Tehy receives messages about discrimination due to pregnancy and parental leave on a weekly basis
Tehy’s legal services have overseen the disputes of our members in courts for more than five years.
The most typical dispute that is taken to a district court is related to a situation in which the fixed-term employment contract of a care sector professional (nurse, childcarer, physiotherapist, paramedic, practical nurse, midwife, etc.) is not extended because they have told their employer that they are expecting a child, one of the most joyful pieces of news in a person’s life. As a result of this news, the employer becomes reluctant to renew the employee’s contract, the vacancies and grounds for previous temporary contracts disappear and a new employment contract is not automatically given to the employee when the current fixed-term contract is nearing its end.
When the employee begins their parental leave and a new contract is not offered, the supervisor says that will be glad to have the employee back when they are returning from changing nappies back to working life!
The situation is particularly stressful as a person who has had numerous fixed-term contracts and proved their worth is left to fend for themselves not only financially, but also mentally, in most cases.
The fact that other employees on fixed-term contracts and those with shorter careers can bypass them can make an expectant mother question their professional identity and skills and they may even consider changing jobs to another sector.
Is this allowed?
People beginning their parental leave can be easily stunned by this series of events – how can the employer act like this?
The answer to this question is simple. The employer can act like this by acting illegally. The Act on Equality between Women and Men provision that forbids employers from discontinuing an employment contract due to pregnancy or a parental leave while there is a demand for workforce has been in force for more than 30 years.
Regardless, this provision is violated constantly in the social and health care sector. Big employers who are funded by taxpayers’ money leave those who give notice that they will be taking parental leave without an extension to their contract right when they are most in need of support. The situation is not only unsustainable but also completely incomprehensible.
The shortage of staff and dire lack of expertise in the sector has become an undisputed fact in public discussion. All skilled professionals educated in the sector are needed in Finland, just like more babies are needed. Despite this, employees’ commitment to work is not supported with permanent employment contracts although there is tremendous need for substitutes all year round and there are grounds for making the employment relationships permanent.
Employers want to rely on a reserve of temporary workers and managing these human resources. This is a fool’s errand – anyone can see that it will not work!
Merely raising awareness about discrimination seems like a tactless joke
According to an article published by Helsingin Sanomat on Mother’s Day, the most common job among mothers in Finland in 2021 was a nurse. This also means that eradicating discrimination due to pregnancy and parental leave is particularly important in the working life of Tehy’s members.
We at Tehy work toward this objective every day by raising awareness through training and publishing articles and by intervening in the everyday situations our members contact us about. Ultimately, we take all cases of discrimination to be resolved in a court.
According to the Government Programme, more efficient measures will be introduced to prevent discrimination due to pregnancy and parental leave, in particular. So far, the Government has completely lacked the will to turn these words into concrete actions. The Government has not presented a single real means of preventing discrimination.
Raising awareness of the discrimination prohibition that has been in force longer than most of the discriminated have been alive seems like a rather tactless joke from the perspective of Tehy’s members and an attempt to cover the fact that nothing will be done in the future either. As the biggest employers in the sector are big public sector organisations and the discriminatory acts are carried out even under liability for acts in office, ignorance of the existing legislation cannot be the root cause that needs to be eradicated.
The Government is increasing discrimination
The Government of Finland is committing an explicit discriminatory act and increasing discrimination in the social and health care sector. The Government is proposing the dissolution of the exceptional nature of fixed-term employment contracts.
The Government Programme contains an entry about placing one-year employment contracts up to the discretion of the employer. In practice, this would be implemented by removing the requirement for making one-year employment contracts subject to justified reasons from the Employment Contracts Act. This would make matters worse and social and health care professionals at the beginning of their careers would be automatically placed in an extended ‘trial period’ with a one-year fixed-term contract.
Intervening in cases of discrimination would be more difficult as a justification for the fixed-term contract would no longer be required and employers would categorically use the maximum fixed term of one year provided by the legislator.
This would not generate any additional jobs in the sector, on the contrary, it would only make people educated in the field change jobs.
Pregnancy and parental leave discrimination in the social and health care sector must be restricted
An efficient means of ending discrimination is making the sanctions tighter. The time for fine words and empty phrases is long gone. Imposing substantial sanctions and the threat thereof is the only thing that can make employers comply with the discrimination prohibition of the Act on Equality between Women and Men in a concrete manner in everyday operations. This allows social and health care professionals to feel safe in their job and use their right to parental leave without worry and having to look for a job while holding a newborn in their arms.
Do you think you have been a victim of discrimination due to pregnancy? Read our working life guidebook (in Finnish) on what you can do!
Read the Tehy magazine article (in Finnish) about a nurse who took a pregnancy discrimination case to a district court and won.