Archive:Public employment - Finland
- Data from Month Year. Most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.
This article is part of a set of background articles and introduces the public employments statistics in the Member State of the European Union (EU), Finland.
Regional and administrative organisation
Introduction
Finland is a Republic with a surface area of 338,115 square kilometres and 5,326,000 inhabitants, which has been a member of the European Union since 1995.
System of government
The supreme governing bodies are the Parliament, the President of the Republic, and the Council of State. The single-chamber Parliament with 200 members elected every 4 years, is vested with the legislative power. The Parliament is organized into Committees (the Grand Committee is responsible for EU affairs). The Parliamentary Ombudsman and the State Audit Office report to Parliament. A committee chaired by the Speaker (President of the Parliament) is responsible for parliamentary administration.
The President of the Republic is elected for 6 years (direct and two-staged election) and can be elected for a maximum of two consecutive terms. The President represents the supreme executive power along with the Council of State, signs the laws and budgets passed by Parliament and appoints the Prime Minister elected by the Parliament, Ministers and senior civil servants.
The Council of State exercises the executive power, draws up draft bills of law and budgets. It is made up of the Prime Minister and the Ministers, along with the independent Chancellor of Justice. The number of Ministries is 12.
Regional organisation
Finland has 342 Municipalities (16 in the Aland Islands), which provide basic services such as health and education. Their main body is the Municipal Council, elected for a period of 4 years. The Council elects the Municipal Committee, which implements its decisions, as well as the different Committees responsible for providing public services.
There are 6 State Regional Offices and 15 Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment.
Public administration
The Ministries are in charge of preparation of legislation and supervision of their fields of administration including the Agencies and institutions that are under their responsibility. They cooperate with local authorities in the development of public services. They are also responsible for international and EU cooperation in their respective fields.
Public Employment Structure
Legal Basis: State Civil servants are governed by the Civil Servants’ Act and public employees by the Employment Contracts Act. In addition, there are Collective Agreements, one for statutory workers and another for contractual staff corresponding to the two existing categories: civil servants (83%) and public employees (17%).
Management Body: Each ministry and agency organises its own human resources management. The Office for the Government as Employer is respeonsible for negotiating and concluding collective agreements at the central level as well as for the strategic human resources policy line of the state.
The 525,000 public employees (NA% male), represent around NA% of the active population; of which, 437,000 belong to Local Government, 6,000 to State Enterprises and 88,000 (76 500 civil servants and the rest contractual staff) to the central State (of which 5,000 to Ministries).
Rights, obligations, principles and values
Public employees must act in defence of neutrality, sovereignty and impartiality in their work. In 2001, a set of common values (with highly ethical contents) were defined for the state, including, among other things, that activities are result-oriented and open, characterised by quality, strong expertise and trust and are neutral, sovereign, equal and responsible.
The “Values in the Daily Job” Handbook (civil servants’ ethics) was published in 2005. The Office for the Government as Employer is responsible for developing conflict of interest tools and participating in international initiatives in this field, particularly in the OECD. It is worth mentioning that Finland is one of the least corrupt countries in the world.
Weekly working hours are 36 hours and 15 minutes at office work.5 minutes. Maternity leave is 105 days, which begins 30-50 days prior to the birth of the child. In addition, there is parental leave of 158 days after the maternity leave.
Career-based system and training
Finland has no career system except for the military and the foreign service. There is open recruitment for each post. Progress in the career is possible when the needs of the organization and the individual coincide. Human resources development is linked to the organization´s operational strategy and is carried out by determining the appropriate measures and allocating resources for the development process, including courses, placements, mobility, substitutions, staff rotation, teamwork and on-the-job learning. Training is on-going and is aimed at a better adaptation to the position and its demands.
Remuneration
Management of labour costs is one of the essential policies of the civil service in order to promote the efficiency and competitiveness of the public sector in the employment market, and retaining and attracting the most qualified employees. Monthly salaries are calculated mainly around job evaluation systems, measuring the complexity of the tasks assigned, and individual performance appraisal.
Pay systems are specific to each state agency, although there are some common principles: each pay system is based on individual performance and competence.
Individual performance component may not exceed 50% of the pay assigned to each post. Agencies also determine their own performance appraisal methods. In addition, there are annual result-related bonuses in around 25 State Agencies, which is being extended to other agencies.
Some agencies have other features, such as individualized pay, separate calculations for the emoluments of senior positions and Ministers, etc. The Office for the Government as Employer does not publish collective salary scales.
Social dialogue and system of representation
The Office for the Government as Employer is party to the Collective Bargaining for all State Agencies. There is a general centralised agreement, the Collective Agreement for State Civil Servants and Employees under Contract, which has been agreed with the main trade unions. This central agreement sets out the overall cost framework and contains provisions on terms of service as a whole and any other mutually agreed contents. There are agency-specific collective agreements (around 100 for civil servants and 70 for employees under contract).
Senior civil servants
There is not a formally differentiated group of senior executives although some special conditions apply to senior civil servants : (Summary Table)
The recruitment system for executive positions is open to all candidates. Experience, skills and a university degree are valued. Senior civil servants are appointed by the President of the Republic or the Council of State for a term of 5 to 7 years. The objectives of senior civil servants may be set out in a Management Agreement in accordance with the requirements of the unit. There are also special Executive Training programmes.
The Office for the Government as Employer coordinates the remuneration of senior civil servants. Performance related bonuses (up to a maximum of 8% of the annual basic salary) were introduced in 2009 for senior civil servants. Normally their working hours are longer although they have the same rights as other public employees in relation to maternity and parental leave. Tele-working, part-time work and flexible working times are possible but seldom used by executives.
Recent reforms and prospects
Finland is currently in the process of a vast reform of its public sector. The Productivity Programme has been underway since 2003 with a purpose of systematically improving the productivity of the State. The Relocation Programme aims to allow functions to be transferred from Helsinki to other regions, which involves the relocation of 4,000 to 8,000 jobs so as to ensure a more balanced development of the country. The Reform of Regional Administration entered into force at the beginning of 2010 and seeks to streamline and collect together the various state organizations in the regions The Reform of the Municipal sector seeks to safeguard the provision of basic services through creating bigger and more sustainable municipalities.