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#EU4FairWork campaign
Undeclared work does not respect national borders. Together with its member states, the European Labour Authority (ELA) will organise a communications campaign to disseminate information on actions taken to tackle undeclared work and on reasons why declaring work is in the interests of everyone. The European Union is working jointly against undeclared work.
In Finland, the campaign will involve a comprehensive network of participants, including ministries, supervisory authorities and organisations: Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Finance, Police, Finnish Immigration Service, the occupational safety authority i.e. the Occupational safety and health divisions at the Regional State Administrative Agencies, Finnish Tax Administration, Finnish Centre for Pensions, Centre for Occupational Safety, Confederation of Finnish Industries EK, Confederation of Finnish Construction Industries RT, Suomen Yrittäjät ry, Finnish Hospitality Association MaRa, Confederation of Unions for Professional and Managerial Staff in Finland Akava, Service Union United PAM, Finnish Construction Trade Union, Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions SAK, Finnish Confederation of Professionals STTK, Transport Workers’ Union AKT, Employers’ Federation of Road Transport ALT, European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control HEUNI, Kela and KT Local Government Employers.
The communications campaign starts in March and ends in October 2020. You can follow the campaign in the social media under the hashtag #EU4FairWork.
Inquiries:
Päivi Kantanen, Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment
Anna Rissanen, Communications Specialist, Ministry of Employment and the Economy
More information:
The Grey economy & economic crime website: #EU4FairWork campaign
The Grey economy & economic crime website: Users of undeclared workers conceal the work to avoid their employer obligations
The wages for undeclared work are usually paid in cash. The wages paid to the employee or part of it is not declared to the Finnish Tax Administration and the employer does not pay the employee’s social security contributions such as the employment pension, unemployment insurance and accident insurance premiums.
At worst, undeclared work may be manifested as severe underpayment of wages and may be extortionate workplace discrimination or even human trafficking.
Everyone has the right to fair terms of employment and working conditions. Only work that has been notified to the authorities guarantees the right to social security and appropriate terms employment such as pay, working hours and occupational safety and health. Fair work is not discriminatory and does not abuse another person’s weaker position or ignorance. By declaring work, we also build our common security and the public services required by citizens and companies.
According to the observations made by several different authorities, the number of undeclared workers in Finland has been on the rise over the past two years. For example, this is revealed by an increase in contacting the occupational safety and health authorities and the observations made by the authorities when conducting inspections at workplaces.
Finland prevents undeclared work by improving legislation and the operating conditions and cooperation of the authorities at both the national and international level.
The prevention of undeclared work is part of the programme tackling the grey economy and economic crime.
The prevention of undeclared work is a political priority for the European Union. In summer 2019, the European Labour Authority (ELA) was established to step up efforts to tackle undeclared work and abuses in cross-border situations. The ELA promotes awareness of the EU’s movement provisions among companies and workers, better implementation of the provisions, and cross-border cooperation and monitoring by the authorities.