Cleaning and property services firm SOL Palvelut has confirmed that employees were asked to pay for jobs after commissioning an independent review into labour practices.
The company ordered the inquiry following public debate last autumn about possible work-related exploitation. The review, carried out between October and December 2025 by the Code of Conduct Company, examined recruitment, induction, payroll processes and reporting channels for misconduct.
An anonymous survey was sent to 5,212 employees. A total of 1,618 workers, or 31 per cent, responded.
According to the findings, 21 employees reported that they had been asked to pay so-called entry fees in exchange for obtaining or keeping a job at SOL. Six respondents, representing 0.4 per cent of those who answered, said they had paid or were still in debt for a position at the company. Most payments were under €1,000 and were made either to a person working at SOL or to an external party.
Six respondents also reported paying another employer in a previous job, usually sums below €1,000.
SOL said it has referred two cases to police during 2025 after obtaining what it described as substantiated evidence of payments. The company added that it is not aware of any active police investigation in which SOL or one of its employees is suspected of taking such payments.
The review identified four main shortcomings. It found that administrative structures did not sufficiently prevent the risk of labour exploitation. It said supervisors held broad decision-making power over shifts, work locations and payroll, which increased the risk of abuse. It concluded that reporting practices for misconduct had been partly inadequate and that the company had not sufficiently accounted for the needs of a multicultural workforce in its processes.
SOL has launched an action programme to address the findings. The company said it will renew its human resources systems and develop electronic tools to ensure centralised and equal access to information for employees. Recruitment has been centralised within the HR team and conducted through an electronic system since last autumn. Additional control points have been added to identify whether job applicants have been asked to pay illegal fees.
The company also said it has decided not to participate, for the time being, in applications for first residence permits for employees.
Supervisors will receive further training on working in a multicultural environment, preventing labour exploitation and safeguarding workers’ rights. Social responsibility criteria will be added to supervisors’ incentive schemes. The company will expand the language range of training materials and guidance for staff.
SOL said it will strengthen communication about reporting channels and widen the language options available in its whistleblowing system. Its multicultural development group, which has operated for 18 years, will also be developed further.
The background to the independent review commissioned by SOL dates back to the public debate that arose last autumn following the publication of Helsingin Sanomat journalist Paavo Teittinen’s book Long shift – How modern slavery took root in Finland.
HT