What is important for you to know?
Previously, the Act on Co-operation within Undertakings was applied to companies employing at least 20 employees, but from 1 July 2025, companies employing at least 50 employees will fall within the scope of the Act.
In the future, the Act on Co-operation within Undertakings will apply to companies employing 20-49 employees to a limited extent. Companies employing less than 20 employees will continue to fall outside the scope of the Act on Co-operation within Undertakings, as is the case at present. There were also adjustments to the change negotiation periods, which apply to all companies employing at least 20 employees.
Changes in negotiation periods
The minimum negotiation periods for change negotiations will be halved from 1 July 2025 onwards. In the future, the negotiation periods will be 7 days or 3 weeks, depending on the number of employees and the measure planned by the employer.
Negotiation periods in a company with 20-49 employees:
- There is no need to conduct change negotiations for fixed-term layoffs based on a temporary diminishment of work (layoff of a maximum of 90 days),
- Companies must only conduct change negotiations of 7 days if the employer considers giving notice to, transfer to part-time employment, unilaterally change an essential condition of the employment contract or lay-off of at least 20 employees within a period of 90 calendar days.
Negotiation periods in a company with at least 50 employees:
- In companies with at least 50 employees, the negotiation period is 7 days when the employer plans to give notice to, lay off for an indefinite period, transfer to part-time work or unilaterally change an essential condition of the employment relationship of less than 10 employees.
- When the employer plans to lay off personnel for a maximum of 90 days due to a temporary diminishment of work. The negotiation period is 7 days, even if more than 10 employees are included in the scope of the measure planned by the employer. In other cases, the negotiation period is 3 weeks for companies with at least 50 employees.
These matters will remain unchanged in change negotiations
The negotiation period is still calculated from the start of the change negotiations and the same issues must be discussed in the negotiations as before, despite the shortened negotiation period.
If not all matters have been dealt with by the end of the minimum negotiation period, an extension of the negotiation period must be agreed. If the employer does not agree to extend the negotiation period, it is advisable to record in the minutes of the negotiations that an extension has been requested, as well as the matters not yet discussed in the negotiations.
Please note that the collective agreement applicable at the workplace may contain different provisions concerning change negotiation periods.
Even if there is no need for change negotiations due to the size of the workplace, the employer must have a production-related or financial reason for giving notice. If the employee given notice wants to know whether the employer had grounds for giving notice, they should contact the employment counselling of their union.
Continuous dialogue in companies with 20-49 employees
From 1 July 2025 onwards, the continuous dialogue between employers and employees will be simplified regularly in companies employing 20-49 employees. Even if the law changes, there is no need to give up current and proven dialogue practices at the workplace. It is advisable to suggest continuing the dialogue in the same way to the employer.
Without effective dialogue at the workplace, the contribution of employees to the development of the workplace will not be utilised. However, the employer may ultimately decide on the practices of continuous dialogue.
In practice, it is necessary to decide what matters are discussed in the dialogue, how often or in which situations the dialogue is held and how the dialogue is conducted. The workplace’s dialogue practices and any changes in them are recorded, and the employer informs the personnel of them.
Personnel representative – the officials of our contractual branches will help and advise you on questions related to change negotiations.
Member of a YTN affiliate – you can contact your workplace’s personnel representative or your YTN affiliate’s employment counselling for questions related to change negotiations!
