Work-based residence permit to tighten to combat labour exploitation

The government on Thursday submitted a proposal to Parliament to tighten the residence permit on employment ground with the view to combat foreign labour exploitation, said the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment in a press release.

In future, it would be easier for the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) to issue a decision to refrain from granting residence permits to an employer where exploitation is suspected.

A company cannot be granted residence permits for a certain period of time.

The proposal aims to tackle the exploitation of foreign labour through proactive and effective measures.

" There must be clear and serious consequences for all forms of work-related exploitation. The Government has already tightened the penalties for work-related exploitation and now wants to impose stronger sanctions on employers who violate residence permit rules," said Minister of Employment Matias Marttinen.

The proposal also addresses recruitment fees. Going forward, a residence permit would not be issued if the employer had charged the employee a fee for entering into an employment relationship.

In addition, the Act will clarify the conditions for issuing residence permits to victims of exploitation.

The proposal also includes technical amendments to the Seasonal Workers Act resulting from an infringement procedure launched by the European Commission.

The amendments are due to enter into force in March 2027.