social consequences of the transfer to the employees; and
planned measures affecting the employees.
The transferor shall provide the personnel representatives with the available information referred to in subsection 1 in good time before completion of the transfer.
The transferee shall provide the personnel representatives with the information referred to in subsection 1 above within a week of the completion of the transfer. The transferor and transferee may also fulfil their obligation to inform personnel representatives jointly.
If the business transfer has results falling within the scope of the negotiation obligation provided for in section 16, negotiations on changes shall be conducted on these matters in accordance with chapter 3.
After having provided the information referred to in section 26, subsection 1 to the personnel representatives, the transferee shall afford them the opportunity to ask further questions and shall answer such questions.
At the request of the personnel representatives, the employer shall present the information referred to in subsection 1 to the entire personnel.
Commentary
Trade unions find that staff information and consultation practices are often deficient in events that do not involve dismissals, including in business transfer situations. Especially the Finnish Confederation of Professionals (STTK) has promoted a reform of the acts on cooperation so as to encourage more dialogue and cooperation within companies.
Additional metadata
Cost covered by
None
Involved actors other than national government
National government
Involvement (others)
None
Thresholds
Affected employees: No, applicable in all circumstances Company size: 20 Additional information: No, applicable in all circumstances
Eurofound (2015), Finland: Staff information and consultation on business transfers, Restructuring legislation database, Dublin,
https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/legislationdb/staff-information-and-consultation-on-business-transfers/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.
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.
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?
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.