Background information

The 'Change Security' system was created to promote quick and flexible re-employment for employees at risk of dismissal for economic reasons. The 'Change Security' model was expanded through the tripartite labour market agreement signed in 2016.

In addition to the duties of employers connected to the 'Change Security' model,Chapter 6 of Employment Contracts Act (Työsopimuslaki) [55/2001] stipulates that employers have a duty to rehire employees dismissed for economic reasons. The rehiring duty lasts four to six months depending on the duration of the employment relationship.

Content of measure

The scheme is available to employees who have been made or are at risk of being made redundant or temporarily laid off for economic reasons. An employee with a permanent contract must have a work history of at least three years in order to be covered.

Fixed-term employees are included if they have been employed by the same employer for a minimum of three consecutive years, or have been employed by the same employer for a minimum of 36 months within the last 42 months; or have a work history of a minimum of five years within the past seven years, with one or multiple employers.

The scheme also applies to employees who resign after being temporarily laid off for at least 180 consecutive days.

The following rules apply when an employer with least 30 workers on a regular basis dismisses an employee who has been employed by the employer consecutively for at least five years before the end of the employment relationship:

• the employer has a responsibility to provide coaching, training or education aiming for re-employment of employees who have been dismissed due to economic reasons;
• the value of the education or training must correspond to one monthly salary;
• the employee is entitled to occupational health care services provided by the employer for six months after the employee’s work duties have ended.

Use of measure

Among eligible persons, 35% find employment within three months, and 53% within a year from having been made redundant. The scheme offers individual guidance to relevant training and other services, meaning that the proportions of persons left outside the labour force are marginal. Between 2005-2015 there were 8,500 companies affected by dismissal of 10 or more people and almost 126,000 persons benefited from the scheme.

According to an evaluation of the Change Security model (Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, 2022), between 4,700 and 5,500 people were made redundant for production or economic reasons between 2015 and 2019. Between 2,000 and 3,000 of these per year had employment contracts of more than 5 years but not all worked in a company employing more than 30 persons. In 2020, the number of redundancies in situations involving 10 or more employees and at the end of cooperation negotiations was between 8,085 and 8,762. For dismissals involving up to 10 people, the total number of redundancies was between 2,289 and 4,798.

The evaluation concludes that those dismissed for production or economic reasons have used the same amount or slightly more change security services than those whose employment had been terminated for other reasons. Those dismissed for production or economic reasons also participated in labour market training at an earlier stage compared to those dismissed for other reasons. Between 2015 and 2019, participation in labour market training within a year was 7-9%, and in coaching 4-8%, among those made redundant for production or economic reasons. The study finds qualitative results of that employer obligations have had an impact on re-employment and that the scheme is seen as useful among those who have participated in it. Results concerning re-employment could however not be confirmed with the help of register data. The obligations under the law or the scheme in terms of employer and employee cooperation have had little impact, the study concludes.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Employees in standard employment	Applies to all businesses	Applies to all citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Public employment service	Companies National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Consulted	Consulted
Form	Consultation through tripartite or bipartite social dialogue bodies	Consultation through tripartite or bipartite social dialogue bodies

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Unknown
• Main level of involvement: Peak or cross-sectoral level

Involvement

Social partners have been consulted through the tripartite body of the Employment and Equality Committee of the Parliament.

Views and reactions

In the statement of the tripartite Employment and Equality Committee of the parliament states that improving the protection of workers who have been made redundant or are threatened with redundancy, as well as promoting re-employment during the period of redundancy are important.

Sources

• 28 December 2012: Laki julkisesta työvoima- ja yrityspalvelusta (916/2012) (www.finlex.fi)
• 26 November 2013: Ålander, T., Sillanpää K., Korhonen, S., Manninen, V. (2013), 'Yhteistyöllä turvaa muutokseen. Muutosturvan toimintamallin vaikuttavuutta ja toimivuutta koskeva tutkimus', Ministry of Employment and the Economy, 34/2013 (pdf, in Finnish). (tem.fi)
• 01 January 2022: Laki yhteistoiminnasta yrityksissä (334/2007) (www.finlex.fi)
• 17 January 2022: Akavan erityisalat (2022), 'Yhteistoimintalaki on uudistettu, uusi laki voimaan 1.1.2022' (www.akavanerityisalat.fi)
• 08 July 2022: Työsopimuslaki (2001/55) (finlex.fi)
• 08 July 2022: Sosiaali- ja terveysministeriö (2022), 'Lainsäädäntöön muutoksia 55 vuotta täyttäneiden työllisyysasteen nostamiseksi' (stm.fi)
• 31 October 2022: TE Services, 'Change security for the employer' (tyomarkkinatori.fi)
• 01 December 2022: Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment (2022) 'Evaluation of the operating model for transition security' (julkaisut.valtioneuvosto.fi)