Employee contacts about harassment and workload increased again
In 2025, the occupational safety and health authority received approximately 3,100 contacts about harassment and workload. The number of contacts increased by approximately 15 percent from the previous year.
Around 2,200 contacts concerned harassment or inappropriate treatment in the workplace. Of these, 65 involved sexual harassment.
Approximately 1,800 contacts were about the psychosocial strain at work. Of these, 155 also addressed the threat of violence in the workplace.
Some of the contacts were about both harassment and inappropriate treatment, as well as the strain experienced at work. Most commonly, the person contacting us asked for advice on how to handle an issue at their workplace.
Just over a tenth of the contacts proceeded to written requests for enforcement, based on which the occupational safety and health authority supervised harassment in 84 inspections and work-related strain in 42 inspections. The inspections revealed that many employers did not intervene sufficiently in harassment or work-related strain after being informed of them. Deficiencies were particularly found in employers’ delayed or inadequate actions.
The occupational safety authority made nine reports to the police of a suspected occupational safety offence. Three reports concerned harassment and six concerned workload.
“You must behave professionally at the workplace. Inappropriate behaviour should not be tolerated in any form. If an employee experiences inappropriate treatment or harassment, we recommend informing the employer’s representative in accordance with the workplace’s own instructions. Documenting the handling of the matter and monitoring the situation is also important,” reminds Head of Group Päivi Laakso from the Occupational Safety and Health Department at the Finnish Supervisory Agency.
More detailed information can be found in the report Customer-initiated supervision of harassment and harmful strain at work in 2025. The report is in Finnish and will be published in Swedish and English later.
Key findings 2025
- A total of 3,100 contacts (up 15% compared to 2024):
- 2,200 harassment-related contacts, 65 of which related to sexual harassment
- 1,800 workload-related contacts
- Some of the contacts concerned both harassment and workload.
- Enforcement requests:
- 311 enforcement requests related to harassment
- 82 enforcement requests related to workload
- Occupational safety inspections carried out on the basis of enforcement requests:
- 84 harassment-related inspections (deficiencies in almost 35%)
- 42 workload-related inspections (deficiencies in almost 50%)
- Nine reports of suspected occupational safety offences reported to the police
Enquiries:
Head of Group Päivi Laakso, tel. +358 295 256 143, [email protected]
Finnish Supervisory Agency, Occupational Safety and Health Department
Links:
- Customer-initiated supervision of harassment and harmful strain at work in 2025 (pdf, in Finnish, will be published in English later)
- Harassment and workload can be discussed anonymously via the occupational safety and health authority’s telephone service