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The Committee takes note of the Government’s report and the comments made by the Confederation of Finnish Industry and Employers (TT), the Employers’ Confederation of Service Industries in Finland (Palvelutyönantajat), the Central Organization of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK), the Commission for Local Authority Employers (KT) and the State Employer’s Office (VTML), concerning the averaging of the 40-hour week over a one-year period, which in Finland is permissible under section 6, paragraph 2, of the Working Hours Act (No. 605/1996) as amended by several Acts, including No. 624/2002.

The Government’s report and the employers’ comments state that in practice fixed regular weekly hours are the norm for working-hours arrangements, and that the average weekly working hours of waged and salaried employees are considerably shorter than 40 hours. The employers’ organizations TT and Palvelutyönantajat point out that the transition towards calculating working hours over periods longer than a week has been brought on by new arrangements in working hours and became a global trend. They further refer to EU Council Directive 93/104/EC of 23 November 1993 concerning certain aspects of the organization of working time which allows the averaging of working time over a period longer than a week.

According to the workers’ organization, SAK, under collective agreements, calculation periods of six weeks, eight weeks, 26 weeks, three months or six months are not uncommon. It stresses that a period of six months should not be exceeded, in order to ensure that labour protection is not jeopardized. Also, the EU Council Directive 93/104/EC restricts the reference period for the calculation of the average working time to four months.

The Committee would like to point out that in general a reference period of up to one year appears to be too long to guarantee full application of the principle of 40 hours as embodied in the Convention. In fact, Paragraph 12(1) of the Reduction of Hours of Work Recommendation, 1962 (No. 116), stipulates that the calculation of normal hours of work as an average over a period longer than a week should only be permitted when special conditions in certain branches of activities or technical needs justify it. Where hours of work are calculated as an average, it is clear that the longer the reference period is, the greater is also the risk of abuses. The averaging of working hours opens the possibility of employing a person for a longer period of time, for more than 40 hours a week and to terminate the employment relationship without balancing the working time to the average level of 40 hours.

The Committee therefore requests the Government to consider reviewing the legislation to ensure fuller application of the principle of the 40-hour week and to keep it informed on any developments in this direction.