Youth and students

You can also use social media to find out about JHL’s activities and events for young people and students. Start following the pages below to get fresh information on your feed!

• Instagram: @jhlnuoret
• TikTok: @jhlnuoret
• Facebook: JHL youth and students

We organise activities around Finland for our young members. Various regions also have their own social media channels for young people. You should also start following your own region’s page! We’ve listed the pages here:

Facebook

• Eastern Finland youth
• JHL Elaine (youth branch for Southern Finland)
• Kasaus – JHL youth in Southeast Finland
• Oulu-Kainuu JHL Youth
• Ostrobothnian youth
• JHL Youth action group for Helsinki Metropolitan Region
• Helsinki JHL Youth
• Satakunta JHL Youth
• Sisä-Suomen JHL-nuoret SUUNTA
• Youth branch of Southwest Finland VARSA

Instagram

• Eastern Finland JHL- youth
• Southeast Finland youth
• Inner Finland’s JHL Youth SUUNTA

JHL’s Nuorisofoorumi (Youth Forum) is a path for young people to make an impact in the trade union. Any JHL member under 35 can join Nuorisofoorumi. The forum members represent various occupational sectors, educational institutions, genders and localities.

This is what Nuorisofoorumi, NuFo in short, does:

• acts as a mouthpiece for young people in JHL
• plans events and activities for young JHL members
• voices its opinion on working life matters that concern young people
• makes it clear to the trade union’s decision makers what young people think
• functions as a link between the young members of the regions
• examines and further develops the organisation of JHL’s youth activities both regionally and nationally, with special attention being paid to young members’ possibilities of taking action and making a difference

Nuorisofoorumi gets together 6–8 times a year to discuss these themes. As a rule, the meetings take place around Finland on weekends.

How can I become a member of Nuorisofoorumi?

The 20 Nuorisofoorumi members are appointed for two years at a time. The youth section of every region can appoint one representative. The rest of the representatives will be selected based on open-ended applications.

Keep an eye on the Finnish-speaking social media channels of JHL youth and students, Instagram and Facebook for available positions in Nuorisofoorumi! If you’re interested in NuFo membership or you’d like to learn more about it, you can also send a message to nuoret@jhl.fi.

Members of Nuorisofoorumi in 2023–2024

Southern Finland

• Mohamud Nawal
• Piitulainen Emma
• Raunio Atte
• Kuismanen Lotta
• Koistinen Samira
• Mountassir Jasmin
• Kalpio Säde

Oulu area

• Körkkö Laura

Lapland

• Hyytinen Santtu

Eastern Finland

• Göös Laura
• Nevalainen Hanna-Mari

Southeast Finland

• Metsola Elli-Noora
• Riikonen Riikka

Southwest Finland

• Lain Päivi

Inner Finland

• Kuusipalo Saana
• Puura Joni
• Suominen Daniela

It’s great that you’re interested in making a difference and getting more involved in your trade union’s activities! We certainly welcome new people. We guarantee you’ll have lots of great experiences and make new friends!

You can become, say, a school agent, solidarity ambassador or an active in your own branch. Perhaps you’d like to join an occupational sector forum of your sector? There you can network with other star professionals of your sector and impact the union’s operations. If you’re under 35, you might be interested in Nuorisofoorumi (see the information below). Here you can check out all the ways in which to participate in JHL’s operations.

P.S. Student member, check with your teacher or another party responsible for your education whether you can earn study points for being a union active.

Do you work full time or alongside your studies? Don’t hesitate to contact us if you encounter problems in your workplace or if you’re wondering about some other situation. We are here for you.

We defend uncompromisingly our members’ interests and rights in working life in all of our wide range of occupations. We also seek to change the working life in a positive way and promote equality and non-discrimination in working life.

If you face unemployment, we will support you. As a member of Trade Union JHL, you are insured for unemployment in the JHL Unemployment Fund.

Our membership adapts to all kinds of changes in life. Learn more.

You can become JHL’s student member (membership fee €0) if you’re a full-time student. According to our interpretation, a full-time student

• receives full adult education allowance from Employment Fund OR
• is primarily at an educational institution during the day
• is entitled to student financial aid
• is studying for a degree
• is not an apprenticeship or multiform-learning student
• does not have a day job.

Are you an apprenticeship student? Please join as an ordinary member.

When you join as our student member, you should also apply for membership in the unemployment fund, even if you’re not working yet. When you start working in addition to studying, or after your studies, your unemployment fund membership will be activated. Please notify our Membership Service when you start working.

Even if you’d forget to notify us about starting work, we can also activate your unemployment fund membership retroactively if you’ve applied for fund membership proactively. When you’ve also joined as an unemployment fund member during your studies, you will automatically become our ordinary member after your studies are over.

If you’re a full-time student, the trade union membership is free of charge for you. When you work and belong to the unemployment fund, you’ll only pay the unemployment fund membership fee, which is 0.30% of your gross income in 2024. When you’re no longer a student, you’ll become JHL’s ordinary member. You will then pay a combined fee for both trade union and unemployment fund membership, which is 1% of your gross income. The membership fee will change in 2025: the unemployment fund membership fee will be 0.4% and the total combined membership fee will be 1.1%.

On this page you can join both the union and unemployment fund. The joining form enables you to choose whether you want to join the union, unemployment fund or both.

If you’re a student and you only join the trade union but not the unemployment fund, remember to join the unemployment fund separately when you start work. In this case, unemployment fund membership cannot be activated retroactively, so please remember to join the fund as soon as you receive news of your first job!

Why is it important to join the unemployment fund?

As a member of the JHL Unemployment Fund you can get earnings-related daily allowance if you face unemployment. The allowance significantly exceeds Kela’s basic unemployment allowance. One prerequisite for being granted earnings-related daily unemployment allowance is that you’ve been an unemployment fund member for at least 12 months. That’s why you should join the fund immediately as you start working!

Learn more: What is the unemployment fund and why should I belong to it?

Please note! You can belong to several trade unions but only to one unemployment fund.

Notify us of your graduation date. After that date, your student membership will be converted into an ordinary membership. If necessary, you can change the date in myJHL or by contacting the Membership Service. After your studies are over, you will be sent a letter containing information about graduation and membership. Act in accordance with the letter’s instructions!

After you’ve graduated, you must take action for your membership to remain valid:

• If you work, you have to pay the membership fee.
• If you have no earned income or the right to be exempted from paying the membership fee, you will pay the minimum membership fee.
• If you’re in some other situation, remember to notify us of your exemption from paying the membership fee.

As an ordinary member, you must pay the membership fee or notify of an exemption from paying the fee in order for your membership to remain valid.

And hey! If you’re not yet a member of the unemployment fund, join at the latest when you graduate and start working!

• Southwest Finland: Project Worker Laura Erkkonen, 050 3141 016, laura.erkkonen@jhl.fi
• Southern Finland: Project Worker Jaana Niare, 050 328 2859, jaana.niare@jhl.fi
• Inner Finland and Ostrobothnia: Project Worker Kalle Sumelles, 050 4479 806, kalle.sumelles@jhl.fi
• Eastern and Southeast Finland: Project Worker Niina Ljungkvist, 050 4404 709, niina.ljungkvist@jhl.fi
• Lapland and Oulu area: Project Worker Mari Ikonen, 050 4482 948, mari.ikonen@jhl.fi

A trade union is an organisation that represents employees in working life. Trade Union JHL represents about 165,000 professionals of public and welfare sectors.

Our most important task is to negotiate collective agreements with employer organisations. We represent you in the collective agreement negotiations. JHL’s collective agreements

We defend and improve working conditions, salaries and wages, and well-being at work 365 days a year. We also advance the rights of employees by influencing decision making. We are on the side of public services and the Finnish welfare state. How JHL influences (in Finnish)

We promote equality, non-discrimination and fairness. Equality and non-discrimination in working life

A trade union provides support and advice in matters that concern your work, and also if you become unemployed. When you are a member, you can also get free legal aid and earnings-related unemployment allowance. Membership benefits for working life

A trade union is also a community that offers

• training
• peer support
• opportunities to participate and make a difference
• membership benefits for leisure time.

When you are a member in a trade union, you defend your position in working life. The more members JHL has, the more power we have to represent all of you in workplaces and collective agreement negotiations. We are stronger together.

• Representation of interests: JHL negotiates collective agreements that determine your pay, working time and other essential terms and conditions of employment. The trade union represents your interests and defends your rights in the workplace.
• Unemployment security: JHL membership includes also membership in the Public and Welfare Sectors’ Unemployment Fund. It provides financial security in case you become unemployed.
• Legal aid: JHL members can request for free legal aid and services of our lawyers. Learn more about our grounds for granting legal aid to our members.
• Courses and events: JHL organises courses and events that support your professional development and networking.
• Membership benefits: You get discounts for example on holiday locations, hotels, cruises, fuel, dental care, eyewear, and audiobooks.

A five-day working week, summer holidays and many other working life rights that we may take for granted are results of trade unions’ work. Without trade unions, employers could decide alone and dictate the terms and conditions of employment for their employees.

Trade union membership is not obligatory, but it brings you significant benefits in working life.

Trade Union JHL negotiates your terms and conditions of employment on your behalf. For example your pay, annual holiday and working time are determined in collective agreements. These agreements secure JHL members terms and conditions of employment that are better than the minimum standards required by law.

When you are a member, you can also get support on matters that concern your employment relationship, as well as legal counselling and a wide range of membership benefits, such as insurances and discounts.

You defend your interests in working life by joining the trade union. The more members we have in JHL, the better we can champion your interests.

JHL is short for the full Finnish name of the Trade Union for the Public and Welfare Sectors: Julkisten ja hyvinvointialojen liitto. We are also known as Trade Union JHL.

We are the most diverse trade union in Finland. Our 165,000 members work in about one thousand different occupations in six occupational sectors.

JHL is affiliated to the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions SAK.

Are you moving to JHL from another trade union and/or unemployment fund? We welcome you with open arms!

1. Join JHL! When you join, you can authorise us to take care of terminating your membership in your earlier trade union and/or unemployment fund on your behalf. You can join on any day you want, but from the viewpoint of membership fee collection, the first day of a month is the best and easiest.
2. Make sure that your membership in your earlier union is valid and in order until the termination date. Otherwise, you will have a period when you are not a member of any trade union and/or unemployment fund.
3. Pay your membership fee to us on time so that your JHL membership stays valid and in order. If you pay the membership fee yourself, you will get instructions for paying the fee when your membership has been confirmed. If you choose that your employer collects the membership fee, remember to submit the completed and signed membership fee collection agreement to your employer’s payroll administration! That enables the payroll administrator to collect the membership fee directly from your pay. Check from you pay slip that the membership fee has been collected.

The time that you have been working while you were a member of your earlier unemployment fund can be included in the employment time that is required for earnings-related unemployment allowance, but only if you join the new unemployment fund within one month after you leave your earlier unemployment fund.

You can be a member of more than one trade union at the same time, but you can only be a member of one unemployment fund at a time.

You should absolutely be in both a trade union and an unemployment fund. At JHL you get both the trade union and unemployment fund membership conveniently with one membership fee.

A trade union offers wide-ranging support in working life. We negotiate your collective agreement, help with working life problems, offer legal aid and provide training for you.

Being in a trade union helps you to improve your position and secure your rights. If there were no trade unions representing employees, employers could decide alone and dictate the terms and conditions of employment for their employees. Without a trade union membership, you are alone and at the mercy of others in working life.

An unemployment fund will help you if you lose your job. It provides financial security. The unemployment fund pays you earnings-related unemployment allowance, which is higher than the basic unemployment allowance paid by Kela.

JHL is a very affordable trade union. We have one of the most inexpensive membership fees in Finland! In 2025 our membership fee is 1.1% of gross income. This fee includes both trade union and unemployment fund membership.

You will be paid a strike benefit if you have joined JHL before the strike starts. Use the online membership application form so that we can see exactly when you have joined.

It is enough that you have joined before the start of the strike.

The strike benefit will be paid only after you have paid your first membership fee. When your membership has been confirmed, you will get instructions for paying the membership fee. Apply for the strike benefit within two (2) months from the end of the strike.

Learn more about strikes and the strike benefit.

Yes, you can. You can join regardless of the duration of your employment relationship. It can be permanent, for a fixed term or part time.

If you do not want to use the online form to join, download the membership application form and agreement for collecting the membership fee and print it on paper.

When you join JHL, you also automatically join one of JHL’s member branches. JHL has about 400 local branches around Finland.

Your branch depends on your place of residence, occupational sector and workplace. You do not need to know the correct branch when you join. We will put you to the branch that is right for you. A local branch is a member’s home base. Local branches seek to improve the working conditions of their members, and they also provide recreational activities.

When you have joined JHL, you can check your local branch from the myJHL membership service.

You are warmly welcome to join the activities of your branch! Branch meetings and events are listed in our course and event calendar – go and meet the people in your branch the next time.