Vera Hjelt 1857—1947

Vera Hjelt was a Finnish social reformer, politician and a pioneer of occupational safety and health who strove to improve workplace conditions and treatment of workers. She is known to have got on well with workers, especially women, and also enjoyed cordial relations with management who were usually happy to implement her pragmatic and carefully-considered recommendations to improve working conditions.

During her parliamentary career, Hjelt focused mainly on social, labour and women’s issues including maternity and unemployment provisions, young workers’ and illegitimate children’s rights, as well as laws governing women’s status in the workplace. She resigned from her party, and subsequently relinquished her seat in October 1917, on account of having voted, in defiance of her party’s policy, for the working time bill providing for a standard eight-hour-working-day.