Advance notifications of posted workers to be introduced in September

On 15 June 2017, the government adopted provisions on submitting notifications of posted workers. The President of Finland is to confirm the act on 16 June, and it is to enter into force on 1 July 2017.

The act will enable the introduction of advance notifications concerning posted workers in Finland. The notifications will be submitted to the occupational safety and health authority. The purpose of the notifications is to improve the targeting of the occupational safety and health authorities’ oversight activities.

Posted workers are employees sent by an employer in one EU Member State to work in another state on a temporary basis. In Finland, many posted workers are employed in such sectors as the construction industry.

Under the new act, every foreign undertaking that posts workers to Finland must as a rule submit a notification before the work begins to the occupational safety and health authority of posting workers to Finland under an agreement on provision of cross-border services. The obligation to submit an advance notification will enter into force on 1 September 2017.

Notification of posting a worker is not required if the undertaking is posting workers to Finland by an internal transfer within a group of undertakings for no more than five working days. In the case of building work, however, notification is always a requirement for performing work.

Among other things, the notification must contain the identification data, contact details and foreign tax ID of the undertaking that posts the workers; details of the accountable persons in this undertaking’s country of establishment; the customer’s identification data and contact details; in construction work, the constructor’s and main contractor’s identification data and contact details; the anticipated number of posted workers; the identification data and contact details in Finland of the undertaking's representative in Finland or information on the grounds on which there is no need to appoint a representative; the start date and anticipated duration of the posting of workers; the place in which the work will be performed; and the sector in which the posted workers will be employed.

If previously submitted information changes essentially, a requirement for the work to continue is that the posting undertaking submits a supplementary notification immediately as the changes occur. In construction sector work, also submitting these notifications to the constructor and the main contractor is a precondition for performing the work.

Technical modifications that will enable the introduction of the advance notifications are being planned in the occupational safety and health authority’s information systems. In the forthcoming technical system, the foreign undertaking that posts workers to Finland will complete an electronic form on the authority's website. This form will contain fields for entering the data required under the act. The data entered on the form will also be sent to the e-mail address provided by the party submitting it, or the undertaking posting workers. The regional state administrative agencies will also receive data from private service providers.

The act imposes a penalty fee on undertakings if they neglect submitting the advance notification of posted workers. As from 1 September 2017, the occupational safety and health authority can order an undertaking to pay a penalty fee if the notification has been neglected or it is incomplete. A penalty fee could also be imposed if a supplementary notification has not been submitted, regardless of essential changes.

Under the Posted Workers Act, the penalty fee shall be no less than EUR 1 000 and no more than EUR 10 000.

The Posted Workers Act (447/2016) was updated last year. The Act came into effect on 18 June 2016. This act implements nationally the Enforcement Directive of the Directive on the posting of workers (Directive on the enforcement of Directive concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services).

Further information:
Jan Hjelt, Government Counsellor, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 (0)29 504 8940
Senior Specialist Elli Nieminen, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. + 358 029,504 8247