Eased rules on layoffs and other employment legislation no longer in effect after turn of year

The eased rules on layoffs and other employment legislation, used in the private sector because of the coronavirus crisis, have no longer been in effect after the turn of the year. Likewise, several temporary changes made to unemployment security ceased to be in effect at the end of 2020.

The accelerated layoff procedure, used in the private sector because of the coronavirus crisis, and other temporary changes to employment legislation have not been in effect after the turn of the year. The eased rules did not at any stage concern the Finnish state, municipalities or parishes. They have complied with normal legislation at all times.

As of 1 January 2021, the private sector complies with normal legislation in terms of cooperation negotiation periods, the right to lay off fixed-term employees, the layoff notice period, provisions concerning the probationary period, and the rehiring obligation period.

• The layoff notice period is once again 14 days.
• It is no longer possible to lay off a fixed-term employee.
• Terminating an employment contract during probationary period is no longer possible on financial and production-related grounds.
• The rehiring obligation period concerning dismissed employees is once again 4 months, or 6 months if the employment relationship has continued without interruption for at least 12 years before its termination.
• The minimum negotiation periods in a layoff situation, as stated in the Act on Co-operation within Undertakings, are once again 14 days and 6 weeks.

If a layoff notice has been given, or if cooperation negotiations have been under way before the Act expired on 31 December, the minimum period even in these cases is five days, even if the notice period continues or negotiations continue after the Act has expired.

The same goes for layoffs of fixed-term employees which started before the Act expired, and the 9-month rehiring period of employees dismissed when the Act was in force.

Also, the temporary changes to unemployment security have no longer been in effect since 1 January 2021.

• It is no longer possible to pay daily allowance for the five-day waiting period to employees that have been laid off or dismissed.
• The maximum period of daily unemployment allowance has once again begun to run for those who have been laid off or are wholly unemployed.
• The exception concerning the shorter 13-week work and membership requirement is no longer in effect.
• The TE Office will once again investigate the full-time or part-time entrepreneurship of those who have been laid off and are engaged in business activities.

Read more about unemployment security from the Public and Welfare Sectors’ Unemployment Fund’s news article (in Finnish).