Co-operation within a Finnish group of undertakings

The provisions of the Act apply to a Finnish group of undertakings or an undertaking with various business premises, which has a total minimum of 500 employees in Finland.

The provisions apply to those undertakings within a group of undertakings, or administratively independent operational units operating in Finland, which have at least 20 employees.

If the group of undertakings consists of one or more groups of undertakings, the provisions of the Act only apply to the uppermost group of undertakings, unless the management and employees’ representatives of the latter otherwise agree on the arrangement of co-operation.

Agreement on co-operation

The management of a group of undertakings (management of the uppermost group of undertakings), or an undertaking with various business premises and the employees’ representatives, can freely agree on the co-operation contents and procedure.

An agreement on co-operation must always be made in writing. Such an agreement can be in force for a fixed-term or until further notice.

Statutory standard rules:

• apply where no agreement has been concluded on co-operation between the management and the employees
• are only applicable after 12 months from the commencement of the agreement negotiations and at the latest within 24 months from the date upon which the preconditions for application of the Act were fulfilled, unless co-operation has been agreed on earlier.

Further information: cooperation ombudsman, see in Finnish yhteistoiminta-asiamies