We're blocklisting employers who mistreat immigrants

I’ve been a naive idiot.

I used to run a home cleaning company where we treated hundreds of immigrant employees really well, which led to great business success. I honestly thought stories of employers exploiting salary benefits and treating immigrants poorly were just occasional bad incidents.

However, stories from the Herizon community have really opened my eyes to how common these abuses are. It’s shown me how widespread and systematic this mistreatment is by some businesses and individuals. It’s been a tough pill to swallow.

Investing in your workforce should be a no-brainer. After all, employee retention metrics don't lie - companies that fail to treat their workers well see higher turnover rates, increased training costs, and often suffer from poor market reputation, which can severely impact profitability. The numbers are clear: cutting corners with your staff is just bad business.

Here's the recent story of a trainee at a tech startup who contacted us desperate for help. They were being underpaid, overworked, and now, the startup was trying to fire them without a valid reason. What’s worse, the employer planned to pay only a few hours for the next month’s work. This wasn’t just to save money - about €1331 on minimum wage - but also to mess with the individual's chance to receive unemployment benefits.

Immigrants already struggle with employment and the complexity of the bureaucracy of the system, so someone actively choosing to make integration even harder is the kind of behavior we need to stand up against.

To combat this, we’re launching a whistleblowing channel directly within the Herizon community. This isn’t just about pointing fingers; it’s about holding these companies accountable to protect our community members from companies that exploit the system. We want to bring these issues into the open and make sure these companies can’t just sneak around in the dark anymore.

If you’re a business owner wondering, "How do I ensure my company doesn’t end up on this list?", it's time to reflect on your practices. This whistleblowing channel is a call to action for every company to proactively support and fairly treat immigrant employees.

According to research by Etla, employing tens of thousands of immigrants is crucial for maintaining Finland's welfare system. Failing to integrate and employ immigrants adequately risks the sustainability of the entire system.

It's time to prioritize equity in our workplaces. Don’t just aim to avoid the list - strive to be a model of ethical business practices.