Unions have expressed their concern at the level of fixed-term in employment in the public sector in Finland which at 24.2% is higher than the private sector at 12.7%. Overall Finland has the fourth highest rate of fixed-term employment in the European Union. Public sector trade unions are particularly worried about the fact that fixed-term employment affects more women than men in the public sector and is an obstacle to closing the gender pay gap.
Read more at > EIRO
FINLAND - unions want clampdown on fixed-term jobs
More like this
Growth in involuntary fixed-term employment
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&
Important legal victory on fixed-term contracts
The JHL public services union has won a landmark ruling on the used of fixed-term contracts. The worker concerned had had eight consecutive fixed-term contracts over a period of six years and the employer had tried to argue that this was permissible because the job was related to dealing with annual applications to the European Union’s structural funds. The court rejected the employers’ argument and awarded compensation to the employee. Read more at > JHL (EN)
Fixed-term contract case referred to European Court
Last year the Irish public service union IMPACT won a case on behalf of 91 civil servants who had been discriminated against because they were on fixed-term contracts. The civil servants had lost out in terms of a number of benefits in comparison to their colleagues on permanent contracts and were offered £217,500 in compensation plus back pay by Ireland's Rights Commissioner. The Irish government has appealed and the Labour Court has now referred several issues to the European Court to resolve. Read more at > IMPACT