Violations of the obligations in the Posted Workers Act result in an administrative consequence, a negligence fee. A negligence fee may also be imposed for the failure to submit a local agreement to the OSH authority.

Negligence fee for the posting company

A negligence fee may be imposed on the posting company if the posting company

• completely fails to report the posting of workers, or performs the notification late, i.e. after the work has begun, or the notification is inadequate
• fails to provide a supplementary notification on significant changes
• fails to ensure the selecting of a representative in Finland or the representative does not have the required right to act on behalf of the company or should the OSH authorities in spite of repeated attempts not reach the representative
• fails to keep the following information and accounts in order for the OSH authorities to inspect them when visiting the workplace:
  • the identifying details on the company and information on the responsible persons in the country in which the company posting workers is located
  • identifying details of the posted worker
  • written information on the working conditions applicable to the employment contract of the posted worker
  • written information on the basis of the employment rights of the posted worker
  • working hours register
  • payment receipt
  • and a receipt over the paid wages issued by a financial institution.

The OSH Division of the Regional State Administrative Agency enforcing the Posted Workers Act decides about the imposition of a negligence fee.

The negligence fee must be imposed on a legal person. The negligence fee can be imposed on a natural person only if he or she has neglected the obligations on purpose or out of carelessness.

A negligence fee can be anywhere between EUR 1,000 and EUR 10,000. When determining the amount of the negligence fee the nature of negligence, its extent and frequency will be taken into account. The following will be taken into account when determining the negligence:

• has the obligation been completely partly neglected
• has false or misleading information been given on purpose
• how many workers are concerned by the negligence or how long has the negligence continued
• possible previous negligences
• possible previously issued instructions by the authorities in regard of an incomplete procedure.

The negligence fee may not be imposed or it may be imposed as a lower as the minimum fee, if the act has been insignificant. This is the case for example when a posting company neglects its reporting duty, but the posting has been of very short duration, the amount of workers has been low and the rights of the workers have not been at risk.

Sould negligence fees need to be imposed for several violations, one shared fee will be imposed. The shared fee must not exceed 10 000 euros.

Negligence fee for non-delivery of a local agreement

If an employer does not submit a local agreement to the occupational safety and health authority within a month of its conclusion, the occupational safety and health authority may impose a negligence fee on the employer.

The minimum negligence fee is EUR 1,000 and the maximum is EUR 10,000. When assessing the amount of the negligence fee, the size of the employer, and the intentional nature and frequency of the negligence are taken into account. If a fee must be imposed for two or more acts of negligence at the same time, the total negligence fee imposed may not exceed EUR 15,000.

A negligence fee is not imposed if the imposition of the fee is unreasonable considering the circumstances or the negligence is due to a valid reason. If more than five years have passed since the negligence, no negligence fee is imposed.