Ombudsman for Equality

Suspected cases of discrimination in the workplace

Reports to be issued by employers
The right of employee representatives to access information on pay
Compensation and claims
Can recruitment decisions be overturned?
Consequences under other legislation

Reports to be issued by employers

If you suspect that you have been the victim of discrimination in the workplace, you can request your employer for a written report on the matter. Employers must provide any requested reports without delay.

If the matter involves recruitment, promotions or selecting individuals for training placements, the report must specify

• the grounds for the employer’s choice,
• the educational background, work experience and
• other credentials of the candidate chosen, and other factors that influenced the decision.

If pay discrimination is suspected, the employee in question must be provided with

• information on the grounds for his or her pay, and
• other necessary information concerning the employee that could be used to assess whether the prohibition of pay discrimination has been complied with.

Employees are also entitled to request a report from their employer in suspected cases of discrimination relating to working conditions, terminations of employment, transfers or lay-offs. Employees must be provided with information on the reasons for the procedure and on why they were amongst the people affected, for example.

The objective of the reporting procedure is to help employees to assess whether certain practices of employers are in violation of the anti-discrimination provisions of the Finnish Equality Act. This also helps to cut unnecessary administrative and judicial proceedings.

If an employer fails to provide you with a satisfactory report upon request, you can contact the Finnish Ombudsman for Equality.

The right of employee representatives to access information

In suspected cases of pay discrimination, local union representatives elected on the basis of collective agreements, elected representatives or other employee representatives appointed in accordance with what has been agreed at the workplace in question, have an independent right to access information on the pay and terms of employment of individual employees with their consent. Consent is not required if the information concerns the pay of a group of employees. Collective agreements may grant employee representatives more extensive rights to information. (Section 10 (4) of the Finnish Equality Act)

If an individual employee refuses to give consent, employee representatives can in some circumstances get the required information on pay from the Finnish Ombudsman for Equality.
Requesting information on pay from the Finnish Ombudsman for Equality

Compensation and claims

Employers that have violated the prohibition of discrimination can be ordered to pay compensation. If you suspect that you have been the victim of discrimination in the workplace, you can claim for compensation.
Compensation and claims

Can recruitment decisions be overturned?

Appeals are not usually accepted regarding civil service appointments within the central government. Appeal instructions are appended to all appealable decisions.

Appointments within the local government sector are appealable and can be overturned if found to be in violation of the Finnish Equality Act, for example. The legality of the appointment procedure can also be challenged at an administrative court once the appeal proceedings have been concluded. Local government decision-making cannot be challenged at an administrative court as regards civil law contracts, local government appointments governed by the Finnish Employment Contracts Act or some other kind of civil service appointments, except in cases of procedural errors or if the decision-making body has overstepped its authority.

Consequences under other legislation

Violations of the Finnish Equality Act may also constitute breaches of other laws, and the consequences prescribed by these laws may therefore also be applicable. Examples of such laws include the Finnish Employment Contracts Act, the Finnish Civil Servants Act, the Finnish Act on Civil Servants in Local Government, the Finnish Tort Liability Act, the Finnish Occupational Safety and Health Act, and the Criminal Code of Finland.

Compliance with the provisions of the Finnish Employment Contracts Act and the Finnish Occupational Safety and Health Act as well as the prohibition of discrimination in the workplace governed by the Criminal Code of Finland is supervised by occupational health and safety authorities.
Occupational health and safety authorities