Youth and students
JHL is the trade union for young people and students.
Students get JHL’s membership benefits for free
You can join JHL already during your studies, even if you do not work yet. The membership of Trade Union JHL is free for full-time students.
This means that you pay nothing, but you get our extensive membership benefits. Besides security in working life, the membership in JHL offers such benefits as:
- diverse courses
- financial support for open UAS studies
- interesting events
- all kinds of membership benefits for leisure time
- local branch activities.
Our membership and all its benefits are very reasonably priced also for young people who go to work. JHL’s membership fee for ordinary members is 1% of gross income in 2024 and 1.1% of gross income in 2025.
Membership fee calculator
The membership fee is calculated from your gross income, i.e. from your pay before taxes and deductions.
Who can join JHL?
We are the most diverse trade union in Finland. Our members have about a thousand different occupations in six occupational sectors. It’s very likely that JHL is the right union for you, too!
Our six large occupational sectors are:
- social welfare and health care sector
- catering and cleaning sector
- pedagogy and education sector
- information, administration and library sector
- technical, energy and traffic sector
- security sector
If you’re unsure whether JHL is the union for you, you can always contact our Membership Service and ask.
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:
- 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
Youth activities and advocacy
We organise national and regional activities that are specifically designed for young people and students. Everyone under 35 can join our youth activities. You can learn more about upcoming events in our course and event calendar.
Whether you are a young employee or a full-time student, in the trade union you join a professional community where you can network, get training and make a difference. Many get friends for life in trade union activities, and as a matter of fact, that is one of the best membership benefits that we can offer!
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.
This is why you should be a trade union member
The Trade Union for the Public and Welfare Sectors JHL supports you in working life and is always on your side. Our main task is to improve and defend our members’ terms and conditions of employment. We negotiate your collective agreement. This means that we negotiate with the employer party on such things as how much you get paid.
By being in a trade union, you defend your position in working life. The more members our trade union has, the more power we have to represent all of you in workplaces and collective agreement negotiations. Together we are stronger!
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.
We provide you support and security in working life and, as mentioned above, offer numerous commercial membership benefits, events and courses!
Additional information about student membership
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!
Is your contact information up to date? Update the information in myJHL!
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!
Questions?
If there’s anything you’re wondering about, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Questions are answered by union activities specialists Maria Helin and Anni Järvinen.
Would you like us to visit your educational institution and explain more? Read about our working life info sessions here (in Finnish).
- 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