Finland: Recruitment and selection

Original and updating author: Teea Kemppinen, Bird & Bird Attorneys Ltd

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Summary

• Employers are prohibited from discriminating in recruitment and selection on various grounds. (See Discrimination)
• Job advertisements must not be discriminatory on the statutorily protected grounds, unless one of the exemptions from the general prohibition of discrimination applies. (See Advertising vacancies) 
• The general principle is that the parties reach a contract with binding effect when an employer makes a job offer that a candidate accepts. (See Job offers)
• Recruitment and selection practice in the private sector is generally subject to little statutory regulation, except for provisions on equal opportunity and non-discrimination, priority in employment for certain groups and data and privacy protection. (See General)
• There are various rules regarding work carried out by young people and children. (See Young people and children)
• People who are not citizens of the other EU member states, other EEA countries or Switzerland require a residence permit in order to work in Finland. (See Foreign nationals)
• If a vacancy arises, employers are, in certain circumstances, obliged to offer the work to current or former employees before recruiting a new employee. (See Priority for employment)