Trusted employers to be able to recruit faster from outside EU
Published : 16 Feb 2020, 03:43
Minister of Employment Tuula Haatainen rolled out a policy on Friday that "trusted employers" in Finland will be able to get a more automated system when recruiting labor from outside the EU, which means the issuing of permits for labor from non-EU countries will be sped up.
Eligible employers would be such that could be counted on paying tax correctly and not applying substandard salary policies, Haatainen elaborated at a press conference. However, she added that the system of accreditation has not been established yet.
While the nationals of EU member countries need no permits, within the free movement of labor inside the EU, employees from outside the EU always have to wait longer for the permits to get jobs in Finland.
Haatainen acknowledged that the processes have been too lengthy and believed a speedy process, for the selected employers, would be possible in the near future.
The minister also underlined the importance of foreign labor for attaining the employment level goals of the current government. Finnish industries, especially the service sector, have complained recently about labor shortages and problems in recruiting. Critics have noted however that companies may seek for lower salary levels through international recruitment.
In recent years, local media have uncovered several cases of substandard salaries being paid to non-EU employees. In many cases, the workers without a command of local languages or English were not told about the salary rules in Finland, or were not able to pursue their cases.
In view of this situation, Haatainen told media that the conditions of non-EU employees "must be the same as for Finnish employees".