Office worker in Helsinki. Photo: Emmi Korhonen / Lehtikuva
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Employer organisations in Finland have criticised a government proposal aimed at improving pay transparency, calling it impractical and legally flawed. The draft legislation would give employees greater access to salary information and impose new obligations on employers.
The proposal, published on Friday, is part of Finland’s effort to implement the EU’s 2023 pay transparency directive. It was prepared by a working group that included employer and employee representatives.
Several employer groups, including the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK), the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities (KT), the Federation of Finnish Enterprises, and the Church’s labour market body, issued a joint dissenting opinion.
The proposal would give employees the right to request information on average pay levels for workers performing the same or equivalent tasks. Employers would also be required to inform job applicants of the starting salary or salary range for advertised positions. Companies with over 100 employees would need to report gender-based pay differentials.
New definitions would be added to the Equality Act to clarify what constitutes equal work, pay gaps, and comparable job roles. Criteria for assessing whether different roles are of equal value would include qualifications, workload, responsibility, and working conditions.
The aim is to ensure that employees performing the same or equivalent work are paid equally. The legislation would also require companies to have pay structures that allow for meaningful comparison between roles.
Employer groups have rejected the proposal in its current form. In a joint statement, they described the draft as “unworkable” and said it contains “significant errors and both practical and principled problems.”
They argued that Finnish law already includes an obligation to pay equal wages for equal work under the Equality Act, and that further legal definitions are unnecessary. Pay structures, they added, are typically agreed in collective agreements that vary by sector, making uniform legal criteria unsuitable.
Employers also criticised the proposal to disclose salary ranges in job advertisements, claiming it could violate competition law. The statement warned that publicising pay brackets could lead to “signalling” among companies, indirectly coordinating salary levels across an industry.
According to the employer groups, salary information should only be provided after interviews, once candidates have been shortlisted. Trade union federations SAK and Akava, in contrast, argue that salary details should be included in job listings to ensure transparency from the outset.
Employers also expressed concern over the administrative burden of having to share average salary data with employees. They warned that the obligation would generate additional bureaucracy and complicate HR operations, especially in larger organisations.
The EU directive requires member states to ensure that employees can access information about pay levels, salary structures, and promotion criteria. While the Finnish government has committed to implementing only the minimum standards, employer groups argue that the current draft goes beyond those limits.
The law is still in the drafting phase and will be subject to further revision before being submitted to Parliament. No final timeline for adoption has been announced.
HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
