Finland: the social partners reform unemployment benefits and pensions

izations – SAK for blue collars, STTK for white collars, AKAVA for university-level trades – and the confederation of Finnish industries (EK) reached an agreement on a major social package. The agreement puts a halt to the toughening conditions for the award and to the reduction of unemployment benefits. In exchange, employers won’t have to pay for the minimum old-age pension and the age limit for the “unemployment pension” paid to older workers will be increased. The government and the...