Discrimination against foreigners working in the restaurant field: Focus on capital area of Finland
Kivelä, Lotte (2022)
2022
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202205026752
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202205026752
Tiivistelmä
Introduction: This thesis studies discrimination occurring against foreigners who work in the restaurant field in Helsinki, Espoo, or Vantaa. The main objective is to find out about the experiences of workplace discrimination in the capital area of Finland. Discrimination is a phenomenon that has been recently occurred more frequently in the media in recent years.
Theory: The main focus is on legal discrimination defined by the law of Finland; the Non-Discrimination Act law, labor law, and the collective agreement. Discrimination is an issue that many face regularly, especially the minorities of a country. There are also many negative effects of discrimination that affect those who face it, both mental and physical health are shown to be poorer in people who are discriminated against. Some even cope with it in negative ways with excess drinking or smoking. One of the biggest problems is that many are afraid to speak out about their experiences, which makes it harder to raise awareness on this topic to help combat it.
Materials and methods: This is a qualitative research study. The study was conducted by doing semi-structured interviews amongst 6 different people who have worked or are still working in the restaurant field. The participants had to have moved to Finland after the age of 18, not have had previous knowledge of Finnish, and had at least 6 months of work experience in the restaurant field. The participants were reached out through a Facebook group called “Foreigners living in Finland”.
Results: During the interviews were asked bout the participants’ background, work experience, if they have experienced discrimination to what they think could be potential solutions to workplace discrimination. The interviews revealed that discrimination has not been a major issue in the restaurant field in the capital area of Finland but proved that many have seen others discriminated against. Only two had faced discrimination, but one cannot be sure what for. Many solutions to stopping discrimination were offered, such as an integration system during recruiting and making it easier for everyone to reach out for help in case they are discriminated against.
Conclusion: Although the majority of the participants had not faced discrimination, other issues arose during the interviews, such as workers being taken advantage of for not knowing their rights. Protecting the worker and human rights is important and there is room for bettering the Finnish work system in making sure people are not being discriminated against as everyone deserves to be treated equally and fairly.
Theory: The main focus is on legal discrimination defined by the law of Finland; the Non-Discrimination Act law, labor law, and the collective agreement. Discrimination is an issue that many face regularly, especially the minorities of a country. There are also many negative effects of discrimination that affect those who face it, both mental and physical health are shown to be poorer in people who are discriminated against. Some even cope with it in negative ways with excess drinking or smoking. One of the biggest problems is that many are afraid to speak out about their experiences, which makes it harder to raise awareness on this topic to help combat it.
Materials and methods: This is a qualitative research study. The study was conducted by doing semi-structured interviews amongst 6 different people who have worked or are still working in the restaurant field. The participants had to have moved to Finland after the age of 18, not have had previous knowledge of Finnish, and had at least 6 months of work experience in the restaurant field. The participants were reached out through a Facebook group called “Foreigners living in Finland”.
Results: During the interviews were asked bout the participants’ background, work experience, if they have experienced discrimination to what they think could be potential solutions to workplace discrimination. The interviews revealed that discrimination has not been a major issue in the restaurant field in the capital area of Finland but proved that many have seen others discriminated against. Only two had faced discrimination, but one cannot be sure what for. Many solutions to stopping discrimination were offered, such as an integration system during recruiting and making it easier for everyone to reach out for help in case they are discriminated against.
Conclusion: Although the majority of the participants had not faced discrimination, other issues arose during the interviews, such as workers being taken advantage of for not knowing their rights. Protecting the worker and human rights is important and there is room for bettering the Finnish work system in making sure people are not being discriminated against as everyone deserves to be treated equally and fairly.