Finland introduces expanded Non-Discrimination Legislation

A new level of non-discrimination provisions have come into force in Finland. The new law includes the obligation to promote equality (!) and prevent discrimination not only in the public but also within all areas of the private sector, including the provision of services. Non-discrimination legislation now covers educational institutions, schools and employers, with specific regard to working life and equal treatment.

In line with EU legislation, the Finish Act prohibits discrimination whether direct or indirect, harassment, and instruction or orders to discriminate. In addition, it requires employers to assess the implementation and realization of equality, develop working conditions and practices, which are to be followed in recruitment or other personnel matters. In order to provide a practical help to implement the new law, the Corporate Responsibility Network FIBS and the Finish Diversity Charter published their ‘Private sector guide for equality planning’ (available in Finnish only) that assists businesses in drawing up a plan according to the Act.

Other results of the latest reform include that a Non-Discrimination Ombudsman, who is empowered to consider a broader range of discrimination issues, has replaced the previous Ombudsman for Minorities. In addition, certain provisions of the Act on Equality between Women and Men (Equality Act) have been amended. The new Act expands the scope of protection against discrimination. It will be applied to all public and private activities, excluding only private life, family life and the practice of religion. The protection against discrimination is equal regardless of whether the discrimination is based on ethnic origin, age, nationality, language, religion, belief, opinion, health, disability, sexual orientation or other personal characteristics.

The obligation to promote equality has been expanded to cover not only public authorities, but also education providers, educational institutes and employers. These are now required to draw up a plan to promote equality. The obligation to draw up an equality plan applies to all employers that regularly have a staff of at least 30 employees.

Public authorities, education providers and employers must, where necessary, make reasonable accommodations to ensure that employees with disabilities have equal access to services, work or education and training, and they must also have equal access to goods and services. The disability of a person must be taken into account in provision of services, for example, by arranging accessible passage for those who need it whenever possible. Already under the former legislation, employers were obliged to make reasonable accommodations, but for providers of goods and services, such as hotels, restaurants and retailers, this is a new obligation.

Up to now, the possibilities for a discriminated person to get advice or legal aid differed depending on the ground of discrimination. There had also been differences in the supervision of compliance with non-discrimination legislation depending on the ground of discrimination. The former Ombudsman for Minorities only supervised compliance with the prohibition of discrimination on basis of ethnic origin, but the new Non-Discrimination Ombudsman supervises compliance with the Non-Discrimination Act with regard to all grounds of discrimination. Compliance with the provisions on equality in working life in individual cases will continue to be supervised by the occupational safety authorities. However, also the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman has duties and powers relating to equality in working life. The Ombudsman for Equality continues to supervise compliance with the Equality Act. 

The provisions on gender equality and prohibition of discrimination based on gender are laid down in the Equality Act. In the reform, the Equality Act has been amended so that new provisions on prohibition of discrimination based on gender identity or the expression of gender identity have been included in the Act. In addition, the provisions on drawing up a gender equality plan have been reformed, and the obligation of educational institutions to prepare a gender equality plan has been expanded to also cover institutions providing basic education.