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Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981 (No. 156) - Finland (RATIFICATION: 1983)

Other comments on C156

Observation

Direct Request

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The Committee notes the observations of the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK), the Confederation of Unions for Professionals and Managerial Staff in Finland (AKAVA), and the Commission for Local Authority Employers (KT), attached to the Government’s report.

Articles 3 and 4(b) of the Convention. National policy and leave entitlements. The Committee recalls that promoting men’s engagement in parenting and caring for children is an integral aspect of the Finnish gender equality policy. It notes the Government’s first report on gender equality 2011, which outlines the Government’s views on the future gender equality policy until the year 2020. The Committee also notes that one of the long-standing gender equality policy goals set out in the report, is a more equal distribution of family leave between parents, and that measures to achieve the goal of reconciliation of work and family life include the following: (i) extension of the right to leave for taking care of family members other than dependent children; (ii) increasing the use of family leave by fathers; (iii) improving compensation for costs incurred by employers due to parenthood; and (iv) addressing the needs of diverse types of families. The Committee further notes the Government’s indication that the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health carried out a family leave campaign in 2007 and 2008, and that in 2009, 73 per cent of the fathers used their paternity leave, 18 days at the most, and that the take-up of the extended paternity leave increased 13.5 per cent in 2010 from the previous year; however, fathers used only 7.1 per cent of all permitted parental allowance days in 2010. The Government further indicates that in order to encourage fathers to increase their use of parental leave, in March 2011, a parental leave work group appointed by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, submitted to the Government a memorandum on possible legislative amendments concerning the parental leave system. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the progress of any legislative amendments with regard to the parental leave system. It also asks the Government to clarify whether the family leave campaign is continuing, and to provide information on the impact of such activities, including statistical information on the extent to which men take family leave. Please also provide information on other measures taken to promote an equitable sharing of family responsibilities between men and women, as well as a copy of the interim report on gender equality, due in 2016.

Articles 7 and 8. Return to work following family leave and protection from dismissal. The Committee recalls that section 9 of Chapter 7 of the Employment Contract Act appears to be primarily concerned with dismissal during a family leave period, rather than dismissals upon return. It also notes that SAK and AKAVA reiterate their previous concerns regarding the risk that employers may rearrange work and hire new employees so that there is no longer work available for the person returning from family leave, thus making his or her dismissal possible. In its reply, the Government refers to the “presumption provision” in the Employment Contract Act, which shifts the burden of proof for a reason of termination on to the employer, and the Government indicates that no cases have been presented to the Supreme Court or the Supreme Administrative Court during the reporting period. In this context, the Committee notes that the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women, in its concluding observations urged the Government to prevent the practice of illegal dismissal of women in cases of pregnancy and childbirth (CEDAW/C/FIN/CO/6, 15 July 2008, paragraphs 183 and 184). The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the practical application and effects of the provisions concerned with the ability of workers returning from family leave to remain integrated in the labour force. In this regard, the Committee again asks the Government to continue to provide information on any relevant court decisions.

The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.