If Thai berry pickers do arrive in Finland this summer, their working time will for the first time be regulated by a collective agreement between the Industrial Union and the Federation of Agricultural Employers.
Thai authorities have refused to allow pickers to leave for Finland this summer, after years of scandals over corruption, mistreatment and multiple investigations into human trafficking among berry companies.
The proposed solution conditionally approved by Thai officials is that pickers will be treated as employees rather than entrepreneurs, with a Finnish-style collective agreement governing the terms of work.
The contract determines, among other things, minimum wages, maximum working hours and rest periods.
The contract also includes an appendix specifically relating to berry pickers, valid for this season and to be renegotiated in the winter. It details workers' and employers' obligations and spelling out which costs can be charged to employees and which must be paid by the employer.
Various deductions for flights, accommodation, food and other costs have reduced some Thai pickers' earnings dramatically in the past.
For example flights and visa costs are paid by the employer, and the cost can be deducted from pay packets.
"A local agreement agreeing overtime arrangements must be signed by both the Industrial Union and the Federation of Agricultural Employers, after which it must also be agreed in the workplace," said Kristel Nybondas of the federation.
Round-the-clock berry picking shifts are not possible, but the agreement does allow for long working days so long as they are paid. The majority of pickers want to work longer hours, so long as they see the financial benefits in their pay packets.
"Extra shifts and overtime are always on a voluntary basis," said Nybondas. "In addition, working time records are compulsory for employers. It's recommended that pickers also keep a record of their hours worked."
Mandatory rest periods
Under the contract, pickers can agree to work a six-day week of 11-hour shifts without any increase in their hourly rate. That would entail three hours' overtime from Monday to Friday, and an extra 11 hours on Saturday.
Any hours worked in addition to these must be paid at a higher hourly overtime rate.
That means 26 hours of extra work in a 40 hour week. Overtime on top of that can be worked, so long as rest periods are taken into account.
In principle there must be 11 hours between shifts, but that can be shortened to seven hours if there is justification or in exceptional circumstances it can be reduced to five hours.
"The reason for these exceptions is of course that when you are doing seasonal work according to nature's whims, sometimes you have to work according to that and the harvest situation," said Nybondas.
Pickers' working hours could be changed according to the voluntary "working hour bank" and a flexitime balancing system.
The flexitime system allows for normal working time to be set at 50 hours for a limited period without additional payment, so long as the time is balanced out later on when the employee is still employed.
That system is used at berry farms, for instance, which have different arrangements to the forest-based berry firms that tend to import Thai workers.
"That has sometimes meant in these shorter employment periods that the working time is only balanced when the worker has left the country," said Riikka Vasama, who heads up the Foreign Labour Unit at the Industrial Union.
"The balancing time is in any case paid time, just as hours in the working time bank are also compensated."
Pickers should leave Finland with money in their pockets
The collective agreement guarantees berry pickers a certain level of pay. Their earnings will be affected by the hours worked and the amount of berries they pick.
Pickers' minimum hourly wage is 9.61 euros per hour. In principle, if there are berries to pick and the harvest is good, then the wage increases by 20 percent.
"A rate of 11.53 euros per hour should be realised for the majority of pickers," said Nybondas.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment has produced estimates that suggest the minimum net pay for pickers, after deductions, would be around 1,700 euros this summer if they work five days a week with eight hour days.
The deductions in that estimate are mostly to cover flight tickets, visa costs, food and accommodation.
If they do six 11 hour days a week, the calculation suggests pickers could expect to take home around 4,000 euros.
"Some employers have been concerned that an employment relationship would reduce pickers' earnings," said Vasama. "I have told them that the collective agreement only mandates minimum income levels. Workers and employers can always agree higher wages."
As incomes remain small thanks to the short berry picking season, Thai pickers' wages are tax free.
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