City of Vantaa: using employment conditions in competitive bidding for assisted living facilities

Client

City of Vantaa

Object of procurement

Enhanced assisted living facilities for recovering addicts. The agreement period began on 1 January 2016, and the agreement is valid until further notice.

Background information

The City of Vantaa participated in the joint project “Jobs through Public Procurement” to develop a model for creating jobs for young people in a disadvantaged position in the labour market, as well as for the long-term unemployed and older employees.    In the project, the four participating cities applied an employment condition to public procurement, with the aim of creating jobs, apprenticeships and work experience placements for around 100 long-term unemployed people, young people and immigrants, as well as for disabled and partially disabled people. In addition to Vantaa, the Cities of Helsinki, Espoo and Oulu participated in the project, which was coordinated by the National Institute for Health and Welfare.

Through the project, the City of Vantaa developed an operating model and a process of its own to improve employment and increase vitality in the city.

Goal of procurement

The goal of the project was to ensure that the selected service provider invests in social responsibility and commits to hiring, in addition to the minimum number of employees, at least one employee who is entitled to wage subsidies for each calendar year during the agreement period or, alternatively, an apprentice for each calendar year.

Parties involved in the procurement (client side)

Elina Patana, Project Planner, Employment Services, participated in the implementation of the procurement. She was also involved in the implementation of the “Jobs through Public Procurement” project.  It is important that the party implementing the procurement is committed to the cause. It is also important to reserve sufficient human resources in various units of the organisation, as cooperation between units is key, as is cooperation with the selected supplier. In addition, the condition to be set must be proportionate to the scope of the procurement and the duration of the agreement.

PROCUREMENT METHODS USED

Market dialogue

Before the beginning of the competitive bidding, a briefing was held about matters related to recruitment and the employment condition, to provide companies with an opportunity to familiarise themselves with the topic before responding to the invitation to tender.

Comparison criteria

In the procurement, one of the criteria for overall economic efficiency was the tenderers’ commitment to taking social responsibility into account.  If a tenderer committed to employing at least one employee entitled to wage subsidies or an apprentice for each calendar year during the agreement period in accordance with the terms and conditions of the invitation to tender, six points were added to the tenderer’s score. This represented six per cent of the total procurement.

Benefits/outcomes

As a result of the procurement, one new job based on wage subsidies will be created each year.

Possible further measures 

The implementation of the employment condition will be monitored during the agreement period, in addition to other requirements. If the employment condition is not met in accordance with the bid and the agreement, the sanction will be EUR 10,000.

Customer’s comment / Lessons learned

Watch a video about the experiences of a person employed through public procurement:

Jobs through Public Procurement: Pirjo’s story >>

Resourceful procurement

In public procurement, an employment condition may be used to obligate the company that wins the competitive bidding to employ people in a disadvantaged position in the labour market. Experiences gained from several procurements prove that companies have a positive attitude towards the use of employment conditions. However, this requires careful preparatory work. The prerequisites for success include well-functioning advisory services and support for recruitment, as well as the timely provision of support and guidance for work placement to the suppliers and the people seeking employment. It is also important to highlight the issue within the organisation by providing training to buyers on employment and the many opportunities it offers, to name just one example.

The “Jobs through Public Procurement” project was completed in late 2017. During the project, self-study material was produced for buyers, as well as an operating model for the implementation of employment through procurement in the organisation. You can read more about these (in Finnish) on the project website.

FACTS

Through procurement, the public sector can guide companies to employ people who are not otherwise offered opportunities to show their skills in working life. Employment is extremely significant for individuals in terms of wellbeing, participation and financial security; for companies in terms of finding new expertise and competence; and for society in terms of increasing wellbeing and purchasing power and reducing social security expenses.

Source: Jobs through Public Procurement! >>

The work in Vantaa continues in the Social Innovations and Employment through Public Procurement project.