The amendment would allow fixed-term contracts to be concluded for up to one year without just cause.
In its petition, Tehy demands that the amendment that would increase job insecurity, part-time work and pregnancy discrimination as well as reduce the birth rate not be approved.
Tehy President Millariikka Rytkönen stresses that the change would hit the public sector and female-dominated sectors such as social services, health care and early childhood education and care particularly hard, as fixed-term contracts are already common in these fields.
– The Government Programme is committed to more effective prevention of discrimination, in particular in relation to pregnancy and family leave. The current legislative proposal is in stark contrast to this objective, Rytkönen says.
The government's own assessments highlight the proposal's impact of increasing discrimination and job-insecurity. Tehy has reminded MPs of these effects in the petition sent to them.
Tehy is particularly concerned that the employment effects of the legislative proposal are estimated to be small, while its negative effects on equality, families and fertility are downplayed. At the same time, the government does not propose any new or more effective means of tackling pregnancy discrimination. This is why Tehy has been making determined efforts to oppose the legislative proposal for a long time.
Tehy is now appealing to MPs to prevent the legislative proposal from being passed and the labour market from being reformed by weakening workers' rights.
Enquiries:
Jarkko Pehkonen, Director of Advocacy at Tehy, [email protected], tel. +358 40 531 5464
Päivi Vanninen, lawyer at Tehy, [email protected], tel. +358 40 551 0501