HE 85/2024 vp Government proposal to Parliament for legislation on the promotion of local agreement
The Ombudsman for Equality thanks the Parliamentary Employment and Equality Committee for the opportunity to be consulted on the Government proposal to promote local agreement. The Ombudsman for Equality note that the possible gender impacts of the proposed regulation raise questions that have not been answered in the Government proposal and have not been assessed in detail.
Gender impacts assessed in a limited way
According to the proposal, the proposed regulation has potential gender impacts in the workplace, but it is challenging to assess them in advance. The gender impact assessment of the proposal is therefore limited and abstract. It is not clear from the proposal how it will affect, for example, the gender pay gap, although the Finnish Council of Regulatory Impact Analysis required an assessment of this.
According to the proposal, it can be assumed that the extension of local agreement will apply more often to male-dominated jobs than to female-dominated ones, as the changes do not cover the public sector, with the exception of government. For example, female-dominated sectors in the municipal and welfare sector will be excluded from the proposed regulation. This does not, however, mean that the proposal cannot have gender impacts. In particular, its indirect impacts can be significant.
The Ombudsman for Equality stresses the importance of careful gender impact assessment, especially in legislation on employment. This is already central to the purpose of the Act on Equality between Women and Men, which is to improve the position of women, particularly in working life.
General applicability of collective agreements may deteriorate, especially in female-dominated sectors
The Ombudsman for Equality draws particular attention to the fact that, according to the proposal, the representative nature of national collective agreements could be weakened if employer-specific collective agreements become more common. In some sectors, this could lead to a situation where the national collective agreement might no longer be considered generally applicable. According to the proposal, if this risk materialises, female employees could be particularly affected, especially in the private service sector. This could lead to a further deterioration in working conditions in sectors where wages are already below average.
The Ombudsman for Equality considers that the risk of weakening general applicability is real, and that it would have a significant impact if it were to materialise. The female-dominated private service sector has high levels of atypical employment, low wages and a weak labour market position. There are also many foreign-language workers in these sectors. The impact of the loss of general applicability on minimum employment conditions could be particularly damaging in these sectors. Collective bargaining coverage is at risk in sectors such as food, retail and catering. These are all heavily female-dominated sectors.
The desired effect of the proposal is to improve productivity. This is particularly difficult in labour-intensive, female-dominated service sectors. Productivity improvements should not be achieved primarily through reductions in working conditions, possibly worsening the position of women in the labour market.
Reconciling work and family life can be difficult
According to the proposal, at the moment the opportunities for local agreement are by far the greatest in relation to working time. Indeed, working time arrangements are already quite widely agreed locally in many sectors.
The Ombudsman for Equality draws attention to the fact that, in the future, the even greater flexibility provided by local agreement could make it considerably more difficult to reconcile work and family life. The social care system does not currently support the needs of those working irregular hours, and it is difficult to combine atypical shifts and shift rotation with, for example, childcare. Indirectly, the impact of the difficulties in reconciling work and family life is particularly felt by women who continue to bear the bulk of the responsibilities for childcare.
Equality Act obliges employers to promote equality and working life
The Ombudsman for Equality points out section 6 of the Equality Act, which obliges all employers, among other things, to promote gender equality in pay and working conditions and to facilitate the reconciliation of work and family by paying particular attention to working arrangements. These obligations also bind employers in relation to local agreement.
8 October 2024
08.10.2024
