Kela service point in Kamppi, Helsinki. Photo: Lehtikuva
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The Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is preparing changes to a government decree that would allow benefit decisions from Kela to be issued without including the name of the official responsible.
The proposal follows a rise in threats, harassment, and defamation directed at employees of Kela, the Social Insurance Institution of Finland. According to the ministry, these actions have also extended to workers’ families.
Current rules require that every benefit decision include the name of the official who made it. The new plan would revise the Government Decree on Kela Decisions so that the name is no longer mandatory.
Kela employees have reported receiving threats by phone and in person at service points. Some threats target their health or safety.
Sami Niinikorpi, head of security at Kela, confirmed to Helsingin Sanomat that the threats are increasingly serious. “The most severe cases are directed at the health or lives of personnel or their family members,” he said.
Niinikorpi added that the agency has strengthened security arrangements at Kela’s offices. He said the current system makes it difficult to respond to specific forms of harassment.
“I hope a long-term solution is found, because I don’t see this threat disappearing or decreasing,” Niinikorpi said.
Kela began a trial in spring 2024 to address the issue. In the pilot, decisions related to basic social assistance were signed by the institution rather than an individual. The aim was to shield employees from being personally identified.
However, the trial was stopped after a complaint was submitted to the Parliamentary Ombudsman. The ombudsman ruled that current regulations require the decision-maker’s name to be stated.
According to the ministry, the change is necessary because Kela lacks effective means to protect staff under current rules.
Removing names from decisions would allow for broader protection of workers while trying to balance the legal principle of transparency.
The ministry is now preparing alternatives to the current model. One option under consideration is replacing names with unique identification numbers that could still be traced if necessary.
In practice, this would make it harder for members of the public to identify decision-makers, though not impossible. Under Finnish public access laws, it would still be possible to request the name through formal channels.
The ministry is drafting a proposal and plans to seek feedback starting in late November.
HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
