Finland Times

According to the report, the government is also taking into consideration changing Epiphany and Ascension Thursday to working days. Furthermore, cutting the pay for the first day of sick leave and the extra pay on Sunday is also on cards.

The shortening of the holiday is estimated to improve competitiveness by 1-5 per cent. In the public sector, the holiday could accumulate to up 45 days or nine weeks.
The government is, however, constrained in the move to shorten the holidays, since the terms are covered in the collective bargaining agreement which cannot be changed through the law.

According to the Helsingin Sanomat, the government plans to improve competitiveness without increasing employers’ costs. The goal is also to reduce the country’s indebtedness by balancing the expenditure and the revenue in the public sector.

Reducing statutory employers’ contributions has been cited a possible means to improve competitiveness. Increasing the value-added tax from 0.5 to 1 per cent has been contemplated to cover for the reduced employers’ contributions.

According to the report, the government is unsure about only a dozen measures to substitute the social contract. Many ideas have encountered constitutional obstacles or other barriers.