TES in Finland: Collective Agreements and Pay Terms

A collective agreement sets the floor for employment conditions in a given industry. It establishes minimum wage tables, annual pay increases, working time schedules, overtime rules, evening and weekend supplements, sick leave pay, and holiday bonuses (lomaraha). Individual employment contracts may offer better terms than the TES, but they can never offer worse.

A collective agreement can be 'universally binding' (yleissitova) if it covers the majority of workers in that sector. When an agreement is confirmed as universally binding by the state committee, all employers in that industry in Finland must comply with its terms. Other agreements are 'normally binding' (normaalisitova), applying only to member employers of the signing federation.

By law, your written employment contract (työsopimus) or written statement of employment terms must state which collective agreement applies to your position. If you are unsure, compare the industry of your employer with the main sector agreements tracked on Labour Finland.