Guidelines for compensation for lost wages due to an incident involving a drone threat
When the authorities issue an emergency warning due to a drone threat, people are advised to go indoors and stay there until they are informed that the emergency incident has been resolved.
Compliance with official guidelines may have led to situations where employees have been unable to get to their workplaces.
Some employers’ associations and the Confederation of Finnish Industries have advised their member companies to withhold pay from employees in situations where the employee has followed official guidelines and, as a result, has been unable to report to work during an emergency situation.
The Industrial Union’s position is that, when employees comply with official regulations or guidelines issued by the authorities, the employer must remain obligated to pay wages in such situations.
The Industrial Union considers that, in these cases, the employee has been prevented from working for reasons beyond the control of both the employee and the employer, and on this basis, the employer’s obligation to pay wages is determined in accordance with Chapter 2, Section 12, Paragraph 2 of the Employment Contracts Act.
Instructions in case your employer does not pay your wages for a period involving a drone threat:
- Keep your pay slips, which show the amount of the missing pay.
- Record the time during which you were unable to work due to the emergency warning.
- Contact the shop steward at your workplace and ask them to submit a wage claim to your employer for the unpaid wages resulting from the drone threat. If there is no shop steward at your workplace, contact your employer directly.
- If the employer refuses to pay the outstanding wages, the shop steward should contact the representation of interests services at Industrial Union’s Employment Advice service number at 020 690 447. If there is no shop steward, please contact the Industrial Union directly.
The Industrial Union reviews each individual case and, if necessary, considers taking legal action to resolve the matter.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment has established a tripartite working group to examine measures related to potential future drone threats. If this working group reaches a consensus on guidelines, the Industrial Union will act in accordance with the guidelines established by the working group.