Finland: government tables reform ahead of European presumption of salaried status for false self-employed

A government bill, presented to the Finnish parliament on 13 October, aims to clarify the distinction between employees and self-employed workers. If adopted, a general interpretation of the employment relationship will be made according to four criteria: the terms of the contract (remuneration, etc.), the working conditions, the intention of the parties and the factors affecting the balance of power between them. The aims of the reform include facilitating the choice of contractual relationship between the parties and providing legal clarity in case of litigation. It would allow Finnish people who get their employment contract reclassified as a salaried contract to be entitled to paid holidays and checks on their working hours. Although the four criteria introduced by the government do not entirely overlap with those intended to define the employee relationship in the proposed European directive on platform work (see article n°12820), the two texts are linked. “Since platform work is a cross-border phenomenon, it is necessary to find common solutions to the rules of the game at the EU level. Regardless of the progress of the directive and its entry into force, this now-prepared national law amendment is definitely an important reform to take the new forms of work into account in the labour legislation,” underlines Finnish labour minister Tuula Haatainen. The new provisions will take effect on 1 July 2023.