Southwest Finland district court has convicted a company operating at Meyer's Turku shipyard for hiring foreign workers as self-employed contractors.
The case hinged on foreign workers hired under light entrepreneurship arrangements.
The court found that from 2022 to 2023, the company misled 18 Ukrainian workers by classifying them as light entrepreneurs. The ruling noted that the workers did not understand what the self-employment status entailed.
Some of the workers had requested formal employment contracts, but none were provided.
The company told the court it had been unaware of any wrongdoing and denied all charges. The court, however, concluded that the light entrepreneurship arrangement had been a deliberate mechanism to circumvent employer obligations.
In Finland, employers are responsible for several statutory earnings-related contributions, adding some 25 percent to payroll.
The court ordered the company's leading figure to pay roughly 100,000 euros in unpaid wages, overtime and damages to workers. It also sentenced the chair of the board to a suspended prison term of one year and five months, alongside a three-year ban on conducting business activities.
The court found that the employer had taken advantage of foreign workers' limited understanding of the Finnish labour market and their dependence on continued employment.
The ruling may still be appealed.
