Finland
The YLE news website reports that public sector employers in general use large numbers of fixed-term workers. However, in some parts of the public sector, such as the universities, workers have made successful legal challenges against employers who keep workers employed on a series of temporary contracts. The Ministry of Finance has reportedly said it intends to improve the situation but has so far not taken any action.
Read more at > YLE (EN)
The latest survey on fixed-term employment by the European statistics agency, Eurostat, shows a growth in involuntary fixed-term work for both men and women across all sectors. In health and social services 6.1% of women were involuntarily on fixed-term contracts in 2005, up from 5.3% in 2000. The corresponding figures for men were 5.9% and 5.4%. Women in health and social work now account for the largest proportion - 15.3% - of all women working involuntarily on fixed term contracts. [Read more at > Eurostat (EN, FR, DE)-> http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page?_pageid=1073,46587259&
The latest economic policy briefing from services union ver.di reveals that 2.7 million workers, nearly 10% of all employees in Germany are on fixed-term contracts. This is a significant increase from the early 1990s. The briefing notes in particular that two thirds of new jobs in the public and social services are fixed-term. Ver.di wants employers to justify the use of such contracts and to stop using them as part of normal employment practice. Read more at > ver.di (DE)
