A two-year “1+1 solution” for the state
The state sector’s negotiating parties – that is, the Office for the Government as Employer and the main negotiating organisations representing state employees, which are the Negotiation Organisation for Public Sector Professionals JUKO, Trade Union Pro and the Trade Union for the Public and Welfare Sectors JHL – successfully concluded the negotiations on a new collective agreement on 28 February 2022. The new agreement, which was approved by all parties, is for the period 1 March 2022 – 29 February 2024, but it can be terminated on 28 February 2023 if the parties are not able to agree on next year’s pay settlement. The Finnish state employs about 78,000 people, of whom 42,000 are members of unions under Akava and are represented by JUKO. Loimu has about 1,500 members who work for the state.
A general pay increase in June
The state will implement a 2.0% general pay increase in June. The increases will take effect on 1 June. Other pay components that are determined in relation to the pay scales will also be adjusted in line with the general pay increase. This agreement does not include any pay increases to be negotiated at the agency level.
The conditions of family leave were improved
Family leave will be reformed in August 2022 and the changes can also be seen in the collective agreement. Terms related to parenthood were also modernised in the state-sector agreement. Now the agreement talks about the parent giving birth and the other parent.
The parent giving birth gets paid family leave for a total of 72 working days. This amount matches the current practice. The other parent will get paid family leave for 18 working days. This is a significant improvement compared to the current situation. Before, the other parent received pay for 6 working days of family leave.
Long-sought change was achieved for period-based work
An improvement concerning period-based work was achieved in the negotiations. The change applies to the payment of additional work and overtime compensation when the work period or work week is suddenly interrupted due to illness or another health-related unforeseeable reason. This change has been proposed in state-sector negotiations for years.
Exchanging part of annual leave for money
Based on a proposal by the employer, it was agreed that a maximum of 5 days of a total of more than 25 accrued days of annual leave
can be exchanged for money during each holiday credit year. In practice, this applies to those who get a long annual leave.
Akava’s representatives in the negotiations, JUKO’s chief negotiator Markku Kojo and Jonne Rinne (from the Finnish Police Federation), the Chair of JUKO’s state-sector negotiations committee, state that the negotiations had a “constructive and solution-oriented atmosphere”.