Protection against Termination in the Case of Shop Stewards and Elected Representatives

Both a shop steward elected based on a collective agreement and an elected representative elected based on law provisions have special protection against termination of their employment relationships. Firstly, their employment relationships may be terminated only if a majority of the employees whom the shop steward or the elected representative represents agree to the termination. The consent can be given in a meeting called due to the matter or by a written inquiry.

If the employer, however, has the right to cancel the employment agreement of a shop steward or an elected representative based on a person-related ground to end immediately, the consent of the majority is not needed. The employer should however be prepared to provide the grounds for the cancellation and it is also recommended to otherwise take the position of the shop steward into consideration.

In addition, the employer shall be entitled to terminate a shop steward’s or an elected representative’s employment agreement of on production-related and financial grounds, only if the work of the shop steward or the elected representative ceases completely and the employer is unable to arrange work that corresponds to the person's professional skills or otherwise is suitable, or to train the person for other work. The same applies in liquidation procedures and in bankruptcy situations.

The protection against termination is the same for the Occupational Safety and Health Representative.

The shop steward's role and protection against termination are often also agreed upon in collective agreements. In those cases, the contractual provisions need to be applied. If no collective agreement exists or it does not include shop steward provisions, the above mentioned law provisions must be complied with.