SY: Law change would make hiring foreign workers harder

Stricter policies on labour migration could weaken Finland in the competition for skilled workers, says Suomen Yrittäjät, the Finnish SME association.

The rules regarding a foreign person’s right to work are changing. Under a draft Government Bill, the Aliens Act would be amended to include a three-month grace period during which an employment-based resident permit could not be cancelled if the employee became unemployed. After the grace period of three, or in some cases six, months, the foreign person would have to leave the country if they had not found a new job.

The goals of the draft Bill are retaining foreign labour in the country and foreigners’ employment, which would be the basis for remaining in the country. In its statement, Suomen Yrittäjät says that the effects of the amendment could, however, be the opposite.

“Legislating about a three- or six-month grace period in the way the Government is planning to sends foreign workers and their families a message that their presence in the country is not considered positive. Stricter policies on labour migration could weaken Finland in the competition for skilled workers,” says Albert Mäkelä, an expert at Suomen Yrittäjät, the Finnish SME association.

The Ministry of Employment and Economic Affairs has requested submissions on the draft Government Bill concerning foreigners’ employment rights.

“As it stands, a foreigner must leave Finland immediately as soon as their resident permit expires, even though there is no explicit rule about this, because being in the country without a valid residence permit is illegal. However, revoking a residence permit, such as when employment ends, is discretionary,” Mäkelä says.

“According to the draft Bill, the Finnish immigration service has adopted a procedure whereby it does not begin the process of revoking a residence permit within a three-month grace period. In this disregard, the proposed regulation would confirm the prevailing official practice.”

Does not encourage investment in Finland

The draft Bill states that it is influenced by EU directives which require the setting of similar periods for job seeking as in other EU countries.

“However, Finland could, without prejudice to EU legislation, retain in force grace periods which would be better for foreign workers. The Directive does not require legislating a three-month grace period. Rather, the Directive’s three-month grace period is the minimum time during which a residence permit may not be cancelled when the foreign worker becomes unemployed,” Mäkelä says.

“In the global talent marketplace, the rule proposed by this draft does not create a significant incentive to invest in Finland,” Mäkelä says.

Suomen Yrittäjät says that different professions and industries can have considerably different times during which people manage to find work. When setting the grace period, sufficient attention should be paid to the fact that actually starting the work may not begin for a while after the new hire signs an employment contract.

The draft Bill says nothing about how the grace period will be applied in a situation where the employee has signed a new employment contract during the grace period but will only begin working after the grace period has ended. Particularly in jobs requiring highly skilled workers, whether this grace period is enough could vary significantly. In some situations, a specialized expert or equivalent foreigner could quickly find a new job once their old one ends. In other situations, recruitment processes can be long, which could make a six-month grace period too short,” Mäkelä says.

Read the entire Suomen Yrittäjät statement here.

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