The unexpected inspections in the cleaning sector continue – still several neglects in association with the use of foreign labour

The use of foreign labour in the cleaning sector is still associated with several neglects. In 2017 the Occupational Safety and Health authority carried out 60 unexpected inspections on workplaces where cleaning work was performed. Among the inspection targets were both restaurants, shops, schools and metro stations. On 7 workplaces, there was a foreign worker on the workplace who did not have right to work in Finland. Moreover; on 12 workplaces there were uncertainties regarding the working conditions or there was reason to suspect that unofficial work was carried out. The results were similar to the ones obtained in unexpected inspections in 2016.

”We suspected unofficial work for example when a worker did not know the name of his or her employer or when a worker told us that he or she only came along to help a friend”, says inspector Niina Ahonen at the Occupational Safety And Health Division of the Regional State Administrative Agency of Southern Finland.

Unclear working conditions normally concerned wages and working hours. The workers for example stated that the basic wages were below the minimum agreed upon in the Collective Agreement or that evening supplements were not paid. Based on the information given during the unexpected inspections, we also carried out inspections of employer enterprises where we monitored wages, working hours and the terms in the employment contracts and compared the information obtained with our observations.

The inspection report of the unexpected inspections was always submitted to the contracting enterprise. Where deficiencies were observed in the inspections of the employer enterprises, these were also submitted to the contractor. Severe neglects were reported to the police for preliminary investigation. Inspections were also carried out together with the police and thus the police interfered immediately when illegal work was carried out.

The unexpected inspections in the cleaning sector will continue in 2018. The inspections are carried out when the work is done, which means mostly after bureau hours. In the inspections we ensure the foreign workers ‘right to work and besides this, the inspector interviews employees for example about wages, working hours and the terms in the employment contracts and we also give information on the workers ‘rights in Finland.

More information:

Inspector Niina Ahonen, Telephone 0295 16 134 firstname.familyname@avi.fi

Occupational Safety and Health Division, Regional State Administrative Agency of Southern Finland
www.tyosuojelu.fi

The Occupational Safety and Health Division is the regional occupational safety and health authority. The OSH Division monitors employer compliance with working life laws and regulations and that the work is carried out in a safe and healthy manner. Approximately 1,1 Mio employees work in the region and the number of working places which are monitored is 120 000.