Agreements
The collective bargaining policies of SAK arise from the needs of union members and their families. Though a wide range of agreements are made on many levels, they all reflect the aim of the SAK trade union movement to safeguard the rights and improve the conditions of employees.
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Agreements are made on many levels
- The employer and employee make an individual contract of employment.
- Employee representatives and employers may make local agreements at workplaces.
- Trade unions and federations of employers negotiate collective agreements in the private and public sectors.
- The national labour and employer confederations can negotiate with the government on broad issues, such as the pension system.
- European umbrella organisations of employees and employers bargain together at European Union level.
- The International Labour Organisation of the United Nations plays an important role in establishing international conventions and standards.
Employment contract
An employment contract is an agreement between the employee and employer on the rights and obligations of both, or the conditions of employment. Under the employment contract, the employee promise to carry out the agreed on work, and the employer promises to pay the agreed salary for it. The conditions of employment include, among other things, salaries, salary extras, working hours, holidays and the right to training.
Collective agreements
A collective agreement arises when an employers’ federation or an individual employer and a trade union reach an agreement on the terms and conditions of employment of a group of employees.
New employees should immediately check their agreed terms and conditions of employment against the collective agreement for the working sector concerned. The collective agreement sets out the basic employment standards for that sector, such as the minimum rates of pay and various bonuses.
A collective agreement is a general settlement of employment conditions that is concluded for a fixed period between the trade unions and one or more employers in each business sector or industry.
Most collective agreements in Finland are generally binding for the sector or industry in question. This means that an employer must respect the minimum employment standards that are guaranteed under the collective agreement, even when the employer does not belong to the organisation that concluded the agreement and the employee is not a union member.
Details of the collective agreement for your working sector are available from the shop steward at your workplace or directly from your own union. The Finnish language versions of most collective agreements are available online from the Finlex database at www.finlex.fi.
The Finlex database (www.finlex.fi/en) also includes English translations of key labour laws, such as the Employment Contracts Act and the Annual Holidays Act. Some collective agreements have also been translated into English and these translations are available from the relevant union or employers’ federation.