Fixed term work slows down the equal salary development of women

Fixed term employee contracts have many negative ramifications. They, for example, slow the development of equal wages for women, lead to the uncertainty of a livelihood, and in the worst case scenario affect an employee’s (in Finnish, palkansaaja) physical health.

Problems coming from fixed term employment contracts have the biggest impact on female and young personnel. The threat of unemployment in fixed term contracts is up to seven times higher than in a permanent job, which causes uncertainty. Fixed term employees might not belong to an occupational health system provided by an employer: the trade unions in Finland have proposed that occupational health services for the temporary workers should be protected by law. The base for the long career is created at young age. If in the early stages of employee’s career she or he is ill-treated and is not entitled to health care, it does not bode well for the well-being at work and career.

Fixed term employment contracts are a huge injustice in the public sector that is mainly occupied by women. In the last reform of the Employment Contracts Act there was an aim to improve the position of women in the labor market (in Finnish, työmarkkina). In the law-drafting of the attention was drawn to the criteria of so-called atypical forms of employment relations. Still, in practice, it is relatively easy to use short term contracts against the law. The use of fixed term employment contract is legally permitted only if certain criteria are met. Between permitted and prohibited situations there remains a gray area, where no actual reasons for the use of fixed term contract exist.

Studies have proven that the temporary fixed term contracts are used more in Finland than European average. Trade unions (in Finnish, ay-liike) believe that the employee protection referred in the law is often not realized because of the employee does not dare or does not want to jeopardize the potential work relation with the employer. Periodicity is thus described as a kind of continuous trial period, during which the following precedence is redeemed.

Anything that would equalize the fixed term and permanent work career should be supported in order to provide more healthy and certain situation.