The Act on the Contractor’s Obligations and Liability when Work is Contracted Out
The Act on the Contractor’s Obligations and Liability when Work is Contracted Out aims at preventing “grey”, or undeclared, economy, and its purpose is to promote equal competition between companies as well as compliance with terms of employment. The Regional State Administrative Agency (AVI) for Southern Finland is the body that monitors compliance with the Act in Finland.
The Act applies to contractors that in Finland use temporary agency workers; or at whose premises or work site in Finland there is an employee working who is in the service of an employer that has a subcontract with the contractor. It is not relevant if the contractor acquires the temporary agency workers or the subcontracting from a Finnish company or a foreign company.
Before entering into a contract on the use of a temporary agency worker or on work based on a subcontract, the contractor has the obligation to check that their contracting partners fulfill their legal obligations as contracting party and employer. This means that the contractor (Helsinki Shipyard) must request, and the contracting partner must provide, documents and certificates defined in the Act that are no older than 3 months. For the list of documents and certificates, and for further information, please follow the link:
Act on the contractor’s obligations and liability | Vastuu Group
Helsinki Shipyard recommends that its partners join Vastuu Group’s Reliable Partner 2.0 service, where the documents and certificates required by the Act on the Contractor’s Obligations and Liability are available in one always up-to-date report. With the help of reliable data, the service enables better and more sustainable cooperation between different stakeholders and makes the everyday life of companies easier and more efficient. The service is currently available for Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish and Swedish companies.
The Act on Posting Workers
A posted worker is an employee of a foreign company who is temporarily performing work in Finland either under a contract as subcontracted work or as temporary agency work. The habitual place of employment of a posted worker is some other country than Finland and after temporarily performing work in Finland the worker returns to his/her country of origin to work for his/her employer.
The Act on Posting Workers provides provisions on posted workers. The Act specifies the Finnish provisions on work and employment that are applied whenever they are more advantageous for the employee than the legislation otherwise applicable to them. For the purposes of applying the Act, it is irrelevant whether the posted worker’s employer is in another EU Member State or outside the EU.
The provisions contain obligations for the posting company, i.e. the employer of the posting worker. For the list of obligations, and instructions, please follow the link to the website of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in Finland:
Posted worker – Tyosuojelu.fi – Occupational Safety and Health Administration => For employer
Light Entrepreneurship
Light entrepreneurship (kevytyrittäjyys in Finnish) is prohibited at Helsinki Shipyard. The prohibition applies to working as a light entrepreneur at the shipyard on behalf of both Helsinki Shipyard’s direct contractual partners and the entire subcontracting chain.
Because current Finnish legislation does not recognize light entrepreneurship, light entrepreneurs work from a legal point of view either in an employment relationship or as an entrepreneur. By prohibiting the use of light entrepreneurs at its shipyard, Helsinki Shipyard wants to avoid legally ambiguous situations and aims to minimize the risks of labour exploitation and prevent the non-fulfilment of legal obligations in its subcontracting chain. At the same time, Helsinki Shipyard wants to ensure occupational safety for everyone working at the shipyard.
Finnish Tax Number
In Finland, a tax number is mandatory for everyone who works at a shipbuilding site (shipyard) and the tax number must be entered into the public register of tax numbers maintained by the Tax Administration.
Finnish employees can see their tax number on the tax card or in MyTax. The tax number can be entered into the public register of tax numbers by the employee or his or her Finnish employer.
How to enter your tax number into the tax number register in MyTax – vero.fi
Foreign employees must have a Finnish personal ID before they can get a tax number. To apply for a personal ID and a tax number, and to get the tax number entered into the public register of tax numbers, the employee must make an appointment for visiting the tax office. The processing time, on the condition that all the information and documents are made available to the Tax Administration, is normally from 1 to 3 business days. Read more about how to apply for a Finnish tax number on the website of the Tax Administration:
Safety Cards
Everyone working at Helsinki Shipyard is required to have a valid Occupational Safety Card approved by TTK (The Centre for Occupational Safety).
Hot workers are also required to have a valid Hot Work Card approved by SPEK (The Finnish National Rescue Association). Electrical workers are also required to have a valid Electrical Work Safety Card (SFS 6002 standard) and emergency first aid training for electrical work.
The safety cards are personal and can be obtained by completing one-day training courses and a written test. Online courses are also available.
HSE Orientation (Health, Safety, Environment)
Before arriving at the shipyard, everyone must complete Helsinki Shipyard’s online orientation to the safety instructions. The certificate of completed orientation must be presented at the shipyard’s Permit Office.
If the duration of the work at the shipyard exceeds 2 weeks, the worker must also participate in HSE training arranged at the shipyard. Training in Finnish and English is organised according to the shipyard’s training calendar. For other languages, training through an interpreter is possible, but the subcontractor must arrange the interpreter himself and agree with the trainer on arranging a separate training. Helsinki Shipyard’s HSE training for subcontractor employees is valid for 2 years.
Shipyard’s Permit Office
The identity documents, possible permits related to the right to work, tax numbers, safety cards and certificates of completed HSE online orientation are checked at the Permit Office at the shipyard’s main gate. An appointment must be made for visiting the Permit Office before starting to work at the shipyard. The Permit Office issues the access passes.