Savolainen, Anna

In light of the limited action in many Member States to introduce or review gender pay transparency instruments as recommended, in November 2017 the European Commission announced the possible need for further targeted measures at EU level. This report reviews experiences in four Member States – Austria, Denmark, Sweden and Finland – based on their company-level gender pay reports and audits.

Studies in 2010 and 2012 of measures brought in by Finland to ensure pay transparency have shown that employers were initially reluctant to close the gender pay gap. The results highlighted the need for improvement in the implementation of pay auditing measures, which led to amendments in the law.

The ongoing sectoral collective bargaining round, the government’s controversial active labour market policy, and proposed regulations on zero-hour contracts are the main topics of interest in this article. This country update reports on the latest developments in working life in Finland in the fourth quarter of 2017.

New measures to help the unemployed find work and greater support for working families against a backdrop of governmental crisis, and the merger of industrial trade unions are the main topics of interest in this article. This country update reports on the latest developments in working life in Finland in the second quarter of 2017.

Employer organisations in Finland, supported by the centre-right government, are increasingly shifting central-level collective bargaining – a key element in Finnish industrial relations – to sectoral and local level. The Confederation of Finnish Industries has changed its internal rules to ban participation in central-level bargaining and recently ended most of its peak-level agreements with the unions.

The effects of the decision by the Confederation of Finnish Industries EK to terminate most peak-level agreements with trade unions and a setback for employment policy reforms are the main topics of interest in this article. This country update reports on the latest developments in working life in Finland in the first quarter of 2017.

Reforms to employment law, structural changes to the peak-level social partners and problems facing industrial unions' plans to merge are the main topics of interest in this article. This country update reports on the latest developments in working life in Finland in the fourth quarter of 2016.

The Diversity Barometer 2016, a survey-based study by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, explores the perceptions and attitudes of human resources professionals to diversity in Finnish workplaces. It finds that the key aspects of diversity are age and age-related issues, language and ethnicity, and that professionals in the field see workplace diversity as strength.

A trial of a new basic income, budgetary proposals to reduce unemployment, and conflicts between Akava and other trade union confederations are the main topics of interest in this article. This country update reports on the latest developments in working life in Finland in the third quarter of 2016.

The ‘Competitiveness Pact’, a tripartite labour market agreement, was signed in June 2016 after over a year of difficult negotiations. The Pact involves a nationally and internationally exceptional deterioration of workers’ terms and conditions. The negotiation process had disruptive repercussions on social partner organisations and seemingly brought the traditionally centralised collective bargaining system to an end.