In combating the gray economy, better results are obtained by going to the construction sites than by simply making contract entries. This was revealed in a year-long joint control campaign of the housing industry of the City of Helsinki, Rakennusteollisuus RT and Rakennusliito.
The City of Helsinki has long required responsibility from its contract partners. The purpose of the joint surveillance campaign was to find out what the situation is on our own construction sites and how the ever-changing forms of the gray economy can be eradicated from construction sites. Operating methods and lessons found to be good are also shared and adopted at other city sites, as well as elsewhere within the urban environment sector.
The ambiguities are concentrated at the tail end of the contract chains
During the year, inspection visits were made to housing production new construction and renovation sites around Helsinki. The monitoring findings showed that the construction sites have the same ambiguities typical of the sector, especially in the tails of the contract chains.
"The visits to the construction sites showed that the fight against the gray economy requires close, continuous cooperation between the project's parties and supervision extending over the entire contract chain. It was eye-opening to see what all needs to be sorted out on the construction sites and where problems most often arise. For my part, I would like to thank all involved parties for their good cooperation. We have all learned a lot and intensified the interaction and exchange of information. Now a good basis for continuous cooperation has been created", says the head of the housing production new production unit Merja Rukko.
Foreign workers are mostly victims of the gray economy
During inspection visits, people were found who did not have the right to work. In addition, there were cases where employees had accrued claims for unpaid overtime compensation and presumed underpayment. Correspondingly, there were also construction sites where everything was handled flawlessly.
"Overall, the inspections showed where there is usually the greatest risk for the gray economy. The foreign workforce is most often the one with which possible ambiguities arise." states Johanna Elonen Construction union
Light entrepreneurship has emerged as a new phenomenon of the gray economy. This was also encountered during the monitoring visits of the campaign. There were cases in the contract chains where the employer information of the persons did not correspond to reality. The persons were reported to be working as light entrepreneurs while the salary ambiguities were clarified.
"Legislation unequivocally requires the use of pictorial identification on construction sites, one part of which is the employer's information. Unfortunately, this time too, we encountered that the employees had incorrect information in their IDs. When something like this occurs, it can be assumed that a more detailed investigation will often reveal other ambiguities," says the Regional Director of the Building Construction Industry Diana Råman.
The parties jointly state that open cooperation of all responsible actors is needed in the field. One of the city's housing production goals for the campaign was to wake up industry players. Rakennusliitto and Talonrakennusteollisuus ry thank the city of Helsinki for its active approach and hope that other builders will follow the exemplary pioneer in combating the gray economy.
Source: City of Helsinki
Diana Råman regional manager