At work

Negotiating on terms and conditions of employment is your trade union JHL’s most important duty. The duty is our most important one because collective agreements determine for instance pay, working time, and the right to annual holiday and sick pay. If you encounter problems in working life, you will get help from your shop steward, occupational safety and health representative, and your own branch.

JHL negotiates the terms and conditions of your employment on your behalf. JHL conducts these negotiations with employer organisations. The collective agreements that we negotiate include agreements for municipalities, wellbeing services counties, the Finnish state and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. JHL negotiates close to a hundred collective agreements.

We negotiate collective agreements that are valid for a set period of time (so-called agreement period). When the set period is coming to an end, we will negotiate with employer organisations on rewriting the agreement. Not all terms and conditions of employment are re-negotiated during each round of negotiation, meaning that negotiations are not started afresh each time. As a rule, the starting point is what has been agreed on in the previous agreement. JHL’s goal for the agreements is to improve the terms and conditions of employment from employees’ perspective.

Problems in working life? Help is close by!

If you run into problems in your employment relationship, you should primarily turn to your workplace shop steward or chief shop steward. They will give you advice on how to proceed with the matter. They are the ones most familiar with local agreements and employer practices. Don’t forget that also your own branch is at your service in problematic situations!

In matters related to occupational safety and health and well-being at work,  you can turn to the OSH representative or OSH ombudsman of your workplace.

If employment disputes are not solved by any negotiation method, as a JHL member you may be entitled to free legal aid and lawyer services provided by the union. If you’re applying for legal aid, your branch or shop steward has to be involved.

Are you wondering about something related to terms and conditions of employment, holidays, pay or leaves? You may find the answer in JHL’s working life questions. You should first look for the answer there.