FINLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Anu Waaralinna, Jukka Paloheimo, Oskari Lindholm and Elmiira Kutvonen, Roschier
3.9 Minutes There are no requirements for taking minutes during internal HR investigations. However, it is customary for the investigator to take notes or minutes during interviews. It is also standard practice to create an interview memorandum, which is a document sum - marising the interview. It should be noted that the interview memorandum reflects the views disclosed to the investigator and is not based on the interviewee’s own memorandum or similar. Before finalising the memorandum, the inves - tigator usually gives the interviewee an opportunity to comment on the matters included in the memoran - dum. However, ultimately, the investigator decides the final content of the memorandum, which reflects the investigator’s view of what they have been told. It is not necessary for the interviewee to sign the minutes in order for them to be considered valid. If an exter - nal party conducts the investigation, it is customary for minutes to be taken in a form determined by the person conducting the investigation. 3.10 Recording Interviews can be recorded. If this is the case, it will be stated before the interview begins. Any transcript pro - duced based on the recordings usually only serves the investigator as a tool, and it is not common to share the transcript to the interviewee or other persons. The transcript is a tool for the investigator to double-check the information submitted during an interview. If the interview is not being recorded by the investi - gator and is taking place via remote hearing, it is dif - ficult to ensure that the interviewee is not recording the interview. However, there is no need to attempt to prevent such recording – under Finnish law, individu - als are allowed to record their own conversations. The most important thing is that the investigator estab - lishes an atmosphere of trust, so that if an interviewee is recording the interview, it is not due to distrust of the process. 3.11 Other Fact-Finding The parties involved are permitted to submit any evi - dence they consider relevant to the case. The evi - dence can be in any form (written, video, recording, email, etc). The investigator may request that the par -
ties involved, witnesses or external parties provide additional material. Please note that external parties are under no obligation to provide any materials. There are also significant restrictions on the employ - er’s right to access employee emails or files to find evidence. The investigation process should always be transparent so that the parties (reporter and respond - ent) know what material and information the conclu - sions are based on. Witnesses do not have similar visibility. 4. Protection of the Parties During an HR Internal Investigation 4.1 Protection of the Reporter The employer is responsible for the safety and health of all employees (including the reporter, the respond - ent and other employees) in the workplace under its general duty of care under Chapter 2, Section 3 of the Employment Contracts Act (55/2001) and Chapter 2, Section 8 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (738/2002). If a situation arises where this requires, for example, changes to working arrangements (eg, remote working or moving an employee’s worksta - tion further away from another) before or during the investigation, the employer is as a rule free to make such changes based on the employer’s right to direct work. However, the employer’s actions cannot include degradation of the terms of employment and should not be, or seem, retaliatory. In addition, in cer - tain situations, for example if there is a clear threat to an employee’s psychological health or safety, the employer may release the employee from their obliga - tion to work for the duration of the investigation. Furthermore, it should be noted that Section 16 of the Non-Discrimination Act (1325/2014) and Section 8a of the Act on Equality between Women and Men (609/1986) contain specific provisions for the pro - tection of individuals who have invoked the rights or obligations set out in these Acts, participated in the investigation of a matter concerning discrimination or taken other measures to ensure equality. Should the employer fail to protect the reporter, resulting in adverse consequences, the employer’s actions or negligence may be classified as discriminatory con -
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