Miika Oksanen, production director of Pohjola Rakennus Oy Häme, is satisfied with how the legislation has brought the most blatant operators of the gray economy under control. Oksanen suggests that the next step could be to reward responsibly operating companies with tax breaks.
Miika Oksanen works as the production director of Pohjola Rakennus Oy Häme. Pohjola Rakennus is a project management construction company that operates in Uusimaa, Pirkanmaa, Häme, Central, Eastern and Western Finland and Northern Finland. Especially in the areas of Tampere, Turku and Jyväskylä, Pohjola Rakennus is the largest apartment builder in the region.
Miika Oksanen, who previously worked at SRV and in several production management and supervisor positions, has seen how measures to combat the gray economy have started to bite in practice in recent years.
1. What kind of situations and phenomena have you come across during your career?
I've heard more examples of the gray economy from suppliers and contractors than I've come across in my career. Usually it has been about not paying taxes. When the company has gone bad, the same entrepreneur has founded a new company and repeated this a few times. These examples are from ten years ago. The reforms in the construction industry that came into effect in 2014 regarding the obligation to declare the tax number and subscriber information have brought the most blatant operators of the gray economy under control. And that's fine.
2. What is most important in combating the gray economy?
The customer has the key position. The client must know how to weed out abusers from the projects. The customer must act responsibly and long-term. In contract chains, people's ties must be checked down to the last actor and background influencer. Thugs bear no responsibility. Instead, each responsible actor does his part in the whole. The main responsibility is still with the customer.
3. What makes the warning bells ring, when is there reason to doubt the responsibility of the company's operating method?
The exceptionally cheap price indicates that the entrepreneur cannot have clean flour in the bag. If companies are created every nine months, taxes will probably remain unpaid. They strive to get their work base in order and their business up and running at the most affordable prices. It is necessary to check the connections of entrepreneurs down to the last operator. In these situations, those who honestly strive to enter the market can become vicarious victims.
4. Are the reforms made to the construction industry legislation enough?
Reforms will never be enough and more reforms are always needed. The authorities have done an exceptionally good job in 2014, but the measures taken have been based on sanctions. What if the next step was to use the culture of normal management and try out how incentives and rewards would work. What if responsible companies got something back in the form of taxes?
As responsible actors, we have made the taxman's work easier by voluntarily inspecting the subcontractor chains through and through, without the obligation of the legislator. In terms of combating the gray economy, this review has been the A and O of all activities.
5. How does Pohjola Rakennus promote healthy competition with its own operations?
As a customer and tenderer, we operate above the legal minimum at Pohjola Building. We maintain the reputation of a responsible operator by making sure that contractors from the gray economy are not on our sites. We don't want to give them any chance.
As the indirect employer of a couple of thousand employees, we are such a big operator that we have the resources to investigate issues and refine the buttons in the contract technology with which we can get dishonest operators off the job sites.
We report legal ambiguities to the Tax Administration, for example situations where the name of an entrepreneur comes up too often. Does he work for two companies and not pay taxes for the other one? We are also in contact with the Regional Administration Office in non-statutory unclear situations.
We prefer construction industry member companies. We can't oppress small operators with a few people because they don't belong to the union. The union membership fee is too expensive for them. However, we require all our contractors to belong to the tilajavastuu.fi service.
6. How would you describe Pohjola Rakennu's own ethical rules?
We have smart rules at Pohjola Building. They don't go to extremes. The rules act as a guideline and give human limits, how to know what is right and what is wrong.
The rules take into account your own thinking, they tell you where the line is, where you have to consider and what is forbidden.
Every situation and matter cannot be controlled by rules. We respect the law and we don't need another law. Unclear situations are then discussed with the supervisor. Let's agree and check together what is the right course of action.
7. What is the significance of the ethical principles of the construction industry? What hopes and expectations do you have for Construction Industry RT?
Ethical principles are a good guideline in all fields. They should be followed.
I know that the challenge of implementing the principles is quite a challenge for the Construction Industry. Now the aim is for larger companies to set a good example for smaller companies with their own activities.
Instilling ethical rules of the game in the operations of small businesses is important. More effort should be put into this. Big companies will stay on top of the wave, but smaller companies need more support and could be given more tools.
Questions related to part-time jobs and high employer contributions are also important for small entrepreneurs. Is it possible for the Construction Industry to find solutions to these questions with the trade unions?
All in all, during the last five years, the fight against the gray economy has clearly gone in a better direction. The standard practice of checking tax numbers and subscriber liability has cleaned up the situation a lot.
The current boom and finding the necessary workers can increase the possibility of gray economy growth. The customer must be aware of this and take care of the responsible operators of the contract chains.
See also
- Ethical principles in practice: 4. Oppose the gray economy
- Other parts of the Ethical Principles in Practice writing series
More information
- Merja Vuoripuro, Construction Industry RT ry
tel. 040 587 2642, merja.vuoripuro@rakennusteollisuus.fi - Sari Puurtinen, Juuriharja Consulting Group Oy
tel. 040 676 3772, sari.puurtinen@juuriharja.fi
Root brush is a coaching company specializing in ethical management.