Enforcement and reporting violations

• If at all possible, talk about the issue first with the person who provided the service or made the decision or their supervisor. If there has been a mistake or if you suspect that the matter was handled badly, the issue may be corrected after a discussion. Receiving a decision by a Regional State Administrative Agency in an enforcement case may take approximately a year. 

  • In matters concerning health care, social welfare or early childhood education and care, you can submit a written objection directly to the service provider. If you are dissatisfied with the reply to the written objection, you can file a complaint with the Regional State Administrative Agency. Attach the objection you have filed and the response you have received to the complaint. 
     

• Check if the matter about which you want to file a complaint is within the authority of the Regional State Administrative Agencies. 
  • Please note that we do not usually investigate a complaint, if
    • it involves an issue older than two years
    • the complaint was submitted anonymously or it was so incomplete that it does not state what the issue involves
    • a complaint on the same issue has already been processed
    • another authority is processing the issue
    • according to our assessment it to be unfounded or of minor significance.
      
       
• Note that the Regional State Administrative Agency can hear the subject of the complaint, if necessary. In connection with the hearing, we will send all documents you have provided to the subject of the complaint. In that case, the subject of the complaint will know your name. 
   
• Note that the decision on a complaint is confidential, if the complaint includes confidential information for the protection of privacy, such as customer information from health care and social services.  
   
• Note that the decisions of the Regional State Administrative Agency are mainly administrative decisions that cannot be appealed. 
   
• If you are filing a complaint on behalf of another person, obtain a power of attorney. Only legal representatives can receive a decision in the case of the person they represent without a power of attorney. A legal representative can be the custodian of a minor or the legal guardian of a person. Add the guardianship decision as an attachment to the complaint.

If you have sent a complaint to the registry by e-mail, the registry will send you a confirmation of receipt.

We will review the complaint. Please note that it will take more time for us to process the matter if it contains several different questions. If the complaint does not give reason to take measures, we will notify you about it as soon as possible.

We can also refer a complaint concerning social welfare and health care services to a wellbeing services county or private service provider for processing as an objection. Similarly, a complaint concerning early childhood education and care may be referred for processing as an objection to the office or official in charge of early childhood education and care.

After we have started to investigate the complaint, we will obtain the reports and documents we consider necessary. When we request a clarification, we will send all documents you have submitted to us to the object of the complaint. If necessary, we may also ask you for a response to the reports received.

Once a decision regarding your complaint has been issued, we will notify you of the outcome. If you have filed a complaint on behalf of another person and the complaint involves confidential matters, we will only send you the decision if you have submitted a power of attorney to us. In any case, we will notify you that a decision has been made on the complaint.

If your complaint has led to an enforcement case, we may provide administrative guidance in our decision to the party whose operations the complaint concerns. We can:

• conclude that the operator has not broken the law,  
• draw the operator’s attention to practices that should be revised to ensure compliance with the law or good corporate governance rules in the future,
• give the operator a warning.

1. You can file a complaint using the complaint form and send it to our registry by e-mail. We recommend that you use encrypted e-mail. You should do this especially if the complaint or its attachments include information covered by the protection of privacy. You can find links to the complaint form and the encrypted e-mail at the end of this page.
2. You can submit complaint by post to the registry. Remember to sign the complaint. You can also take it to the registry. A link to the contact information of Regional State Administrative Agency’s registries is provided at the bottom of this page.
3. If you cannot use the complaint form, you can also file a complaint in a free format. The complaint must include your name and contact information, the date, topic and party the complaint applies to, and information on why you feel something has been done wrong in the matter.

The documents related to the case should be included as attachments to the complaint.

Please note: If you want to report an accessibility issue, you can also use an online form at saavutettavuusvaatimukset.fi (in Finnish or Swedish).

You can request that your name or personal details are not disclosed to the subject of the complaint or to the media. However, this is not always possible. If required by Act on the Openness of Government Activities, we would need to disclose your name when so requested by law. Please note that in connection with the hearing, we will send all the documents you have submitted to the subject on the complaint.