Combatting the grey economy

Any activity associated with the grey economy or the failure to fulfil obligations is strictly prohibited on Länsimetro’s worksites. For that reason, Länsimetro Oy has, since the very start of the project, closely co-operated with the Regional State Administrative Agency and the Finnish Tax Administration to improve occupational safety and combat the grey economy in the construction industry. Looking after occupational safety and combatting the grey economy are mutually reinforcing. Significantly stricter worksite safety targets have been set for Länsimetro’s worksites than for the construction industry in general in Finland. Read more about occupational safety here.

Co-operation with authorities

As a large construction project, Länsimetro has the opportunity to integrate new operating methods in the construction industry together with authorities. Länsimetro actively informs its worksites of legislative changes and operating methods related to occupational safety and combatting the grey economy. Länsimetro co-operates with the Tax Administration and Regional State Administrative Agency, for instance, in regularly held meetings.

A thorough tendering process – construction is supervised

Länsimetro Oy has tendered out the contracts concerning the Matinkylä–Kivenlahti section in accordance with the Finnish act on public contracts in special sectors. Read more about the purchase chain here. In construction contracts and sub-contracts, Länsimetro requires the tenderer to fulfil the obligations referred to in the Act on the Contractor’s Obligations and Liability when Work is Contracted Out (1233/2006). The selected construction contractors and sub-contractors use their own employees and sub-contractors chosen by them to implement the contract. Read more about the selected contractors here.

During construction, Länsimetro monitors safety on its worksites as well as compliance with laws and regulations. The contractor reports to the client, i.e. to Länsimetro, on the progress, costs, quality and occupational safety of the work, as well as on the number of employees, among other things. Länsimetro requires the main contractors to take care of their employees’ statutory insurance and to also comply with other laws, regulations and collective labour agreements that apply to employees. Read more about Länsimetro’s worksite employee numbers and nationalities here.

The main contractors are responsible for ensuring that the documents referred to in the Act on the Contractor’s Obligations are in order with respect to their own contractual partners, including sub-contractors. The main contractors also monitor the situation regarding the documents of sub-contractors and their sub-contractors with respect to the Act on the Contractor’s Obligations. Every main contractor inducts all employees coming to the worksite. Their tax numbers are also verified through the tax authority’s portal. The main contractor also maintains an up-to-date access pass list of the worksite’s employees, and the list is sent to the tax authority monthly.

Construction industry improving through data collection and monitoring

Länsimetro has various services in place to eradicate the grey economy. The number of employees is reported through the access pass system, and statutory obligations are monitored via various systems. With respect to the documents referred to in the Act on the Contractor’s Obligations, contractors’ activities are monitored using the monitoring tool of a co-operation partner. Systematic data collection and monitoring using monitoring tools has significantly improved authorities’ ability to monitor the construction industry’s progress in combatting the grey economy. Read more about co-operation with authorities here (in Finnish).

Read more about combatting the grey economy on the Confederation of Finnish Construction Industries’ website (in Finnish).