Collective agreements

The collective agreement or TES (työehtosopimus) determines the terms under which you will be working for the next couple of years. Wages, bonuses, shifts, holidays and so on are agreed in the collective agreement. The collective agreement applied at your workplace must be mentioned in your employment contract.

Tehy negotiates the terms of employment at regular intervals with the employers’ associations, and sometimes with individual companies. This period is referred to as collective bargaining. A collective agreement is reached at the end of the negotiations. This agreement is made for a fixed period of time, the collective agreement period. Nearly all members of Tehy are covered by a national collective agreement either in the private or public sector.

A collective agreement determines minimum terms regarding matters such as

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View the collective agreement and negotiations outcome of your sector

You can read your own collective agreement in Finnish. If you do not know which collective agreement is applied to your employment, you can check your employment contract or ask your union representative.

Why the collective agreement is important

Did you know that there are no legal requirements for a minimum wage, for example? Minimum wage is determined in the collective agreement.

The collective agreement determines the minimum terms for the sector, and it is prohibited to pay wages below the minimum wage. When Tehy negotiates for the terms of employment for the entire sector, individual employees do not need to negotiate with their employer. The collective agreement usually guarantees better terms of employment than what an individual employee could negotiate on their own.

In addition to negotiating collective agreements, we also supervise their compliance in workplaces. We know the contents of the collective agreements and we know how to interpret and apply them. No other operator has this expertise in Finland!

Tehy union representatives and experts provide advice to members on issues and problems with terms of employment. If the provisions of the collective agreement are not abided by, we intervene.

A collective agreement can be normally binding or generally applicable. Normally binding collective agreements are applied to the undersigned and members of the union that has signed the collective agreement.

Most Finnish employers are organised, meaning that they will comply with collective agreements because they are normally binding.

The generally applicable nature of collective agreements means that even employers that are not organised must abide by the stipulations that have been agreed in the national collective agreement pertaining to the sector in question.

Employment contracts can contain provisions that are more beneficial to the employee than those in collective agreements. The employer and employee can e.g. agree on better pay than that specified in the collective agreement.

Collective agreements often include the option for local employers and professional branches or union representatives to make local collective agreements. They may differ from certain regulations concerning national bargaining.

Local agreements usually concern working time and wages (compensation for being called in and shift change compensation, handling fees, compensation for queue work overtime, etc.).

We provide advice on terms of employment

Advice on any questions or issues related to employment is available to Tehy members. It is a service that you do not have access to anywhere else! We know the collective agreements in our sector inside out. You can use e-services to ask questions about employment, such as wages, allowances or shifts.

Go to e-services

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We are a community that provides security, but also joy and energy. The union representative and Tehy experts will help you with any questions about your employment. You will have access to free legal aid and other wonderful member benefits, such as necessary occupational insurance!

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Collective agreements

View the collective agreement and negotiations outcome of your sector

Why the collective agreement is important

Tehy oversees compliance with the collective agreement

Normally binding or generally applicable?

Local collective bargaining

We provide advice on terms of employment

Become a member of Tehy