Union: Embassies exploit workers
Finnish law ends at the embassy gates.
Image: YLE
A survey by the Federation of Special Service and Clerical Employees (ERTO) suggests that foreign diplomatic missions in Finland often disregard Finnish labour laws -- sometimes flagrantly.
Along with diplomats, about 1,000 clerical employees work at foreign embassies in Finland.
Those who have been hired in Finland should be subject to Finnish labour laws. According to Foreign Ministry guidelines for diplomats published in June, "whenever a mission hires local staff, the mandatory and absolute provisions of the Finnish labour and social laws must be observed".
However the ERTO survey indicates that this is true at less than half of embassies. The union submitted its report on the subject to Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja on Thursday.
A cocktail of domestic and foreign laws
Employees at the other embassies have irregular work contracts based on a mixture of labour regulations from Finland and those of the country represented, chosen at will by the employers.
Last summer ERTO carried out an anonymous survey of embassy workers. Responding were 74 people, nearly all of them hired in Finland. Fifty-nine were Finnish citizens.
Their average reported monthly salary was around 2500 euros. Nearly 85 percent said they sometimes had to do overtime work, but 35 percent of those said they were not paid extra for it.
They report shortcomings and direct violations of the law when it comes to contracts, holidays and overtime work. Some said that demanding their rights led to trouble at work or being fired.
Vacations cancelled, breaks forbidden
"In some cases, employees have been told that holidays have been cancelled for the year," ERTO's Jarmo Lahti told YLE. "When a new ambassador takes over, working contracts may be changed to suit his or her wishes. Some are not allowed to take breaks or leave the workplace during the working day. In some cases, the entire staff has been forced to stay late at work as punishment for mistakes."
He declined to specify which embassies are guilty of the worst violations of employees' rights -- so as not to cause problems for those employees who reported the irregularities.
The Foreign Ministry's Chief of Protocol, Mikko Jokela, says that Finnish officials' hands are tied when it comes to investigating such claims, as embassy operations are protected by diplomatic immunity.
However, he says, "after this ERTO survey we will consider what we can do about the issue."
Diplomatic privileges and immunities in Finland (PDF)
YLE