The Act on the Contractor's Obligations and Liability when
Work is Contracted Out has been amended on 1 July 2012. The reform
aims to prevent the black economy especially in building
trade.
In building
trade the contractor's liability to check will in future
require the contractor to ensure that the employees' accident
insurance is in force by requesting a certificate of it from the
contracting party. The contractor has an obligation to acquire the
information also from foreign companies by an extract of register
or other corresponding certificate accordant to the local
legislation. The building trade shall cover building and repair,
servicing and maintenance relating to building. According to the
Employment Accidents Insurance Act the work done in Finland shall
in principle be insured in Finland. Posted workers are an exception
to this. Enterprises located in the European Union or the European
Economic Area which post workers to Finland are not obligated to
provide an accident insurance in Finland. When it comes to the
aforementioned companies, the contractors shall, however, ensure
that the employee belongs to the social security system of the
posting country.
Neglecting the liability to
check in building trade shall lead to a negligence fee. If the
negligence of the liability to check relates, for example, to a
systematic distortion of legislation, the negligence fee can be
rated up. The amount of the fee can therefore be EUR 16,000 at the
minimum and EUR 60,000 at the maximum. The factors affecting the
amount are the value of the contract between the contractor and the
contracting party as well as the attainable benefit, repetition of
the procedure, orderliness and other conditions.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
