The change negotiations affect companies with at least 20 employees according to the Act on Co-operation within Undertakings. Before an employer decides to reduce workforce, the employer needs to hold change negotiations. Reducing the workforce means dismissals, temporary lay-offs and shifts to part-time work due to economic or production-related reasons.

The Co-Operation Act also requires negotiations on issues other than those related to reducing workforce; however, these instructions will only focus on staff reduction situations.

The parties involved in these negotiations are the employer and, usually, either employee representatives or delegates as representatives of the personnel. 

In practice, change negotiations starts with a negotiation proposal drafted by the employer. The employer should give a written negotiation proposal on launching negotiations and employment procedures at least five calendar days before starting the negotiations. During this time, the representatives of the employees have the opportunity to prepare for the negotiations. This time is not added to the actual negotiation time unless otherwise agreed in the collective agreement.

You have a right to ask to see the employer’s notification on starting change negotiations. The notification will state who the negotiations will affect, why the negotiations are being held and what may be expected.

• Make sure you have an employee representative who will attend the change negotiations.
• If possible, discuss the situation with the employee representative and, together, familiarise yourselves with the information and reasons for the change process given in the negotiation proposal. If the information given by the employer is not sufficient, ask the employer for additional information before starting the negotiations.
• If you have any concerns or questions about the negotiation proposal or the initiation of the negotiations, first contact your employee representative or TEK.
• Think about how the situation might affect you. If the negotiations apply to you, think about preparing yourself, for example, for temporary lay-off or even dismissal.

One employee’s dismissal, temporary lay-off or shift to part-time work can be handled between the employer and the employee. In these cases, the employee always has the right to demand that a matter concerning them must be negotiated between their employee representative and the employer. TEK recommends that a member facing individual negotiations informs their employee representative about the negotiations and bring their representative to the negotiations.

Genuine dialogue between the employer and the employee side should occur during the negotiations. The employees should have a real opportunity to impact on the decisions within the general framework in the Co-operation Act. This requires that the employees are given sufficient information and have an opportunity to present their opinions, information and experiences.

It is important that the negotiations are carried out in proper time so that the employee representatives can still affect the decision.

A record should be kept by the employer of the negotiations, as this record is used to evaluate if the negotiations have met all the requirements. The employee representatives should always ask if the record is kept. 

The topics that need to be discussed include the grounds for and effects of the reductions, plan for operations or operating principles and options for reducing workforce and limiting the impact on the employees. It is also important to negotiate on the possibilities for limiting the amount of reduced workforce.

The aim of the change procedure should be to minimise the impact on the employees and to find a way to avoid temporary lay-offs and dismissals. The issues handled in the negotiations are, for example, opportunities for retraining, positions, relocation and working time arrangements. If the reduction of workforce (e.g. dismissals, temporary lay-offs and shifts to part-time work) cannot be avoided, change negotiations should discuss options to limit the social and financial harm for the employees.

The law on cooperation obligates the employer to negotiate with the employees, but, unfortunately, does not require reaching a mutual understanding on the end result. The employer always has the opportunity to unilaterally make decisions on temporary lay-offs and dismissals.