Family-friendly practices at Finnish workplaces in 2014 and in 2015

20.3.2017| 1www.tyojaperhe.fi 20.3.2017www.tyojaperhe.fi
Family-friendly practices
at Finnish workplaces
in 2014 and 2015

20.3.2017| 2www.tyojaperhe.fi
Contents
Summary 3-4
Background information 5-7
Work/life balance 8-9
Mitä työaikakäytäntöjä ja joustoja työpaikoilla on käytössä 16–19
Työpaikan tarve tai kiinnostus työn ja muun elämän
yhteensovittamista tukeville palveluille 20–22
Perhemyönteisten käytäntöjen kirjaaminen ja seuranta 23–27
Training and dissemination of information 28–31
Family-friendly workplace culture 32–43
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Summary
1

Work/life balance achievable in most Finnish
workplaces
The balance between work and other areas of life is successfully achieved in three quarters of Finnish workplaces. This is the finding of a survey
carried out by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (FIOH) in October 2015. Larger workplaces’ strengths lie in having recognized practices
and processes, whereas at smaller workplaces, arrangements are made on a more individual level. Nevertheless, most workplaces would benefit
from more information on the different options available. Male-dominated and large workplaces in particular would benefit from active promotion of
a family-friendly culture. Having a roughly even gender distribution seems to promote work/life balance practices at workplaces.
In 2014, and again in 2015, FIOH carried out an electronic survey to determine how Finnish workplaces support the work/family balance. Our presentation
illustrates the results of this survey and divides them into the following categories: employer sector, size of workplace, and age and gender distribution.
The target group of the survey was all occupational safety representatives and officers in the occupational safety personnel register. As Finnish workplaces
with over 10 employees are obliged to report the names of their occupational safety representatives in the register, it represents Finnish workplaces from every
sector. A total of 2718 occupational safety representatives and officers from 2345 different workplaces responded to the survey. Of these, 49.3% were women
and 49.9% worked in a supervisory role. In addition to gathering information, the survey helped to distribute information to workplaces regarding good practices
for balancing work and other life areas, and highlighted areas that required development.
According to the survey, balancing work and other life areas was easy or very easy in three quarters of Finnish workplaces. The balance was most easily
achieved in female-dominated workplaces and, of the workplaces sectors, in church parishes. About 30% of the survey respondents estimated that it had
become easier to balance these two life areas in the last two years, a clearly higher percentage than that of those who felt it had deteriorated.
1

Background information
2

WorkplacesRespondents
23452718
In supervisor position
50 %
49 %
51 %
Women
Men
2 Respondents of the survey

Vastaajat edustivat seuraavia työpaikkoja:
2 Background information of the workplaces

Work/life balance
3

Wokr/lifebalance
succeedswellin…
Women-dominated workplaces
Most difficult to achieve work/life balance in
municipal sector: at 12 % of municipal
workplaces achieving work/life balance
succeeds poorly.
..of the respondents feel that
balancing work/life has become
easier during the last two years.
Of the respondents feels that
work/life balance is easily
achievable at one’s own
workplace.
73,3 % Men-dominated workplaces68 %
77 %
Church parish employees83 %
3
Is work/life balance achievable?
30 %

Flexible working time
arrangements are common
4
All the workplaces has at least one flexible working time arrangement, and the use of
such arrangement seems to be increasing. In the private sector and in small
workplaces (employing less than 50 employees), employees usually make these
arrangements directly with their supervisors, whereas the public sector and larger
workplaces use other, more “formal” types of flexible working time arrangements. An
even gender distribution was beneficial for family-friendly work arrangements.

Flexible working time arrangements are common
One of the best ways in which the workplace can promote the work/life balance is flexible, employee-friendly work schedules and work task-related
arrangements. The most common of these in Finnish workplaces was individual-level agreements with one’s supervisor regarding flexitime or absences.
All the workplaces have at least one flexible working time arrangement, and the use of such arrangement seems to be increasing. In the private sector and in
small workplaces (employing less than 50 employees), employees usually make these arrangements directly with their supervisors, whereas the public sector
and larger workplaces use other, more “formal” types of flexible working time arrangements. An even gender distribution was beneficial for family-friendly work
arrangements.
About a third of the workplaces saw the need for or were interested in leisure time activities, childcare (of sick children), catering services, and services to
support families arranged or even paid by the workplace.
Just under a half of the workplaces had official work/life balance practices in their strategies, programmes or models. This was more common in large and
medium-sized workplaces, or workplaces with young employees.
Most workplaces monitored the use of flexible working time arrangements and family leaves. In just over a half of the workplaces, occupational health services
took into account the challenges arising from the family lives of their employees. About 40% of workplaces addressed these issues in, for example, appraisal
discussions or work environment surveys.
1

71 %
Arrangements agreed between employer
and employee
93 %
Opintovapaa
kunta 76 %
valtio 80 %
Private
sector
81 %Small
workplaces
74 % etätyömahdollisuus valtiolla
77 % part-time work suuret yritykset
81 % vuorotteluvapaa suuret yritykset
Lomarahat
vapaiksi valtiolla
€
$
4 Where is best flexibility?

Työpaikalla käytössä olevat työaikajärjestelyt ja joustot
One of the best ways in which the
workplace can promote the work/life
balance is flexible, employee-friendly
work schedules and work task-
related arrangements. The most
common of these in Finnish
workplaces was individual-level
agreements with one’s supervisor
regarding flexitime or absences.
4

Workplaces’ need for or interest in
services provided by the employer
5
About a third of the workplaces saw the need for or were interested in leisure time
activities, childcare (of sick children), catering services, and services to support families
arranged or even paid by the workplace.

Workplaces’ need for or interest in services
Childcare of sick children
Paid by employer 12 %
Arranged by employer 19 %
5
Jo käytössä:Satunnaiset lastenhoitopalvelut
Työnantajan maksama 8 %
Työnantajan välittämänä 22 %
Voluntary support networks arranged by the
employer (e.g. peer support groups)
21 %
Vapaan ajan toiminnot
(esim. työnantajan tukema liikunta
ja tilaisuudet perheille).
Ruokahuolto
mahdollisuus esim. ostaa
ateria mukaan työpaikalta
33 %
21 %

Official and/or monitored family-
friendly practices
6
Just under a half of the workplaces had official work/life balance practices in their strategies,
programmes or models. This was more common in large and medium-sized workplaces, or
workplaces with young employees. Most workplaces monitored the use of flexible working time
arrangements and family leaves.

6 Official and/or monitored family-friendly practices
at workplaces
Occupational health services
takes into account family life of
employees
Written policies
52 %
22 %
Työterveyshuollon suunnitelmaan
tai varhaisen tuen malliin (eniten)
Strategiaan, arvoihin tai
johtosääntöön (vähiten)
Large workplaces more
often than small ones.
Workplaces with young
employees more often
than others.
MONITORED (TOP 3)
61 %
Working time flexibility, use of
family leaves
52 % 46 %
Included in personnel surveys

Training and dissemination of
information
7

Room for improvement in supervisor awareness
and competence
In order to make family-friendly practices more common, supervisors and employees must be made aware of them. Supervisors in particular need more
information of the available options. Supervisors’ ability to bring up issues regarding life outside of work with their employees needs improvement. Supervisors
also need concrete instructions for arranging these practices and informing employees of them.
The general level of awareness regarding family-friendly practices has not improved in Finnish workplaces in the last year. According to the 2015 survey,
supervisors and the management in workplaces with young people were best at informing their employees of these practices. Supervisors evaluated
information dissemination at their workplaces more positively than respondents who themselves were employees. Employees were best informed at female-
dominated workplaces.
7

Poorly or not at all
41 % (2014), 38 % (2015)
Training of supervisors
best at workplaces
where majority of
employees are women .
Dissemination of information at workplace about possibilities for flexibility and/or family
leaves (stipulated by the law)
Well organized
24 % (2014 and 2015)
Well – (responded) 33 %
workplaces where majority of employees
are young (less than 30 years of age)
Poorly or not at all –
(responded) 41,5 % workplaces
where majority of employees are over 50
years of age.
Needs of employees to balance work/life at
different life phases are taken into account in the
training of the supervisors at workplace.
7 Training and dissemination of information
Well organized 28 % of workplaces with women majority
Poorly organized 57 % of workplaces with men majority
Training of supervisors best
at workplaces where majority
of the employees are young.
Respondents who are in
supervisor position evaluate
training of supervisors more
positive than other
respondents (employees)..

Family-friendly workplace culture
8

A family-friendly culture affects everyday life
Most workplaces saw families as a positive resource for work, but in the 2015 survey this view was slightly less frequent than it had been the year before.
Almost half of the workplaces expected employees to put their work first at least sometimes. Although the attitudes of management and supervisors to
employees’ family lives was mainly positive, negative attitudes were more common in male-dominated workplaces. According to the survey, management in
small workplaces had more positive attitudes towards family issues than management in larger workplaces.
Employees relatively often experienced time pressure, which disturbs family life. Pressure to work overtime in order to get their work done or in order to
advance their careers was experienced by the respondents of almost half of the workplaces, at least from time to time. The survey showed this pressure was
mostly experienced at large workplaces.
Raising the subject of absences due to family reasons is usually easy at Finnish workplaces; more so according to the respondents who were supervisors than
those who were employees. The survey showed that raising these issues was easier in female-dominated workplaces than in those that are male dominated.
Family leaves or other flexible working time arrangements were considered as affecting career development at every fifth workplace. Those working as
supervisors and representatives of female-dominated workplaces assessed this influence as being weaker than representatives of male-dominated
workplaces.
Majority of workplaces have regard men and women’s family leaves equally
Workplaces generally use different types of family leave. Their use had slightly increased in the last two years, and practical arrangements had become easier.
As regards gender, the data clearly showed that in female-dominated workplaces, the family leaves most commonly taken were those available to women,
whereas in male-dominated workplaces, paternity leave was most common. In less than half of the workplaces, unpaid leave is generally taken in order to care
for a family member or for special care of a close one. Respondents of every third workplace reported that their employer kept in touch with employees during
their family leaves.
About 80% of the survey respondents claimed that attitudes to men and women’s absences due to family leaves were equal.
The best situation was at workplaces in which there were roughly as many male as female employees.
8

Miesten ja naisten vanhemmuuteen ja
työstä poissaoloihin hoivan takia
suhtaudutaan työpaikalla tasapuolisesti
62 %
Suurten työpaikkojen
edustajista kokee, että
henkilöstöön kohdistuu
usein perhe- ja
yksityiselämää
häiritsevää aikapainetta
Työpaikalla henkilöstöön
kohdistuu usein paineita
tehdä ylitöitä saadakseen
työn tehdyksi tai
edetäkseen urallaan.
Suurissa työpaikoissa 22 %
44 % workplaces työntekijöiden odotetaan asettavan työn perhe-elämän edelle vähintään silloin tällöin.
66 % kokee, että työpaikan esimies ja johto
suhtautuvat perheen ja työn yhdistämisen
vaatimuksiin myönteisesti.
Family-friendly workplace culture8
79 %
Puheeksi ottamisen helppous 2015 Esimies Ei esimies
Helppoa 71 % 81 % 62 %
Perhevapaan vaikutus
urakehitykseen
Miesvaltainen Naisvaltainen Esimies Ei esimies
Paljon 7 % 3 %
Ei lainkaan tai vähän 89 % 70 %
Vähintään silloin tällöin
työntekijöihin kohdistuu
sellaisia aikapaineita,
jotka häiritsevät
työntekijöiden perhe-
ja yksityiselämää
27 % 14 %
Mitä pienempi yritys sitä myönteisemmin:
Pienissä 70 %, keskisuurissa 67 % ja suurissa 55 %
Miesvaltaisissa
työpaikoissa
Naisvaltaisissa58 % 71 %

Onko työpaikalla työntekijän helppo ottaa puheeksi
se, että hän aikoo jäädä määräajaksi työstä pois perhevapaalle
tai hoitaakseen perheenjäsentään tai muuta läheistään?, %
Puheeksiottamisen helppous8
All respondents,
2014
All respondents,
2015
Super-
visor
Employee Men majority
Women
majority
About the same number of
both genders
Easy 69 71 81 62 63 76 74
Not easy or
difficult
23 21 15 27 26 18 20
Difficult 7 8 4 11 11 6 6

Kaikki vastaajat Esimies Ei esimies
Miesvaltainen
työpaikka
Naisvaltainen
työpaikka
Molempia sukupuolia on suurin
piirtein yhtä paljon
Ei lainkaan tai vähän 79 89 70 76 82 79
Jonkin verran 16 9 23 17 15 17
Paljon 4 2 7 7 3 4
Perhevapaan vaikutus urakehitykseen8
Vaikuttaako perhevapaan, hoivavapaan tai muiden joustojen
käyttö työpaikalla työntekijöiden urakehitykseen?, %

Family as a resource?8
Nähdäänkö työpaikalla perhe ja yksityiselämä…, %
kaikki vastaajat,
2014
kaikki vastaajat,
2015
miesvaltainen
työpaikka
naisvaltainen
työpaikka
molempia sukupuolia on
suurin piirtein yhtä paljon
Positiivisena voimavarana työlle 59 57 49 63 57
Ei vaikuta tai liity työhön 32 33 38 28 35
Rasitteena/haittana työlle 9 10 13 9 8

Kaikki vastaajat Pieni työpaikka
Keskisuuri
työpaikka
Suuri työpaikka
Miesvaltainen
työpaikka
Naisvaltainen
työpaikka
Molempia sukupuolia on
suurin piirtein yhtä paljon
Myönteisesti 66 70 67 55 58 71 67
Ei myönteisesti
eikä kielteisesti
28 26 27 36 34 25 27
Kielteisesti 6 5 6 9 8 5 6
Suhtautuminen työn ja perhe-elämän
yhdistämisen vaatimuksiin
8
Miten myönteisesti tai kielteisesti työpaikan johto ja
esimiehet suhtautuvat työntekijöiden perhe-elämään
sekä perheen ja työn yhdistämisen vaatimuksiin? %

”Tärkeää, jotta kaikki ovat perillä työpaikan
säännöistä. Olisiko yhteinen iltapäiväkahvihetki
tähän apu, eli istutaan alas yhdessä ja käydään
pelisäännöt läpi.”
Contact:
Salla Toppinen-Tanner, Leading Specialist, PhD
Finnish Institute of Occupational Health
P.O.B 40, FI-00251 Helsinki
salla.toppinen-tanner@ttl.fi
Phone+358 46 851 2517
Work and family life:
Salla Toppinen-Tanner,
Anna Vanhala, Marja Känsälä,
Minna Toivanen, Tiina Kaksonen
Rahoittaja:
Sosiaali- ja terveysministeriö
Graafinen toteutus:
Nitro ID

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