Finland

Impact date: 17 April 2025 The Finnish Supreme Court considered whether excluding an applicant from a recruitment process due to a high salary expectation constituted gender discrimination under the Act on Equality between Women and Men.

The case involved applicant A, who was not invited to a job interview after indicating a monthly salary expectation of €6,000, significantly exceeding the employer’s intended maximum salary of €4,500. Another candidate, applicant B, who indicated a salary expectation closer to the employer’s budget, was eventually hired.

Under the Act, discrimination is presumed if a more qualified applicant is overlooked in favor of a less qualified candidate of the opposite sex unless the employer can demonstrate a legitimate, non-gender-based reason for its decision. The Supreme Court found that applicant A was objectively more qualified based on professional experience and academic merits, thus establishing a presumption of discrimination.

However, the Court considered whether the high salary expectation represented a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for A’s exclusion. It concluded that a significantly excessive salary expectation, clearly outside the normal negotiation range and exceeding the predetermined salary level, constituted a valid, non-discriminatory basis for excluding a candidate. The employer consistently applied this criterion regardless of gender, and thus, A’s exclusion was not based on gender discrimination.

Consequently, the Supreme Court dismissed applicant A’s claim, ruling that the employer’s decision was justified by legitimate economic considerations and not gender-based discrimination.

Impact date: 22 May 2025 The Finnish Supreme Administrative Court assessed whether food delivery couriers working for a company were employees or independent contractors, and whether the Finnish Employment Contracts Act and the Finnish Working Hours Act applied to their work.

The case centered on whether the company could be required by the occupational safety authority to keep records of couriers’ working hours and compensation. To resolve this, the Court considered if the couriers fulfilled the criteria for an employment relationship under Finnish and EU law.

The Supreme Administrative Court concluded that the couriers, despite having significant freedom regarding their working hours and work execution, met all the characteristics of an employment relationship defined by the Employment Contracts Act. The most uncertain characteristic was whether the couriers performed their work under the direction and supervision of the employer. The company’s extensive use of digital platforms to monitor and supervise couriers, coupled with its authority to enforce performance standards and impose consequences for non-compliance, demonstrated that the couriers were not sufficiently independent to be classified as independent contractors.

However, the Court determined that the Working Hours Act did not apply because the couriers had substantial autonomy in deciding their total working hours and daily schedules. Additionally, given the nature of platform-based delivery work—performed without fixed locations and compensated purely by completed tasks—the specific provisions of the Working Hours Act excluded the couriers from its scope.

Thus, the Court ruled that although the couriers were employees, the Working Hours Act did not apply, and the company was not required to maintain detailed working hours records.

Impact date: The amended Co-operation Act enters into force on 1 July 2025 Amendments to the Co-operation Act have been ratified. The aim is to reduce the administrative burden on companies and to improve the business environment.

The Co-operation Act currently applies to employers that regularly employ at least 20 people. After the amendments enter into force, the threshold will be raised to 50 employees, although employers with 20 to 49 employees will still be subject to certain obligations outlined in the Act. Further, the minimum duration of change negotiations will be reduced. Change negotiations must be held in several situations, including where the employer is planning to terminate employment relationships on financial or production-related grounds. At present, change negotiations last 14 days or six weeks, depending on the matters that are negotiated. Change negotiations could last seven days or three weeks in the future.