What it's all about:
In future, a third-country national residing in Finland with a work-based residence permit must find a new job within 3 months of the end of the previous employment relationship. A separate regulation on the length of the unemployment period has been introduced for a few categories of workers, with a maximum unemployment period of 6 months.
Moniheli's statement:
Moniheli ry appreciates the opportunity to comment on the draft law on the three-month employment rule for foreign workers. Moniheli is the largest multicultural network in Finland with around 160 member organisations. Many of our members offer employment support to foreign language speakers by helping them to build networks, mentoring job seekers or offering help with CVs, for example. Cultural orientation also plays a big part, providing information on how the labour market works in Finland and how to apply for a job here.
These associations are constantly confronted with examples of obstacles to the employment of foreign-language speakers in their daily work. Some of these factors also affect Finnish citizens with a foreign name. However, they are particularly acute in the case of foreign jobseekers. These factors include lack of Finnish language skills, lack of knowledge of Finnish recruitment practices and lack of networks to facilitate employment.
At the same time, not only individual characteristics but also structures hamper employment in ways over which the individual job seeker has little control. For example, according to the THL report MoniSuomi (2022), a quarter of immigrants have experienced discrimination in employment, and almost half (46%) of men with an African background have experienced discrimination. Moniheli has criticised the government programme for placing the responsibility for the challenges of social structures on the shoulders of the individual, and we see the same continuing in the case of this law change.
Moniheli considers that the draft law does not sufficiently justify the choice of a three-month deadline. The bill explains that the three-month time limit is based on the practice introduced by Migri in 2023, but in Moniheli's view, a practice based on possible processing delays and procedural economics of the agency is not necessarily in the interest of the jobseeker. More accurate data on the average duration of job search processes for foreign language speakers in different sectors is needed, and the timeframe for employment should rather be determined on this basis. According to Moniheli's estimates, the actual time needed to find a job is longer than three months.
Currently, there is no regulation in Finland on the period of time during which a person residing in the country with a work-based residence permit should be removed from the country after the end of the employment relationship. Moniheli believes that increasing the time limit will increase the legal security of the resident and clarify the regulation. At the same time, Moniheli sees risks in the implementation of the regulation. Recent changes in immigration legislation (Citizenship Act, accelerated asylum procedure, etc.) will greatly increase the workload of Migri. The notification, control and sanction procedures related to the three-month rule will increase the administrative burden and are likely to generate additional costs. In the opinion of the multiplex, without a significant investment in the Migration Office's resources, it will be demanding to meet the deadlines required by this regulation. However, a lack of control of the employer's notification obligation is dangerous from the worker's point of view, as it puts workers in an unequal position as regards the control of the continuation of the residence permit.
The three-month rule is part of a series of reforms to make life in Finland increasingly uncertain and more controlled for migrants. Moniheli believes that the combined effect of these reforms is negative for Finland's image as a country. Even if the reforms do not significantly change the status quo, as is apparently the case with the three-month rule, the message of major change is clear. At present, a regulatory framework is being created that sees everyone who moves to the country as a threat or a commodity to be disposed of after use. Such communication does not make Finland an attractive country for foreign experts.
Moniheli thanks the Ministry of Employment and the Economy for the open preparation of the reform and the multilingual information. The English-language consultation is an excellent opportunity to directly consult the target group of this reform, which, due to its status, might otherwise be very underrepresented in the planning.