Article
Ch. 4, 5, 6, 12 and 13 of Working time act (872/2019); Ch. 5 of Employment contracts act (55/2001)
Description
Regulation regarding flexible working hours
According to the Working Time Act, an employer and an employee can agree on flexible working hours, flexitime or reduced working hours. The maximum negotiable flexitime period for when an employee can start and end their workday, is four hours. The employer and employee can also agree on flexitime to be used during evenings, not only during regular working time. Rules on flexible working time can also be applied if at least half of an employee’s working time is of a kind that the employee can decide on how and where to work.
The reformed Working Time Act also allows for the introduction of a so-called working time bank system. It allows employees to work extra in exchange for additional vacation days. The system is supposed to consider employees' individual needs and to improve productivity and competitiveness. The employer and employee agree individually on the use of the working time bank within a framework negotiated by the employer and an employee representative.
Regulation regarding overtime
According to the Working time act (872/2019) (in Finnish), overtime implies that working time exceeds eight hours a day or 40 hours a week in the regular working time regime. Slightly different rules are applied to the less common working time regimes (the average regular working time regime, period-based work, flexible working hours and flexiwork). Rules on flexible working times can be applied if at least half of an employee’s working time is of a kind that the employee can decide on how and where to work.
In accordance with section 17 of the act, overtime has to be particularly agreed with the employee each time it is needed, although a more generally applicable agreement on overtime can be made for a brief and predefined period of time. Working time shall not exceed an average of 48 hours per week over a period of four months. Furthermore, the daily rest period of at least 11 hours must be followed.
Overtime exceeding daily, or weekly regular working hours is to be remunerated by the regular wage plus 50% or 100%, depending on the number of overtime hours (section 25 of the act).
Regulation regarding temporary lay-offs
According to chapter 5 of the Employment contracts act (55/2001), the term 'lay-off' means a temporary interruption of work which does not affect the employment relationship in other aspects. The lay-off may be valid until further notice or may be valid for a fixed period. Employees can be temporarily laid-off when the work offered has diminished substantially and permanently. Other valid reasons are financial or production-related reasons or for reasons arising from reorganisation of the employer’s operations. Employees with fixed-term contracts can only be laid off if they are substituting permanent employees who could be laid off if they were working.
Employees must register with the public employment services, on the first day of the lay-off at the latest, in order to receive the unemployment benefits they are entitled to during the lay-off. A temporary lay-off can be either on a full-time basis, or it can involve a reduction in regular working hours. The law does not specify a maximum duration for a temporary lay-off.