Prevention in labour market organisations

Prevention is everyone’s responsibility: National Assistance System for Victims of Human Trafficking

10 June 2025

The NAS is a national specialist authority and competence centre focusing on human trafficking, and its statutory tasks include identifying and helping victims of human trafficking. In this interview, the deputy director of the system Katri Lyijynen talks about the activities of the organisation and current phenomena.

What kinds of human trafficking phenomena are seen in Finland?

Most of the people that end up as clients of the NAS are victims of labour exploitation. Finnish authorities recognise the phenomenon and intervene with forced labour efficiently. The NAS also helps victims of forced marriage, for example.

Forced labour means a situation where the person does not have a realistic opportunity to refuse work because of being threatened or because they are in a vulnerable position, for example. A recruitment fee may have been demanded from a non-Finnish worker and they may have had to take out a loan in their home country to pay for their trip to Finland. With forced labour, it is common that the worker is not paid wages according to the relevant collective agreement and that the worker’s rights to breaks or holidays are not respected. The worker may be financially abused; they may have to rely on the employer in terms of housing, or the employer may even have taken the victim’s payment card. In forced labour, the employer’s control reaches all aspects of the worker’s life.

Human trafficking is often associated with undocumented workers, but in Finland, it is more common that the victim of forced labour entered the country legally with a residence permit for an employed person or a visa for seasonal work. Not knowing the language and a poor understanding of the Finnish society may make it more difficult to get out of the situation. Without a job, the victim of forced labour may be left with nothing in an unfamiliar country, or quitting the job may even lead to the victim being removed from Finland. Victims therefore often feel that they cannot end the abusive employment. Victims are often also made to believe that you cannot trust the authorities in Finland.

What kinds of help can victims of human trafficking receive?

The NAS provides advice and guidance related to the status of victims and their rights. The NAS can steer victims to legal aid and it can help victims to file a police report. In addition, the NAS can help find safe housing and refer the victim to healthcare services and social welfare services. If the victim does not have any money or income, financial help can also be provided.

The measures are decided according to each victim’s needs and the victim’s right of residence affects the practical arrangements. If the client of the NAS has a registered municipality of residence in Finland, the wellbeing services county of their municipality is responsible for providing the assistance. The NAS can help with registering for services and it can collaborate with the wellbeing services county in order to help the victim. If the victim is an asylum seeker in Finland, their reception centre collaborates with the NAS to provide help.

If the person does not have a municipality of residence or a residence permit, they can apply for a residence permit for a victim of human trafficking, for example. The NAS is responsible for organising services for these victims.

How does a victim access the NAS’s services?

The NAS does not search for possible victims itself; instead, other authorities and organisations refer the victims to the NAS with the victim’s consent. If a person considers themselves a victim of human trafficking, they can also contact the NAS directly. Assistance is usually sought with a written application, but in emergencies, oral applications are also accepted.

An administrative decision is made on accepting a person as a client of the NAS if the criteria for human trafficking are met and the victim needs special support. The decision can also be negative if the conditions for accepting the person as a client of the NAS are not met. The NAS receives applications from victims of various – sometimes very serious – infringements of rights, but not all applicants are considered victims of human trafficking. These applicants are referred to other forms of assistance provided by other authorities, the relevant wellbeing services county, or Victim Support Finland, for example.

The NAS has accepted more than 200 new clients per year in the recent past. Not all NAS clients became victims of human trafficking in Finland. Some became victims of abuse in their home country or during their journey to Finland, either while seeking asylum or intending to migrate.

How can human trafficking be combated and prevented?

Labour exploitation and human trafficking are complex phenomena and their prevention requires a variety of measures from the authorities and collaboration across administrative branches. Action plans, such as the Action Plan against Trafficking in Human Beings, are important tools in the prevention work.

When a residence permit or visa is granted, it is important to notice if the applicant does not know what work they are coming here to do or if they do not have the skills required for the work. This can help prevent situations where the workers must take out loans in their home country. This also requires resources so that the people planning to come to Finland to work can be orally heard at the Finnish embassy of their country of origin.

How is Finland’s situation compared to other European countries?

The special characteristics of each country, such as geographical location and legislation, affect the form and characteristics of human trafficking and how the phenomenon is identified and combated. Criminals know how to take advantage of the systems of different countries in various ways. The victims’ nationalities also vary between countries as do the routes by which they arrive in Europe and the reasons they end up as victims of abuse.

Compared to other European and Nordic countries, Finland is clearly more advanced in identifying and investigating cases of forced labour and other labour exploitation, and more judgements are also issued. Significantly fewer human trafficking cases related to sexual exploitation are uncovered in Finland than in Sweden.

Human trafficking is international by nature and combating it therefore requires international collaboration, and many Finnish authorities take part in the collaboration. Information and best practices of different countries are shared through international networks. The NAS has long been a member of the Council of the Baltic Sea States’ Task Force against Trafficking in Human Beings, and the NAS has taken part in projects that aim at revealing, preventing and combating human trafficking and helping its victims.

‘Staying informed about the changing nature of human trafficking is important to us, as new trends often make their way to Finland as well in some form’, Lyijynen says.

Website of the National Assistance System for Victims of Human Trafficking [.fi/en]›

If you suspect human trafficking:

You can call the information number of the NAS at any time: +358 295 463 177 (local landline fee/mobile phone charge)
If you suspect labour exploitation, you can notify the Regional State Administrative Agency’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Website of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration [.fi/en]›
You can submit a tip about a crime to the police in several ways. Tip off the police [.fi/en]›
If someone’s life or health is in danger, call the emergency number 112.

Blog: The Finnish Construction Trade Union is working for a fair job market

16 October 2023 The Finnish Construction Trade Union | Nina Kreutzman

From the perspective of construction sites, the harm caused by the shadow economy is significant both for the workers and the development of the entire industry. Neglecting statutory payments and obligations for financial gain is short-sighted and only leads to the problems stacking up in the long term. At construction sites, the shadow economy is seen as undeclared work and labour abuse, especially of foreign employees. Foreign employees are often in a vulnerable position and work over-long days without receiving appropriate compensation. The more the employee must depend on the party that provides the work, the more severe the abuse is, because protection against dismissal is inadequate. It is often difficult to intervene in undeclared work, and sometimes it can even be dangerous due to the threat of crime.

However, for the benefit of everyone, it is vital to promote a fair and equal job market. Misconduct and labour abuse must not be a part of the workplaces of the future that will need more directly employed skilled professionals – including young adults and women.

Prevention is key

The Finnish Construction Trade Union significantly contributes to the prevention of the shadow economy and combatting it. Throughout the years, we have come up with ideas in great collaboration between the employers and authorities. One example of this is the Finnish legislation on tax numbers. The tax number required to be included on ID cards has garnered EU-level interest specifically for being a preventative measure. We must look at the whole – it is not enough to merely correct bad situations after they occur. Only a limited amount of resources is available for supervision both for the parties of the labour market and the authorities.

Representatives of the Finnish Construction Trade Union regularly visit construction sites to see the practical results of the new measures introduced. We also discover rather quickly all the means developed to circumvent rules. The latest phenomenon is disguising regular employment as entrepreneurship, which is called ‘bogus self-employment’. This has resulted in rather unusual and ambiguous situations where several views on who precisely pays the wages exist simultaneous on one construction site.

EU-level collaboration

The free mobility of workers within the EU extends the scope of combatting the shadow economy. Luckily, the official labour market parties of the European construction industry have harmonious and uniform views on the matter. Presently, the ID card systems in the construction industries of Member States are being surveyed and compared. In this context, the Finnish system requiring an ID card with a photograph for all construction site employees is very progressive. The new EU project Social Identity Cards in Construction (SIDE-CIC) will be particularly interesting. Its aim is to improve the transfer of employee and company data within the Single Market. The goal is to ensure a fair job market for the construction industry.

Blog: Getting what you paid for – combatting undeclared work

17 October 2023 Confederation of Finnish Construction Industries RT | Ville Wartiovaara

The shadow economy does not only cause a loss of income for society, it also distorts competition and causes losses for law-abiding companies through lost bids for contracts, for example. For individuals, it results in less pension accrued, uncertain employment, and dependence on an abusive employer.

A cheaper price may entice professional procurers and consumers to look the other way and not acknowledge the issues that would be easy to anticipate arising. Safety, quality and the shadow economy can rarely be found on the same construction site. As the saying goes, ‘you get what you pay for’ – not what you hope to get by buying something offered at a suspiciously low price.

The Confederation of Finnish Construction Industries RT has a long history of actively combatting the shadow economy on a voluntary basis by developing new tools for the prevention of financial crime and making proposals for new legislation to legislators. One good example is the tax number in use in the construction industry and the obligation to report monthly the number of people working on a shared construction site and the amounts paid based on contracts. This legislation originated from a joint proposal and request of the Confederation of Finnish Construction Industries RT and the Finnish Construction Trade Union.

A more recent example of the industry’s work to reduce the shadow economy is the reformed Aliens Act. We proposed that a more extensive monitoring obligation for verifying the right to work of non-Finnish workers would be laid down for the construction and shipyard industries, and this proposal was included in the Act.

Cross-border collaboration

We consider our continuous collaboration with the labour market organisations in the construction industry and the authorities – both inside and outside Finland – to be very important. The shadow economy does not respect national borders, and often the practices and negative phenomena spread between countries sooner or later.

The mobility of workers and long chains of contracts also create opportunities for the phenomena of the shadow economy, which is why it is important to openly share information and learn from each other’s experiences. By sharing information about these phenomena and our experiences, we can better identify the issues that the industry operators and authorities should prepare for in the future and better. Therefore, it is vital that this valuable information exchange is regular.

The Confederation of Finnish Construction Industries RT has actively contributed to several projects of the EU and the Baltic countries related to the shadow economy and combatting it. In addition to the regular meetings of the European Construction Industry Federation FIEC, the EU-level social dialogue on the matter between employer and employee organisations is an effective way to share information and best practices on the matters discussed above. National practices for combatting the shadow economy vary, and the best practices of one country may inspire the development of practices in another country.

The Eurodetachement projects in the field of posting workers, funded by the European Commission, have proved valuable in increasing understanding. Similarly, the European Labour Authority ELA’s platform for undeclared work has enabled regular meetings between representatives from different countries after the pandemic. Our colleagues and authorities from other EU Member States are interested in the photo ID card Valtti widely used in the Finnish construction industry and the legislation enacted to combat the shadow economy. We have been provided opportunities to introduce the Finnish practices with the Finnish Construction Trade Union in the context of the ELA’s platform for undeclared work and its associated projects.

The work never ends

Our operating environment is increasingly digital, and the systems of authorities should enable sharing information electronically better than currently – and not only between authorities. The free movement of information should also be enabled on a practical level, because it also enables the development and use of more effective methods for combatting the shadow economy.

Unfortunately, the current largest barrier to information transfer is old information systems, not data protection legislation. We therefore hope that serious action is taken to dismantle the barriers to information transfer to ensure that the playing field of shadow economy operators is as uneven as possible. Authorities must have up-to-date powers and tools for information exchange, which supports this work.

Page last updated 6/10/2025