Violations of the obligations in the Posted Workers Act result in an administrative consequence, a negligence fee. The fee imposed will be between 1 000 and 10 000 euro.

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.

Negligence fee for the contractor

A negligence fee may be imposed on the contractor, should the contractor

• in spite of the requests of the OSH authorities not require information from the posting company on where and how the representative may be reached
• nor pass the information to the OSH authorities.

The OSH authorities requires this information from the contractor, should the authorities not be able to reach the representative. If the contractor does not reach the posting company, the OSH authorities must be provided with a statement in which the contractor explains how he has tried to reach the representative.

Negligence fee for the builder and the main contractor in the construction sector

A negligence fee may be imposed on the builder and the main contractor, should the contractor or the main contractor

• not require an account of the posted worker´s wages from the posting company, when the posted worker points out inadequacies
• on the request of the posted worker not provide the OSH authorities with this above mentioned account.

The inadequate payment concerns cases where the posted worker not has been given the minimum wages which is required in the Posted Workers Act.

The posted worker may address his notification to the builder or the main contractor. Should he address both the builder and the main contractor, both parties are obliged to take measures in order to settle the matter, however; they may agree on which of them will fulfill the obligation.

Imposing a negligence fee

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.

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.

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