• eight-hour working day
• five-day working week
• summer and winter holidays
• family leaves
• study leave
• overtime pay
• protection against arbitrary dismissal
• earnings-related unemployment security
• consolidating the position of shop stewards

These and other rights that we take for granted are results of trade unions’ work. Without trade unions we might have much longer working weeks with no holidays or overtime pay.

You can become a member of JHL if you work for:

• the state, a municipality, a joint municipal authority, a wellbeing services county or a parish
• an enterprise or a company owned by the above
• an association or a non-profit organisation
• a company or corporation that provides services for the public sector, or a corresponding line of business.

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.

Our members can also be students of these sectors or self-employed in them.

Self-employed members cannot join JHL’s unemployment fund. If you are self-employed, the Entrepreneur Fund is the unemployment fund for you.

If you don’t know whether you are eligible to join JHL, you can ask that from our Membership Service.

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.