Occupational safety and health authority inspects berry farms and commercial garden farms that use foreign labour

The occupational safety and health authority carries out inspections on berry farms, commercial garden farms and other agricultural workplaces that employ foreign seasonal workers. Inspections will be carried out this year at new sites as well as sites where negligence was found during inspections last year.

Inspections are carried out to oversee matters such as the minimum terms of employment and employers’ compliance with last year’s amendments to the collective agreement for rural industries, especially concerning contract pricing and guaranteed pay.

These inspections are carried out in particular during the harvest season, but also at the end of the season to investigate pay and working hours.

The occupational safety and health authority sent an email to agricultural employers with instructions on contract pricing, guaranteed pay and the use of foreign seasonal workers. The message sent to employers is published on website Tyosuojelu.fi in Finnish.

Using dubious employment intermediaries is a risk factor for exploitation

In Finland, any recruitment fees are always paid by the employer. Outside the EU, workers are often charged unreasonable fees. Charging a worker for a fee is punishable under Finnish law, and using dubious intermediaries exposes employees to exploitation.

“If an employer is getting workforce through past employees without paying anything for that service, you have to wonder how credible it is for someone to find dozens of workers to a farm without taking any intermediary fee”, says Senior Officer Merja Laakkonen from the Division of Occupational Safety and Health of the Regional State Administrative Agency for Eastern Finland.

Employers should only use appropriate personnel services that operate lawfully.