COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT FOR THE COMMERCE SECTOR

1.  SCOPE 

Section 1 Scope of the agreement

1. This agreement shall be observed in companies operating in the following sectors:

a.  Retail trading

b.  Wholesale trading

c.   Retail logistics

d.  Commission trading

e.  Kiosk trading

f.   Service stations

g.  Commerce services and supporting operations

h.  Plant hire

2. The agreement shall apply to employees falling within the scope of the Working Hours Act.

2. EMPLOYMENT

Section 2 Supervision

1. The employer shall direct and allocate work.

2. The employer shall hire and dismiss employees.

3. Employees hired for certain duties may be required to perform other work falling within their occupational capacity or equivalent duties when necessary.

4. Both sides shall enjoy the unfettered right to organise.

Section 3 Employment contract and trial period

1. The written employment contract shall include the minimum details specified in the pro forma agreement and the associated completion instructions in this collective agreement.

2. Any trial period must be agreed upon in the employment contract.

3. The trial period shall not exceed 6 months.

If an employee is absent from work during the trial period due to incapacity for work or family leave, the employer is entitled to extend the trial period by one month for every 30 calendar days included in a period of incapacity for work or family leave.

The employer must inform the employee of the extension of the trial period before the end of the trial period.

For fixed-term employment relationships, the total duration of the trial period and any extensions shall not exceed half the duration of the employment contract, and it shall not exceed six (6) months.

4. Either party may rescind the employment contract without notice during the trial period.

5. No trial period shall apply when an employee returns within a reasonable period to duties of a former kind in the service of a previous employer unless there are special grounds for such a trial period.

Section 4 Fixed-term employment contract

1. Fixed-term employment contracts can be made as specified in section 3 of chapter 1 of the Employment Contracts Act.

2. The employee shall be informed of the expiration date of the employment contract in good time, at least one week in advance where possible.

3. The employee shall compensate the employer for any loss caused by prematurely terminating fixed-term employment.

The compensation shall be 2 weeks’ wages, or a correspondingly smaller sum when the period not worked is shorter.

The compensation shall be 4 weeks’ wages, or a correspondingly smaller sum when the period not worked is shorter if the short-term contract was based on project work and the employee was aware of the end of the fixed-term.

The offsetting of compensation shall be governed by section 17 of chapter 2 of the Employment Contracts Act.

4. The employer shall compensate the employee in accordance with section 2 of chapter 12 of the Employment Contracts Act for any loss caused by prematurely terminating temporary employment.

Section 5 Termination of employment and lay-off

Period of notice of termination

1. The employer shall observe the following periods of notice of termination:

2. The employee shall observe the following periods of notice of termination:

3. By way of derogation from clauses 1 and 2, the notice period for clerical employees and sales staff and buyers in wholesale trading can be set at one month by agreement.

If the employer’s notice period in accordance with clause 1 is longer than the one-month notice period agreed on the basis of this section, the employer must comply with the longer notice period.

4. The period of notice of termination shall begin from the day following the date when the notice was served.

Example 1

a. 14 days’ notice
Notice of termination of employment is served on Monday 13 January.
The period of notice begins on Tuesday 14 January.
The last day of employment is Monday 27 January.

b. Notice given in months
When the period of notice of termination is calculated in months, the employment ends on a day with the same ordinal number as the day when the notice was served.

The employment ends on the last day of the month if there is no corresponding day of the month in which the time limit expires.

1 month’s notice:
Notice of termination of employment is served on 1 March.
The period of notice begins on 2 March.
The last day of employment is 1 April.

2 months’ notice:

5. Notice of termination of employment shall be served in a verifiable manner.

6. The employee shall be notified on demand, in writing and without delay, of the grounds for termination and of the date when the employment ends.

Compensation

7. An employee who fails to observe the period of notice shall compensate the employer for the wages that are due for any period of notice that was not observed.

The offsetting of compensation shall be governed by section 17 of chapter 2 of the Employment Contracts Act.

8. An employer who fails to observe the period of notice shall pay the employee full wages for any period of notice that was not observed

Rescission of employment contract

9. Rescission of an employment contract shall be governed by section 1 of chapter 8 of the Employment Contracts Act.

The employment shall end immediately on such rescission.

Lay-off

10. An employee hired in regular employment may be laid off at 14 days’ notice.

The notice period may be reduced to 7 days where locally agreed (in accordance with section 23). The matter shall be concluded with a shop steward if one has been elected at the workplace.

An employee hired in fixed-term employment may be laid off in accordance with section 2 of chapter 5 of the Employment Contracts Act.

11. Advance explanation of lay-off, hearing of employee views and lay-off notices shall be governed by sections 3 and 4 of chapter 5 of the Employment Contracts Act.

12. An employee who has been laid off may resign in accordance with section 7 of chapter 5 of the Employment Contracts Act.

3. WORKING TIME

Section 6 Working time

Agreement on working time

1. The average minimum weekly working time shall be agreed upon in the employment contract.

If, without justification, the weekly working time of an employee working less than 37.5 hours per week exceeds the working time agreed upon in the employment contract, the weekly working time shall be agreed to correspond to the hours actually worked.

The employer and the employee working less than 37.5 hours per week shall review how closely the actual working time corresponds to the working time agreed upon in the employment contract.

A review of the actual weekly working time must be conducted at least once every six months at a time specified by the employer. An agreement may be made in accordance with section 23 to conduct reviews covering a longer period, but the period must not exceed one year. The matter shall be concluded with a shop steward if one has been elected at the workplace. The employer must notify the relevant employees in advance of the time of the review and the period it covers.

The review must provide written justification for any significant deviations from the working time agreed upon in the employment contract. If the review leads to an increase in the working time agreed upon in the employment contract, the increased working time shall be taken into consideration in the information for the next week to be planned. A different timing can be agreed upon in the workplace (in accordance with section 23).

Arrangement of regular working time in a one-week period

2. Regular working time is a maximum of 9 hours in a 24-hour period and a maximum of 37.5 hours a week.

Example 4

The regular working time can be up to 10 hours per 24-hour period where locally agreed (in accordance with section 23). The matter shall be concluded with a shop steward if one has been elected at the workplace.

The regular working time of logistics workers can be up to 12 hours per 24-hour period where locally agreed (in accordance with section 23). The matter shall be concluded with a shop steward if one has been elected at the workplace.

System for averaging working time

3. The following details shall be entered into the system for averaging working time drawn up by the employer:

• the length of the averaging period,
• the total working time, and
• the dates when the averaging period begins and ends.

When preparing or planning to modify the system for averaging working time, the employer shall give the shop steward or, if no shop steward has been elected, the employees an opportunity to express their views. Adequate time shall be set aside for studying the draft.

When applying the system for averaging working time, the employer and the shop steward shall consider the principles governing working time planning, variations in the need for work during the period and the prospects for using a pro rata monthly wage.

The system for averaging working time shall be announced no later than 2 weeks before the averaging period begins. If the averaging period is 9 weeks or longer, the system for averaging working time shall be announced no later than 3 weeks
before the averaging period begins.

Arrangement of regular working time in an averaging period

4. The employer shall draw up a system for averaging working time in advance, whereby weekly working time shall average no more than 37.5 hours.

Regular working time is a maximum of 9 hours in a 24-hour period and a maximum of 48 hours a week.

No more than 9 working days of more than 8 hours may be scheduled over a 3-week period when applying the system for averaging working time.

The regular working time can be up to 10 hours per 24-hour period where locally agreed (in accordance with section 23). The matter shall be concluded with a shop steward if one has been elected at the workplace.

The regular working time of a logistics worker can be up to 12 hours per 24-hour period where locally agreed (in accordance with section 23). The matter shall be concluded with a shop steward if one has been elected at the workplace.

System for averaging working time over 2–26 weeks

5. The employer shall draw up a system for averaging working time over 2–26 weeks in advance, whereby the weekly working time shall average no more than 37.5 hours (see also the protocol on logistics workers).

System for averaging working time over 27–52 weeks

6. The provisions of this section do not apply to averaging periods of 27–52 weeks for logistics workers (see the protocol on logistics workers).

The use of a 27–52-week averaging period must be locally agreed (in accordance with section 23). An agreement can be made for a fixed term of up to 52 weeks. The agreement will end without a separate notice of termination upon the expiry of the fixed term.

There must be justified grounds for using a longer averaging period based on the production or service activities in the workplace, and the grounds must be reviewed with the relevant group of personnel when agreeing on the introduction of a longer averaging period.

The matter shall be concluded with a shop steward if one has been elected at the workplace. If no shop steward has been elected, the relevant group of personnel shall act as the party to the agreement on behalf of the employees. In such cases, the conclusion of an agreement requires the personnel group in question to make a mutual decision.

Longer averaging periods may apply to employees whose contractual working time is at least 30 hours per week and who have indefinite employment relationships or fixed-term employment relationships lasting at least one year. Employees who work less than 37.5 hours per week must be paid a pro rata monthly salary.

The employer shall draw up a system for averaging working time over 27–52 weeks in advance, whereby the weekly working time shall average no more than 37.5 hours.

Work shift plan

7. The working week shall begin at 00.00 on Monday unless otherwise locally agreed.

The following details shall be entered in a schedule of work shifts drawn up by the employer:

• the beginning and end of the employee’s regular working hours,
• daily rest periods, and
• the number of weeks and daily working time remaining in the averaging period, and the average weekly working time calculated on this basis.

When preparing the schedule of work shifts, employees must be given the opportunity to express their opinions on the length of shifts, the placement of shifts, and the granting of days off and annual leave.

Inexpediently short shifts shall be avoided when preparing the schedule of work shifts.

The distribution of working time and days off between employees should vary.

Shifts must last at least 4 hours. If agreed upon with the employee on a one-off basis or for justified reasons, a shift can be shorter than this. The justified reasons must be reviewed with the employee before the schedule of work shifts is drafted.

When arranging the placement of shifts at different times of day, it is recommended to plan for working time ergonomics. The recommended direction of rotation for work shifts is morning, daytime, evening then night.

It is recommended to arrange work shifts preceding days off in the morning and shifts following days off in the evening if there is more than 1 day off.

The schedule of work shifts may be amended in accordance with the Working Hours Act.

The schedule of work shifts shall be announced no later than 2 weeks before the working week begins.

If the working time averaging period is 19 weeks or longer, the schedule of work shifts shall be announced no later than 3 weeks before the working week begins.

A local agreement may be made in accordance with section 23 to enable the schedule of work shifts to be communicated to employees no later than one week before the working week begins. The matter shall be concluded with a shop steward if one has been elected at the workplace. Otherwise, an agreement must be made with the relevant personnel group.

Example 5

A 20-week system for averaging working time covers the period from 15 May to 1 October 2023.

As the length of the averaging period is not less than 19 weeks, the system for averaging working time must be displayed at least 3 weeks before the said period begins, meaning no later than 23 April 2023.

Example 6

For shifts in the first week of the balancing system in example 5,

• working time must not exceed 9 hours in a 24-hour period and 48 hours per week
• there must be no more than 9 days of more than 8 working hours in any 3-week period
• there must be a locally agreed 30-minute meal break (r)

Schedule of work shifts for the period 15–21 May 2023, to be announced no later than 23 April 2023.

Attendance at work

8. Unless otherwise locally agreed, attendance at work in a 24-hour period shall be:

• no more than 9 hours when regular working time is 8 hours or less
• no more than 10 hours when regular working time exceeds 8 hours
• no more than 11 hours when regular working time exceeds 9 hours

This regulation shall apply to sales assistants and other shop staff, service station employees and kiosk sales assistants.

The employer may decide to deviate from the time considered as attendance at work up to 5 times per calendar year if it is necessary for a meeting or event organised by the employer via a remote connection.

Daily rest period

9. In the 24 hours following the commencement of each shift, employees must be granted an uninterrupted rest period of at least 11 hours.

The employer and employee may agree on other daily rest period arrangements (in accordance with section 23). Any such rest period shall nevertheless be at least 9 hours.

However, a one-off agreement may be reached with the employee to derogate from the foregoing and apply a daily rest period of at least 7 hours.

Weekly rest period

10. The weekly rest period may be placed over the turn of working weeks in such a way that more than half of the rest period is placed in the week which the weekly rest period concerns.

Night work

11. Night work must be agreed upon with the employee in accordance with section 23. If the employer is otherwise unable to staff a work shift, the employer shall be entitled to require employees to work the shift.

Shifts that include at least 1.5 hours of work between 11 pm and 6 am are considered night shifts.

Night shifts must not start or end between 1 am and 5 am unless there is a weighty reason related to the company’s ordinary operations.

Employees can be assigned a maximum of 5 consecutive night shifts. However, when agreeing on night work, the employer and the employee may agree on up to 7 consecutive night shifts.

There must be 2 days off after at least 5 consecutive night shifts. Individual night shifts should be avoided. Single days off cannot be placed between night shifts unless a one-off agreement is made with the employee to enable it.

Employees who constantly do night work must undergo health checks at the employer’s expense when the work begins and at the intervals required by law thereafter.

If night work is constantly assigned as part of the employer’s ordinary operations, the principles and policies for assigning night work must be addressed as part of labour protection cooperation. In this context, special attention must be paid to operating methods that can promote health, occupational well-being and coping at work.

If work is done between 11 pm and 6 am and the public transportation required for the employee’s normal commute is not available and the employee is not able to use his/her own vehicle when the shift starts or ends, the employer must arrange transportation.

Standby and emergency work

12. Standby time and emergency work shall be governed by the Working Hours Act.

Standby means that the employee’s contract includes a provision whereby the employee is available to the employer outside of working hours and can be called in to work.

The employer and employee agree upon standby time and the compensation payable for it. The employee must be aware of the amount of compensation payable for standby time, the basis for determining the compensation and the terms and conditions of standby when the agreement is made. The amount of compensation must take into consideration the limitations that standby imposes on the employee’s leisure time.

Standby time must not unduly hinder the employee from making use of leisure time.

Flexible working hours

13. Flexible working hours are agreed upon in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Working Hours Act. The average regular working time in the week is determined in accordance with this collective agreement.

The purpose of arranging flexible working hours is to empower the employee to make independent decisions on the time when daily work starts and ends.

At an employee’s request, the employer must strive to grant the hours that have accrued in excess of the regular working time in the form of whole days off.

Other working time arrangements

14. Other working time arrangements are presented in the protocols appended
to the collective agreement:

• Weekday public holiday system (page 109)
• Reduction in annual working time (page 114)
• Flexible full-time work (page 120)
• Offering full-time work (page 123)
• Offering additional work (page 125)
• Working time bank (page 127)

Section 7 Time off

Days off

1. The employee shall have one day off in addition to the weekly rest period stipulated in the Working Hours Act.

The day off for clerical employees shall be a fixed day, which shall be Saturday where possible.

The aforementioned provision on the fixed day off for clerical work does not need to apply if there are justified grounds based on the company’s business. Justified grounds may include essential arrangements related to the company’s production or service operations in order to serve the company’s customers or other corresponding operational grounds.
Upon request, the employer must present a written justification of the business need. If the employer fails to provide written justification within 2 weeks of the request, the provision calling for a fixed day off must be applied henceforth.

Averaging period and days off

2. During the averaging period, the number of days off in accordance with the collective agreement must be the same as the number of weeks in the period.

When an averaging period is used, days off in accordance with the collective agreement can be transferred from one week to another. For clerical employees, a local agreement must be reached (in accordance with section 23) concerning the transfer of days off unless there are justified grounds based on the company’s production or service operations as referred to above.

When a day off is transferred from one week to another, the transferred day off must always be scheduled in conjunction with another form of leave. A local agreement can be reached (in accordance with section 23) concerning arrangements other than consecutive days off work.

Working week

3. The average working week shall have five days

The employer may agree a six-day working week with an employee working for less than 37.5 hours per week where so requested by the said employee.

When the work shift plan is drawn up, there can be no more than 8 working days between days off. Subject to local agreement (in accordance with section 23), there may be up to 10 working days between days off. The matter shall be concluded with a shop steward if one has been elected at the workplace (see also the protocol on logistics workers).

However, a one-off agreement may be reached with the employee to derogate from the foregoing and have up to 11 working days between days off.

Absences shall not change days off under the schedule of work shifts.

Example 7

Example 8

Annual leave system 

Accruing annual leave

4. Under the annual leave system, employees accrue annual leave every calendar year. Accrual of annual leave begins when the employment relationship has lasted 6 months

Annual leave accrues for each calendar year by virtue of:

• the actual number of hours worked,
• other time that is considered working time in the meaning of chapter 2, section 3 of the Working Hours Act,
• training required by the employer to the extent that the employer pays for loss of earnings from regular working hours,
• time during which shop stewards and labour protection delegates are released from work, and
• trade union training undertaken by staff representatives in accordance with a training agreement and within the scope of employer subsidy insofar as the employer pays for loss of earnings from regular working hours.

The employee accrues annual leave in accordance with the table below:

Granting annual leave

5. Annual leave is granted during the year of accrual, and it must all be granted by the end of April in the year after it was accrued.

At the employee’s initiative, a written agreement may be made whereby annual leave is granted by the end of the calendar year following the accrual year.

Annual leave must not coincide with annual holiday or other forms of leave.

Example 11

The employee has 6 days of annual holiday, from 6 April to 15 April 2023. Because Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday are not annual holiday days, the employee’s annual holiday ends on Saturday 15 April 2023. Annual leave cannot coincide with a period of annual holiday.

Whenever possible, annual leave should be granted in conjunction with other forms of leave. However, leave can also be granted on an individual day, such as a weekday public holiday.

The employee’s viewpoints must be heard when annual leave is granted. Periods of three or more consecutive days of annual leave must be agreed upon with the employee.

Annual leave must be marked in the work shift plan. No shifts can be planned to start or end on the calendar day on which annual leave is granted.

Annual leave must be granted in the form of whole days off.

Absences do not change annual leave in accordance with the work shift plan.

The employee earns annual holiday on days of annual leave.

Effect of annual leave on working time and agreeing on a different value for annual leave

6. Annual leave is granted in the form of a 7.5-hour working day.

An agreement can be made to replace a planned shift with annual leave at the employee’s initiative. In such cases, the length of annual leave corresponds to the length of the shift. However, when such an agreement is made, the potential impact on the amount of annual leave that can be taken must be explained.

The employer and the employee may agree on a different length of a day of annual leave (in accordance with section 23) if the employee always works shifts of the same length and the shifts last less than 7.5 hours. The length of a day of annual leave is agreed to correspond to the regular shift length, so the number of days of annual leave may also increase. The employer may subsequently plan days of annual leave of the agreed length as part of the schedule of work shifts without a separate agreement.

If the number of hours of annual leave accrued by an employee in one year is less than 67.5, the part of annual leave that is shorter than one shift could be implemented with one of these example solutions:

• shortening one or more working days by the total number of hours in question (salary is paid for the entire planned shift length) or
• paying cash in lieu of the hours in question in accordance with clause 8 or
• transferring the hours into a working time bank.

Pay for a period of annual leave

7. During a period of annual leave, the employee receives a wage and fixed bonuses, excluding hourly bonuses for working conditions and working hours.

Employees paid a monthly salary or a pro rata monthly salary receive their normal salary regardless of the length of annual leave taken.

Employees paid by the hour receive pay for the period of annual leave corresponding to the length of annual leave taken.

Employees working on commission receive their average daily commission during periods of annual leave.

Payment of cash compensation in lieu of annual leave

8. Once an employee’s employment relationship has lasted 6 months, an agreement can be made (in accordance with section 23) to pay cash compensation instead of granting annual leave. Whenever an employee earns annual leave, the employee will be paid cash compensation corresponding to the duration of the annual leave on the next pay day.

At the employee’s initiative, an agreement may also be made to pay cash compensation for an individual period of annual leave or part thereof. Cash compensation is paid on the next pay day.

The amount of cash compensation is calculated by multiplying the duration of annual leave by the hourly wage. The hourly wage includes the fixed bonuses normally included in the employee’s wage on the payment date, but not hourly bonuses for working conditions and working hours.

The hourly wage of an employee paid a pro rata monthly salary is calculated by dividing the amount corresponding to the salary for full-time work by 160.

If it is not possible to grant annual leave by the end of April of the year after the leave was accrued, cash compensation must be paid in lieu of leave on the pay day in May.

If it has not been possible to grant annual leave in accordance with a written agreement made at the employee’s initiative by the end of the calendar year following the year of accrual, cash compensation must be paid in lieu of leave on the January pay day.

Annual leave at the end of an employment relationship

9. When an employment relationship ends, cash compensation is paid in lieu of annual leave.

If, at the employee’s initiative, an agreement has been made to take annual leave before the employee has accrued it, the employer is entitled to reclaim the compensation paid to the employee for the period of annual leave. It is only possible to reclaim this money if the employment relationship has ended for a reason attributable to the employee.

Scheduling of days off

10. Days off shall be scheduled as follows:

10.1. Consecutive days off

The employee shall be given at least 20 combinations of consecutive days off during the calendar year.

Of the aforementioned combinations of consecutive days off during the calendar year, at least 17 shall be weekend leave, which means combinations of Friday–Saturday, Saturday–Sunday, or Sunday–Monday as days off.

At least 9 weekend days off shall be granted as a Saturday–Sunday combination unless the employee only works at weekends.

A local agreement can be reached (in accordance with section 23) concerning the granting of consecutive days off work.

Weekends falling within the annual holiday shall be counted as weekend days off granted.

Weekend days off and consecutive days off shall be granted proportionally to the duration of any employment that has not continued for the entire calendar year.

Absences shall not change days off under the schedule of work shifts.

10.2. Sundays off

The employee shall have no fewer than 22 days off falling on a Sunday during the calendar year unless otherwise agreed upon in accordance with section 23. Sundays off shall be granted proportionally to the duration of any employment that has not continued for the entire calendar year.

The employee shall be granted a day off on a Sunday or church holiday for justified family reasons on announcing this before the schedule of work shifts is drawn up.

The foregoing regulation shall not apply to service station employees or kiosk sales assistants.

Absences shall not change days off under the schedule of work shifts.

10.3. Days off on public holiday eves

Permanent employees must have 2 of the following public holiday eves free:

• Easter Saturday
• Midsummer’s Eve
• Christmas Eve
• New Year’s Eve

The days off for clerical employees are Easter Saturday, Midsummer’s Eve and Christmas Eve unless there are justified grounds based on the company’s business as specified in section 7.1; in this case, the provisions of section 10.3 concerning days off on public holiday eves shall apply instead of this provision in other regards.

Days off on public holiday eves shall be granted in the first year of any employment that has begun before Easter week.

Days off on public holiday eves falling within the annual holiday shall be counted as days off on public holiday eves that have been granted.

Absences shall not change days off under the schedule of work shifts.

The employer may pay compensation for days off on public holiday eves by paying a pay rate increase of 100% (“double time”) for regular working hours done on such days.

The employer and the employee may reach a different agreement on a one-off basis concerning the regulations for days off on public holiday eves.

Section 8 Meal and coffee breaks

Meal break

1. An employee shall have a meal break of at least one hour if regular working time exceeds 7 consecutive hours.

2. When locally agreed, the meal break may be:

• reduced by no more than 30 minutes, or
• completely eliminated, whereupon the employee shall be able to take a meal during working time.

3. The meal break shall not constitute working time when the employee is free to leave the workplace.

4. The meal break of a mobile shop employee may be eliminated if the employee is able to take a meal during working time.

5. The meal break may not be scheduled immediately at the beginning or end of the working day.

Coffee break

6. When the working day is:

7. One extended coffee break may be arranged if two coffee breaks hamper working arrangements. Employees working continually at a cash register shall enjoy one additional break in such cases, during which other duties may be assigned to them.

8. When granting meal and coffee breaks, the employer must ensure that they can actually be taken and provide instructions on how the employee can arrange them when working alone.

Section 9 Additional work and overtime

Additional work

1. Additional work is any work done in addition to the contracted working time that does not exceed 40 hours per week.

Additional work done may not be deducted from hours in the remaining averaging period.

Overtime

2. Overtime is work done in excess of 40 hours per week.

3. Under a system for averaging working time, overtime is work done in excess of an average of 40 hours per week.

Employee’s consent to additional work and overtime

4. The employee’s consent to additional work and overtime shall be governed by section 17 of the Working Hours Act.

The consent of the employee under section 17(1) of the Working Hours Act shall be required for working time that exceeds 8 hours in a 24-hour period, or for working time in addition to a period of more than 8 hours entered into the schedule of work shifts.

Handling the principles of offering additional work

5. The principles for offering additional work in accordance with Chapter 2, Section 5 of the Employment Contracts Act are handled in the workplace as a part of cooperation with the personnel or their representatives.

Pay rate increases

6. A pay rate increase of 50% (“time and a half”) shall be paid for work done in excess of 10 hours a day or 37.5 hours a week.

When determining the increased rate, annual leave granted during the week is also counted as working time.

7. Logistics workers shall be paid a pay rate increase of 50% (“time and a half”) after working for 10 hours and 100% (“double time”) after working for 12 hours in a 24-hour period.

If a local agreement has been made (in accordance with section 23) to enable a logistics worker to have a regular working time of up to 12 hours per day, the increased wage is only paid after 12 hours have been worked in a 24-hour period. A 100% pay rate increase (“double time”) shall be paid after 12 hours.

No evening or night work bonuses shall be paid when the working time of a logistics worker exceeds 12 hours in a 24-hour period.

Pay rate increases shall otherwise be paid in accordance with clause 6.

8. Working time bonuses shall be excluded from basic pay when calculating pay rate increases for additional work and overtime. Working time bonuses shall be paid with no pay rate increase for additional or overtime work.

Calculating pay rate increases in an averaging period

9. From the hours worked under the system for averaging working time:

a. work exceeding 10 hours in a 24-hour period shall be deducted, for which:

• a separate 50% pay rate increase (“time and a half”) shall be paid, and
• a 100% pay rate increase (“double time”) shall be paid to logistics workers after 12 hours.

By way of derogation from the foregoing, in warehouses and logistics centres where a local agreement has been reached in accordance with section 23 to have regular daily working times of up to 12 hours, work exceeding 12 hours in a 24-hour period shall be deducted, for which:

• a separate 100% pay rate increase (“time and a half”) shall be paid.

b. the maximum working times of weeks in the averaging period shall be deducted:

• number of weeks x 37.5 hours. The working time in an averaging period includes other days of annual leave granted during the period.

c. a 50% pay rate increase shall be paid on the balance.

10. The regular working time in an averaging period shall also include hours when the employee was absent from work for an acceptable reason and when the hours have been entered into the system for averaging working time.

Payment of pay rate increases during an averaging period

11. The basic hourly wage with no pay rate increases shall be paid on the normal wage payment day for all hours worked in the averaging period.

12. Pay rate increase components shall be paid on the wage payment day next following the end of the averaging period.

Time off in lieu of compensation for additional work and overtime

13. Compensation for additional work and overtime may be exchanged for time off in accordance with section 21 of the Working Hours Act.

Termination of employment during an averaging period

14. If an employment contract is terminated before the averaging period ends and working time has not been balanced to an average of 37.5 hours per week, the following payment shall be made for any hours exceeding this average:

a. the basic wage for regular working time if

• the employer has the right to terminate the employment contract for reasons attributable to the individual employee, or
• the employee terminates the employment contract.

b. at a 50% pay rate increase (“time and a half”) if

• the employee has the right to rescind the employment contract, or
• the employer has the right to make the employee redundant.

A 50% pay rate increase (“time and a half”) shall nevertheless be paid for work done in excess of 10 hours in a 24-hour period in the cases referred to in clauses a. and b. Pay rate increases shall be paid to logistics workers in accordance with clause 7.

15. If the average working time of a full-time employee during the averaging period falls below 37.5 hours per week on termination of the employment contract, the hours not worked shall be deducted from the employee’s final balance.

16. If the employment contract of an employee receiving a proportional monthly wage terminates during the averaging period and before balancing to the agreed average weekly working time, the wage for regular working time shall be paid without pay rate increases for any hours exceeding the said weekly working time up to an average of 37.5 hours. The regulations of clause 14 of this section shall also apply.

17. If the average working time during the averaging period of an employee receiving a proportional monthly wage falls below the agreed average weekly working time on termination of the employment contract, the hours not worked shall be deducted from the employee’s final balance.

Maximum working time

18. The maximum working time shall comply with the restrictions imposed by the Working Hours Act. A 6-month review period is used for the maximum working time. The review period can be extended to a maximum of 12 months by local agreement (in accordance with section 23). The matter shall be concluded with a shop steward if one has been elected at the workplace.

Hourly wage divisor

19. The hourly wage shall be calculated by dividing the monthly wage by 160.

Additional work and overtime pay rate increase claims limitation period

20. Claims for outstanding additional work and overtime pay rate increases shall be barred under section 40 of the Working Hours Act unless filed:

a. within two years of the end of the calendar year in which the pay rate increase entitlement arose when employment continues, or

b. within two years of the date when the employment ends.

Section 10 Sunday work

1. Work may only be assigned on Sundays or church holidays where this was agreed upon in the employment contract or where the employee has specifically consented to this work.

2. Sunday work shall be assigned impartially with particular regard to the employee’s skills, expertise and aptitude for the assignment.

3. Double time shall be paid for regular work done on Sundays or on church holidays, Independence Day (6 December) and 1 May.

Working time bonuses shall not be included in the basic wage when calculating pay rate increases for Sunday pay. Claims for outstanding Sunday pay shall be barred in accordance with section 40 of the Working Hours Act (see clause 20 of section 9).

4. REMUNERATION

Section 11 Wages

Wage rates

1. Wage rates shall depend on:

• duties
• education and training
• seniority
• bonuses
• regional weighting.

Seniority

2. Seniority shall include the following service:

• the total time worked in the same occupational class under this collective agreement.
• time that is deemed equivalent to working time under section 7 of the Annual Holidays Act, such as pregnancy and parental leave (child care leave and military service are not included in seniority).

3. Experience gained in other occupations shall be taken into account to a reasonable degree when it corresponds in part to the vocational experience that is required for the position. An effort shall be made to ascertain this correspondence when concluding the employment contract.

Training

4. A person who has completed a vocational qualification that is relevant to the position shall immediately be deemed a third-year employee on the pay scale.

Working in a more demanding position

5. If an employee does work with a higher job requirement level in an amount that is more than minor, the impact of this work should be manifested in the remuneration or agreed upon locally.

For example, remuneration may be paid per hour, shift or task, or adjusted in a corresponding way, such as by paying a fixed bonus.

Temporary assignment

6. An employee who is assigned to a more highly paid position for a continuous period of more than two weeks shall be paid the wage rate for the said position for any time exceeding the said two-week period.

The employer shall state the wage impact of the transfer in advance.

Change of job requirement level

7. If an employee transfers to a specialist occupational position, the new pay scale rate shall be determined according to the seniority level that is one higher than the previous pay scale rate. If the employee makes substantial use of their prior competences or work experience in the new position, the pay scale shall be determined according to the seniority level the employee held before the transfer.

Pay exceeding the job requirement level

8. The remuneration for more demanding positions than specialist occupational positions is determined by agreement.

However, the remuneration must be higher than the minimum wage for the specialist occupational position.

Wages for a partial month

9. Pay for part of a month shall be calculated as follows:

• by multiplying the daily pay by the number of days of entitlement to wages where there are fewer than 13 such days, or
• by deducting the pay for days of absence from the monthly wage when there are at least 13 days of entitlement to wages.

The daily wage shall be calculated by dividing the monthly wage by 21 unless the information system of the company uses the true number of working days.

Example 28

In the period from the 1st to the 12th, there are eight days of entitlement to wages, seven working days and one day of annual leave.

The monthly wage is EUR 1,848.

Wage per working day: EUR 1,848 / 21 = EUR 88.
Wage payable = 8 x 88 = EUR 704.

Example 29

There are 13 days of entitlement to wages between day 1 and day 17. There are 9 working days of absence between day 18 and day 30.

The monthly wage is EUR 1,848.

Wage per working day: EUR 1,848 / 21 = EUR 88.
Pay for working days of absence: 9 × EUR 88 = EUR 792.
Wage payable = 1,848 – 792 = EUR 1056.

Pay rates for school students

10. The school student wage may be paid to secondary, upper secondary and vocational school students for a total period not exceeding 2 months.

The school student wage shall be 70% of the first-year wage for each job requirement level.

After working for 2 months in an occupation referred to in this collective agreement, the wages of a school student shall correspond to those of a trainee.

Pay scales

11. The pay scales are set out in the wage annex.

Employees working less than 37.5 hours

12. The employee shall be paid an hourly rate or a proportional monthly wage.

13. The hourly wage is obtained by dividing the full-time salary in accordance with the pay scale by 160. The pay scales are set out in the wage annex.

14. A monthly wage proportioned to the agreed weekly working time and a 37.5-hour working week may be paid to the employee according to the following formula:

The hourly pay rate of an employee earning a proportional monthly wage shall be determined in accordance with clause 14 of this section.

15. The wage shall be paid when wages are paid to other staff.

Section 12 Sales assistants and other shop staff

Training period

1. The training period shall be 1 year.

The wage of a trainee shall be 85% of the first-year pay in pay scale group B1 (pay scale group B from 1 June 2024).

The first-year pay for the pay scale group concerned shall be paid after completing the training period.

Job requirement levels

2. The job requirement levels shall be Sales assistant I and Sales assistant II.

Employees shall be assigned to the job requirement level for the duties that they perform during most of their working time.

Employees shall be classified at the Sales assistant I grade unless their duties require their classification at the Sales assistant II grade.

Sales assistants shall be classified at the Sales assistant II grade if their work is particularly demanding and requires special training or a high degree of vocational ability acquired through long experience.

Classification at the Sales assistant II grade shall also require the following:

• above average specialist product knowledge
• the ability to guide and advise customers in using and applying products.

The duties of a Sales assistant II may include:

• head butcher duties in food shops and departments, handling a fairly wide assortment and high volume
• sales duties of corresponding job requirement level in other shops, for example: 

– selling construction and HVAC accessories involving the formulation of cost estimate-based sales offers relying on drawings or directions submitted by the customer
– sales duties requiring product assembly offers based on finished work plans submitted by the customer.

Evening bonus

3. Regardless of shop opening hours, the evening bonus specified in the wage annex shall be paid for any work that is done between 18.00 and 24.00. The bonus shall not be paid for work done in the evenings of Saturdays that are not public holidays.

The evening bonus shall be paid at the basic rate for work done between 18.00 and 24.00 on Sundays, church holidays, 1 May and Independence Day (6 December). The evening bonus shall be paid at double rates for work done between 18.00 and 24.00 on Sundays when a shop is open after 18.00 on Sundays in November and December.

The bonus shall also be paid to other employees (e.g. logistics and clerical employees):

• working regularly in a shop or in its immediate vicinity and
• when the work is related to sales duties performed because the establishment is open.

The bonus may be agreed upon in the form of fixed monthly remuneration when the work comprises normal closing-up duties performed after the shop closes.

Holiday eve bonus

4. A holiday eve bonus equivalent to the Saturday evening bonus shall be paid for work done between 18.00 and 24.00 when a shop was open after 18.00 on the eve of a church holiday.

The eves of church holidays are:

• Epiphany Eve
• Maundy Thursday
• Ascension Day Eve
• Midsummer’s Eve
• Hallowe’en
• Christmas Eve
• New Year’s Eve

The bonus shall be determined according to clause 6 of this section when the eve falls on a Saturday.

The bonus shall also be paid to other staff employees in accordance with paragraph 3 of clause 3 of this section.

Bonuses for the eves of 1 May and Independence Day (6 December) shall be determined in accordance with clause 3 of this section.

Night bonus

5. Regardless of shop opening hours, the night bonus specified in the wage annex shall be paid for any work that is done between 00.00 and 06.00. The bonus shall not be paid for work done on Sunday night, or in the night on church holidays, 1 May or Independence Day (6 December).

The bonus shall also be paid to other staff employees in accordance with paragraph 3 of clause 3 of this section.

The bonus may be agreed upon in the form of fixed monthly remuneration when the work comprises normal closing-up duties performed after the shop closes.

Saturday bonus

6. Regardless of shop opening hours, the normal Saturday bonus specified in the wage annex shall be paid for any work that is done between 13.00 and 24.00 on Saturdays.

The bonus shall also be paid to other staff employees in accordance with paragraph 3 of clause 3 of this section.

Inventory bonus on Saturdays

7. An inventory bonus equivalent to the normal Saturday bonus shall be paid for inventory work done between 13.00 and 24.00 on a Saturday.

Responsibility bonus

8. A responsibility bonus shall be paid to an employee taking care of and assuming responsibility for:

• a department or product group
• guiding and supervising other employees and planning working time
• sales or marketing plans and reporting.

The responsibility bonus shall be at least 5% of the pay scale rate.

The bonus shall be more than 5% when the duties and responsibilities approach those of supervisors.

Shop manager’s stand-in bonus

9. A stand-in bonus shall be paid to an employee who deputises for the shop manager.

The size of the bonus shall depend on:

• the employee’s experience in the sector
• the duration of the stand-in period
• the size of the shop.

The minimum bonus shall be:

No stand-in bonus shall be paid when the employee is paid the bonus referred to in clause 6 of section 11 (temporary assignment).

Cold room and freezer unit bonus

10. A cold room bonus shall be paid to an employee working mostly in the shop’s cold storage room.

The bonus shall be at least 5% of the pay scale rate.

11. A 20% bonus shall be paid for any hours worked in the shop’s freezer unit.

Call-out pay

12. An employee shall be entitled to call-out pay when called back to work on the same day after leaving the workplace to deal with an emergency outside of regular working hours.

Call-out pay shall amount to 2 hours’ pay in addition to the wages payable for the emergency work done.

Section 13 Logistics workers

Training period

1. The training period shall be 1 year.

The wage of a trainee shall be 85% of the first-year remuneration for the job requirement level in question.

Evening bonus

2. The evening bonus specified in the wage annex shall be paid for any work that is done between 18.00 and 22.00. The evening bonus shall be paid at double rates on Sundays, church holidays, 1 May and Independence Day (6 December).

3. The bonus shall be paid in accordance with clauses 3 and 4 of section 12 when the logistics work is connected to sales work.

Night bonus

4. The night bonus specified in the wage annex shall be paid for any work that is done between 22.00 and 06.00. The night bonus shall be paid at double rates on Sundays, church holidays, 1 May and Independence Day (6 December).

5. The bonus shall be paid in accordance with clause 5 of section 12 when the logistics work is connected to sales work.

Saturday bonus

6. The normal Saturday bonus specified in the wage annex shall be paid for any work that is done between 13.00 and 22.00 on Saturdays.

7. The bonus shall be paid in accordance with clause 6 of section 12 when the logistics work is connected to sales work.

Working conditions bonuses

8. Bonuses shall be paid as follows:

Hard or dirty working conditions

A bonus shall be paid for hours worked in exceptionally hard or dirty conditions.

The bonus shall be 7–11% of the pay scale hourly rate.

Otherwise difficult working conditions

A bonus shall also be paid for hours worked in otherwise difficult conditions.

Examples of such work could include:

• work done outdoors or in an unheated warehouse during winter
• work in a fresh produce warehouse
• handling of hazardous materials
• manual conveying of goods in large quantities.

The bonus shall be 7–11% of the pay scale hourly rate.

The bonus shall be based on an assessment of the extent to which the work of the logistics worker differs from work done in average logistics work conditions and of the proportion of work that is done in these conditions.

Bonuses shall be agreed locally.

The matter shall be concluded with a shop steward if one has been elected at the workplace.

Frozen goods warehouse bonus

9. A 20 % bonus shall be paid for hours worked in a frozen goods warehouse.

Bonus paid for all hours worked by employees mainly working in a frozen goods warehouse.

Workteam foreman (“nokkamies”)

10. The foreman of a workteam shall be a specifically designated logistics worker who:

• works permanently as an assistant to a commerce logistics supervisor in work management tasks and
• also does normal logistics work.

The wage for this position shall be the 8th year pay in pay scale group B2 plus at least 10%.

The provision on the workteam foreman (“nokkamies”) shall be in force until 31 December 2023.

Call-out pay

11. An employee shall be entitled to call-out pay when called back to work on the same day after leaving the workplace to deal with an emergency outside of regular working hours.

Call-out pay shall amount to 2 hours’ pay in addition to the wages payable for the emergency work done.

Job requirement levels (from 1 January 2024)

12. The job requirement levels for logistics positions are in the wage annex.

Section 14 Clerical employees

Training period

1. The training period of an employee commencing employment in each clerical work sector shall be 1 year.

Completion of a training period shall be required only once when beginning work in a clerical sector.

The wage of a trainee shall be 85% of the first-year pay of a clerical employee at the job requirement level in question.

Working time bonuses

2. The evening bonus specified in the wage annex shall be paid for any work that is done between 18.00 and 06.00. The evening bonus shall be paid at double rates for work done between 18.00 and 24.00 on Sundays, church holidays, 1 May and Independence Day (6 December).

The bonus shall not be payable when:

• flexible working hours are applied, or
• the employee schedules his or her own regular working hours.

The bonus shall be paid in accordance with clauses 3–6 of section 12 when the clerical work is connected to sales work.

Job requirement levels (from 1 January 2024)

3. The job requirement levels for clerical employees are in the wage annex.

Section 15 Other occupational groups

1. The following occupational groups shall fall within the scope of this collective agreement with the exceptions listed below:

Cash-and-carry employees

2. The wages of cash-and-carry company employees shall be governed by section 13, excluding the regulations of clauses 3, 5 and 7 of the said section.

Doormen

3. The wages of doormen shall be governed by individual employment contracts.

Bonuses for evening, holiday eve, night and Saturday work shall be paid in accordance with clauses 3–6 of section 12 when working time is determined according to the working hours of employees working in a shop.

Evening, night and Saturday work bonuses shall be paid in accordance with clauses 2, 4 and 6 of section 13 when working time is determined on a different basis.
Bonuses may be agreed upon as a part of total pay.

Couriers

4. The training period shall be 1 year.

The wage of a trainee shall be 85% of the first-year pay in pay scale group A.

Repair seamsters

5. The wages of a repair seamster shall be paid according to pay scale group B1.

Cleaners

6. The evening bonus specified in the wage annex shall be paid for any work that is done between 18.00 and 22.00. The night bonus specified in the wage annex shall be paid for any work that is done between 22.00 and 06.00. The evening and night bonuses shall be paid at double rates on Sundays, church holidays, 1 May and Independence Day (6 December).

7. The number of working days in a week may be agreed upon in the individual employment contract.

5. ABSENCES

Section 16 Absence due to illness

Conditions for payment of wages

1. Wages shall be paid if:

• an employee is prevented from performing his or her duties according to the individual employment contract due to illness or accident, and
• the employee has not caused the said incapacity wilfully or through gross negligence.

Duty of notification and medical certificate

2. The employee shall report the absence from work, and its duration if possible, without delay. If the employee either wilfully or negligently fails to report the illness immediately, the duty to pay wages shall commence from the time of reporting. The employee shall, without delay, give the employer a medical certificate of the incapacity to work, or a different account thereof that is acceptable to the employer.

The medical certificate shall be obtained in the first instance from the occupational health physician or a different medical practitioner designated by the employer.

A certificate issued by a public health nurse or other nurse will be deemed acceptable evidence of an illness lasting for no longer than 3 calendar days if:

• the employer has not arranged occupational health care that exceeds the statutory requirement and incorporates medical services,
• the employee has attempted and failed to secure an appointment with a public health service medical practitioner and has reported this failure to the employer, and
• the case concerns an ordinary infectious disease (e.g. flu or gastroenteritis).
• If an illness has been diagnosed as of epidemic character (e.g. influenza), the same public health nurse or other nurse may,
  as required and based on an examination, issue a new certificate for no longer than a further 3 calendar days at a time.

The employer shall be entitled to require a medical certificate of incapacity to work notwithstanding the preceding paragraph if incapacity to work due to illness or accident begins during the annual holiday or a part thereof.

An employer with justified grounds for doubting an employee’s incapacity to work may, as a condition of the duty to pay wages, ask the employee to obtain a new medical certificate from a medical practitioner designated by the employer.

The employer shall defray the costs of obtaining a certificate from a medical practitioner designated by the employer.

Procedure to follow in the absence of health services

3. If an employee does not have the opportunity to obtain a certificate from a doctor, nurse or practical nurse due to the absence of health services (this must be stated and communicated in advance in the workplace) in the evening, at night, at the weekend or on public holidays, the employee shall be entitled to self-declare as absent for the duration of the illness without loss of pay for a maximum period lasting until the services are available.

The employer is entitled to demand notification before each shift, as well as a visit to a doctor, nurse or practical nurse as soon as the services are available. For justified reasons, the employer may refuse this option and require the employee to provide a doctor’s certificate covering the entire period of absence before wages are paid.

The employer must be informed without delay when the employee is unable to work. If the employee either wilfully or negligently fails to report the illness immediately, the duty to pay wages shall commence from the time of reporting.

Self-certification procedure

4. The procedure set out below does not apply to self-declaration procedures adopted before 1 February 2017.

Enterprises may begin using a self-declaration procedure applying to absence due to illness where locally agreed (according to section 23). A self-certification procedure means that employees are able to inform their employer that they are unable to work without requiring certification from a doctor or nurse to demonstrate their lack of working capacity.

The agreement can apply to employees’ own periods of absence due to illness for a maximum of 3 calendar days.

The self-declaration procedure only applies to short-term illnesses that do not require medical treatment (such as a cold or stomach bug).

The employer must be informed without delay when the employee is unable to work. If the employee either wilfully or negligently fails to report the illness immediately, the duty to pay wages shall commence from the time of reporting.

The employer may require the employee to provide a doctor’s certificate covering the entire period of absence before wages are paid if this is considered necessary for justified reasons.

Working at partial working capacity

5. If an employee is not completely incapacitated for work due to an illness or accident, the employee’s ordinary work may be modified or reduced, or he/she may participate in training so that working does not hinder his/her recovery.

The general principles and guidelines for reducing and modifying work should be addressed as part of labour protection cooperation (Labour Protection Cooperation Agreement, Section 2).

Instead of taking sick leave, the employee may do substitutive work that differs from his/her ordinary work. Substitutive work can only be assigned with the employee’s consent.

The introduction, guidelines and communication relating to substitutive work is subject to local agreement (in accordance with section 23). If there is a shop steward or, secondarily, a labour protection delegate in the workplace, the matter should be referred to this party for agreement.

If an employee works or participates in training organised by the employer instead of taking sick leave, this should always be based on a doctor’s assessment of the remaining working capacity.

Before reduced or substitutive work is introduced, it should be addressed as part of labour protection cooperation in the workplace as a topic concerning the employee’s safety and health. The topics for discussion include

• “ordinary illnesses” (typically including fever, colds and gastroenteritis), during which it is not possible to work
• example duties and changes to duties to enable work despite various types of health restriction

When reduced or substitutive work is planned, the employee has the option of being assisted by the labour protection delegate or the shop steward.

Upon request, the labour protection delegate is entitled to receive information about the use of reduced and substitutive work within the company.

Wage payment

6. Wages shall be paid as follows for each case of incapacity to work:

Irrespective of the length of employment, the paid sick leave period shall nevertheless not exceed 3 months if the employee is incapacitated for work due to violence or the threat of serious violence encountered at work.

The length of the paid period shall be at least 4 weeks, irrespective of the duration of the employment relationship, if the employee has been incapacitated due to an occupational accident. The daily allowance payable for this period according to the law shall be no more than the amount of salary or wage paid by the employer to the employee.
The qualifying period under the Sickness Insurance Act is the day of falling ill and the following 9 ordinary weekdays. The qualifying period under the Sickness Insurance Act in the event of recurrence of the same illness within 30 days is the day of falling ill (see clause 7, relapse).

Wages shall be paid for working days included in the said period (see clause 9, employees working less than 37.5 hours).

Evening, night and Saturday bonuses shall be paid on sick leave pay if they would otherwise have accrued during the illness. The evening bonuses of sales assistants and other shop staff for Sunday evenings in November and December shall be included without an increment in the sick pay.

The Saturday bonus for logistics work (see clause 6 of section 13) shall be excluded from sick pay.

The employer shall remit sick pay directly to the employee and recover any health insurance compensation.

The following aspects of sick pay may be agreed locally:

• Full pay for working days included in the qualifying period under the Sickness Insurance Act.
• Payment of the difference between the daily pay and sickness insurance compensation for working days following the qualifying period. Payment will require an account of the benefit payable.

Sick pay arising from a work-related accident shall be paid directly to the employee for the period of eligibility.

If the employee fails to provide the evidence required by Kela and sickness benefit is accordingly withheld or reduced, the employer’s duty to pay wages shall be reduced by the sum unpaid.

Any benefit or equivalent compensation received for the same incapacity to work and the same period shall be deducted from sick pay when the said benefit or compensation was paid:

• by law,
• on the basis of different insurance financed wholly or partly by the employer, or
• from a sickness benefit fund supported by the employer.

After wages have already been paid, the employer may claim compensation directly or collect it from the employee in an amount not exceeding the sum that was paid by the employer.

Relapse of illness

7. If an employee’s illness relapses within 30 days of returning to work, wages are paid for the period of absence due to illness as follows:

• the periods of absence are summed together and wages are paid for them as for a single period of illness
• wages are nevertheless paid for the qualifying period under the Sickness Insurance Act, i.e. for the day of onset of illness if this is a working day.

Example 31

The employment has continued for one year. Upon falling ill the employee receives full pay for no longer than 4 weeks or 28 calendar days based on the length of employment. Sick pay is earned for the working days included in this period.

The first period of absence due to illness is from 1 April to 13 April = 13 calendar days. Wages are paid for the working days included in this period of 13 calendar days.

The second period of absence due to the same illness is from 21 April to 16 May = 26 calendar days. Wages are paid for the working days included in the remaining (28 – 13) 15 calendar days between 21 April and 5 May.

The employee takes further sick leave on 30 May owing to the same illness. Wages are paid for this period only for the qualifying period under the Sickness Insurance Act, meaning the day of onset of illness on 30 May where this was a working day for the employee.

In the event of any recurrence of the same illness more than 30 days after returning to work, the employee is entitled to sick pay in the same way as for a new illness.

Quarantine

8. An employee who is absent from work pursuant to the Infectious Diseases Act shall be paid in accordance with this section.

Employees working less than 37.5 hours

9. Wages shall be paid for working hours that have been entered into the schedule of work shifts.

In the absence of such a schedule of work shifts, wages shall be paid according to the agreed average weekly working time.

Section 17 Temporary leave of absence

Sudden illness in the family

1. Efforts shall be made to enable an employee to take a short unpaid leave of absence when cases of illness arise suddenly in the employee’s family.

2. If a child under 10 years of age suddenly falls ill, wages shall be paid in accordance with section 16 to the child’s custodian, to the said custodian’s married or unmarried spouse, or to a custodian not living in the same household as the child, for the working days that fall within a period of 1-3 calendar days.

The said wages shall be paid on the condition that:

• a short leave of absence is essential to care for the child or to arrange such care, and 
• the employee has notified the employer without delay of the absence, and also of its duration where possible, and
• the employee has provided a medical certificate or other account of the child’s illness that is accepted by the employer.

Wages shall be paid to employees who are not single parents if:

• the other custodian,
• the married or unmarried spouse of the custodian, or
• a custodian who does not live in the same household as the child,

is unable to arrange care or take care of the child due to working hours in paid employment, travelling distance (place of residence), military or non-military service or military reserve training. An account of the impediment shall be provided on request.

Efforts shall be made to allow the employee unpaid leave of absence for longer than three calendar days when required.

Example 32

Wages are only paid for the working days (Mon–Tue) included in a period of 3 calendar days (Mon–Wed).

Example 33

Wages are only paid for the working day (Fri) included in a period of 3 calendar days (Fri–Sun).

Wedding and anniversary

3. The employee’s wedding day shall be a paid day off if the ceremony takes place on a working day.

4. An employee shall enjoy a day of paid leave when the employee’s 50th and 60th birthdays fall on a working day.

Death and funerals

5. Efforts shall be made to enable an employee to take a short leave of absence due to the death and funeral of a close relative.

This short absence is intended to provide the time required to make arrangements arising from the death and funeral.

If a period of absence due to the death of the employee’s next of kin lasts for more than one day, the employee must provide an explanation of the need for the time at the employer’s request in advance. At the employer’s request, a prior explanation must be provided detailing the need for time in excess of one day for the funeral of the employee’s next of kin.

Close relatives include a spouse, parents, grandparents, parents-in-law, a child or a sibling.

This absence shall not reduce earnings.

Conscription and military reserve training

6. An employee may participate in the call-up for national military service and the associated medical examination without loss of earnings. The medical examination shall be governed by section 18.

7. An employee shall be paid the difference between normal wages and the reserve duty pay received for military reserve training. This provision also applies to employees who are ordered to undertake supplementary service instead of military refresher courses on the basis of the Non-Military Service Act.

Performance of civic duties

8. An employee shall be paid the difference between normal wages and official compensation for lost earnings when participating during working time in the work of:

• a local council
• a local government executive board
• a local or national election committee or board.

The difference shall be paid after the employee has provided an account of the associated official compensation for lost earnings.

Serious illness of a child

9. An employee may arrange with the employer to take an unpaid leave of absence when the employee’s child is seriously ill.

Annual holiday benefits

10. With the exception of leave of absence to care for a seriously ill child, the absences referred to in this section shall not affect annual holiday benefits.

Section 18 Medical examinations

Conditions for payment of wages

The wages for regular working time shall not be reduced in the following cases (a–e), provided that the examinations and tests are arranged without needless loss of working time:

a. Diagnosis of illness

A medical examination that is required to diagnose an illness and the associated laboratory tests or X-ray examinations prescribed by a medical practitioner if no appointment has been secured outside of working hours.

b. Essential dentist’s visit

For the period of an essential dentist’s visit if:

• the tooth caused the employee to be incapacitated for work before the dentist’s visit and
• the dentist’s visit is urgent, meaning that a visit is required on the same day or during the same work shift and no appointments were available outside of working hours and
• a certificate issued by the dentist indicates incapacity for work and the urgency of the visit.

c. Pregnancy

Attendance of a pregnant employee at prenatal medical examinations if no appointment has been secured outside of working hours.

d. Statutory examinations and reviews

When an employee attends:

• the examinations referred to in the Occupational Health Care Act and approved under the occupational health care maintenance plan
  – the employee shall have an opportunity to call on the assistance of a labour protection delegate in any tripartite appraisal assessing the employee’s working capacity under the Occupational Health Care Act
• the examinations referred to in the Young Employees Act
• the examinations referred to in the Infectious Diseases Act and required by the employer
• the examinations required under the Infectious Diseases Act arising from the reassignment of an employee to new duties in the company.

The employer shall reimburse the employee’s essential travelling expenses incurred in these examinations or follow-up examinations, and shall pay a per diem allowance if the examinations are performed in another locality.

e. Absence for other reasons

Screening examinations (Government Decree on Screenings: mammograms and papanicolaou tests) arranged by local authorities if appointments are not possible outside of working hours.

Section 19 Birth of a child

Family leave

1. Special pregnancy, pregnancy, parental and child care leave are governed by the Employment Contracts Act and the Sickness Insurance Act.

Payment of the salary/wages during family leave

2. Remuneration during pregnancy leave

An employee entitled to a pregnancy allowance under section 1 of chapter 9 of the Health Insurance Act shall be paid remuneration from the start of the pregnancy leave for an uninterrupted period of 40 days of pregnancy allowance.

3. Remuneration during parental leave

An employee entitled to a parental allowance under section 5(1)–(3) of chapter 9 of the Health Insurance Act shall be paid remuneration from the start of the parental leave for the first 36 days of parental allowance.

4. The remuneration shall consist of:
a. the difference between the salary/wages and the pregnancy or parental allowance under the Health Insurance Act, or
b. the salary/wages, in which case the employer shall apply, as the beneficiary, for the pregnancy or parental allowance under the Health Insurance Act. 

It shall be a condition of payment that:

• the employment has continued for at least 9 months before the leave begins, and
• the employee returns to work after the family leave ends.

The difference shall be paid on the condition that the employee furnishes the employer with an account of the pregnancy and parental allowance paid.

If the employee fails to provide the evidence required by Kela and the pregnancy and parental allowance is accordingly withheld or reduced, the employer’s duty to pay wages shall be reduced by the sum unpaid.

An employee working less than 37.5 hours per week shall be paid the difference between normal salary/wages and the pregnancy and parental allowance under the Health Insurance Act or the normal salary/wages calculated according to the employee’s average weekly working time over the nine months preceding the start of the leave. If the average weekly working time falls below the hours agreed upon in the employment contract, the difference shall be paid according to the weekly working time that was agreed.

Other types of family leave shall be unpaid.

Notification periods

5. An employee shall notify the employer of pregnancy, parental and child care leave no later than two months before the leave begins.

If the leave does not last longer than 12 weekdays, the period of advance notification shall be one month.

The employee should furnish the employer in good time with an overall plan of how both parents will take these leaves of absence.

Rescheduling of leave

6. An employee may reschedule previously announced pregnancy, parental or child care leave with one month’s notice for a legitimate reason of the kind specified in the Employment Contracts Act.

The employee may begin pregnancy leave earlier and alter the timing of a type of leave intended to be taken in connection with childbirth and at the same time as the other parent or the spouse if the alteration is necessary due to the child’s birth or the state of health of the child or parent. The employer shall be notified of the change at the earliest opportunity.

The employer has no duty to pay sick pay for periods of parental or childcare leave reported under the Employment Contracts Act when an employee interrupts parental or childcare leave due to incapacity to work.

6. ANNUAL HOLIDAY

Section 20 Annual holiday

1. Annual holiday benefits shall be governed by the Annual Holidays Act and by this collective agreement.

Duration of holiday

2. The holiday earned for a full leave-earning month shall depend on the duration of employment by the end of the leave-earning year (1 April–31 March) as follows:

• less than one year: 2 weekdays
• at least one year: 2.5 weekdays.

A full leave-earning month is a calendar month in which the employee has worked:

• on no fewer than 14 days, or
• for not less than 35 hours.

Annual holiday shall be earned on the basis of either the 14-day rule or the 35-hour rule.

Holiday earned shall be based on the 35-hour rule when the employee works on fewer than 14 days per month according to the employment contract.

Granting annual holiday

3. The employer shall determine the time of the annual holiday in accordance with the Annual Holidays Act.

The employer shall give the employee or the employee’s representative an opportunity to express an opinion on the time of the annual holiday before finalising the matter.

The summer and winter holidays should not be scheduled as a single consecutive period.

Sundays and church festivals, Easter Saturday, 1 May, Midsummer’s Eve, Independence Day (6 December) and Christmas Eve shall not be counted as days of annual holiday.

Annual holiday and days off

4. The employee’s consent shall be required for the annual holiday to begin on a day off. A holiday of at least 6 days may be scheduled to begin on a Monday off without the employee’s consent.

A holiday of no more than 3 days may not include a day off without the employee’s consent.

If a holiday of at least 6 days ends on a weekday other than Saturday, the employee shall be entitled to one day off in the said week in addition to the days of holiday.

If a statutory annual holiday of at least 6 days:

• begins on a Monday, the Sunday immediately preceding the start of the holiday shall be a day off, unless otherwise agreed on a case-by-case basis at the employee’s initiative.
• ends on a Saturday, the Sunday immediately following the end of the holiday shall be a day off, unless otherwise agreed on a case-by-case basis at the employee’s initiative.

Payment of holiday pay and holiday compensation

5. Holiday pay may be paid on the company’s normal wage payment day.

Holiday compensation shall be paid in accordance with the Annual Holidays Act when the employment ends.

Annual holiday pay

6. The pay for one day of annual holiday is calculated by dividing the monthly salary by 25.

Commission-based holiday pay shall be governed by the Annual Holidays Act.

An employee’s holiday pay shall be calculated in accordance with clauses 8–11 of this section if the employee’s working time and corresponding pay have changed during the leave-earning year and the employee is paid by the month at the end of the leave-earning year (31 March).

Effect of bonuses in annual holiday pay

7. Bonuses of varying size based on the collective agreement shall be added to holiday pay and holiday compensation.

These include bonuses for evening, night and Saturday work, and the bonus that is paid for regular Sunday work when the employee has consented to working on Sundays in the employment contract, or when the employment contract requires the employee to work on all days of the week.

The following proportions of the bonuses paid during the leave-earning year shall be added to holiday pay and holiday compensation:

• 10% when the employment has continued for less than one year by the end of the leave-earning year (31 March), and
• 12.5% when the employment has continued for one year or more by the end of the leave-earning year (31 March).

Employees working less than 37.5 hours

8. The following proportions of earnings for the leave-earning year shall constitute the holiday pay or holiday compensation of employees with hourly wages and employees receiving a proportional monthly salary:

• 10% when the employment has continued for less than one year by the end of the leave-earning year (31 March), and
• 12.5% when the employment has continued for one year or more by the end of the leave-earning year (31 March).

9. Earnings for the leave-earning year (1 April to 31 March) shall comprise:

• pay for hours worked, excluding pay for emergency work and overtime
• pay for periods of absence (see clause 5 of section 7 and sections 17–18), and
• calculated pay.

10. The following shall be added to wages paid:

• calculated pay for a total of no more than 75 working days of absence due to illness in a leave-earning year (this period includes paid sick leave days)

• calculated pay for a total of no more than 105 calendar days of absence due to illness
  when earning annual holiday under the 35-hour rule (the 105 calendar day period includes paid sick leave days)
• leave-earning periods during pregnancy and parental leave
• calculated pay for no more than 30 working days of lay-off in each lay-off period
• calculated pay for a total of no more than 42 working days of lay-off when earning annual holiday under the 35-hour rule
• calculated pay for temporary childcare leave (see section 6 of chapter 4 of the Employment Contracts Act)
• calculated pay for absences due to compelling family reasons (see section 7 of chapter 4 of the Employment Contracts Act)
• calculated pay for a total of no more than 75 working days of medical
  rehabilitation due to an occupational disease or accident
• calculated pay for a total of no more than 105 calendar days of medical rehabilitation due to an occupational disease or accident when earning annual holiday under the 35-hour rule
• calculated pay for absence when complying with an official order issued to prevent the spread of disease

11. Calculated pay shall be determined according to the hourly wage and agreed average weekly working time when the absence begins, or according to the employee’s agreed monthly wage at this time.

If the average weekly working time of an hourly paid employee has not been agreed, the calculated pay shall be determined according to the average weekly hours worked over the twelve (12) weeks preceding the absence.

12. If an employee working less than 37.5 hours per week has no days of annual holiday, holiday compensation shall be paid no later than the end of the leave-taking period (30 September).

Section 20 a Compensation for additional leave days under the Annual Holidays Act

Calculation of compensation for additional leave days for a full-time employee with a monthly salary

1. The pay for one day of additional leave is calculated by dividing the monthly salary by 25. The actual or average working time bonuses that have been accumulated are added to this in the same way as for the calculation of sick pay (section 16.6).

Calculation of compensation for additional leave days for an employee working less than 37.5 hours per week

2. Compensation for additional leave days for an employee working less than 37.5 hours per week when additional leave days are granted during the employment relationship

The compensation and associated working time bonuses for the additional leave days are calculated as for the sick leave pay (section 16.6).

3. Compensation for additional leave days for an employee working less than 37.5 hours per week when the employment relationship ends
If an employee working less than 37.5 hours per week has earned additional leave days but not taken them before the employment relationship ends, the compensation for the additional leave days is calculated according to the pro rata monthly salary (section 11.15), which is divided by 25 and multiplied by the number of additional leave days. An average of the working time bonuses for the additional leave days is paid in the same way as for sick leave pay (section 16.6).

4. The provisions of section 20.5 of the collective agreement shall apply to the payment of compensation for additional leave days.

Section 21 Holiday bonus

Size of holiday bonus 

1. Holiday bonus shall be 50% of the holiday pay equivalent of the annual holiday earned under the Annual Holidays Act.

Conditions of payment

2. Holiday bonus shall be paid when the employee:

• begins the annual holiday at the time that was announced or agreed, and
• returns to work immediately after the holiday.

Holiday bonus shall also be paid when the employee:

• has been absent from work with the employer’s consent immediately before or after the holiday, or
• has been prevented from returning to work for a reason referred to in section 7(2) of the Annual Holidays Act.

The holiday bonus may be recovered from the employee if these conditions are not satisfied.

Example 40

An employee working for 37.5 hours a week takes a summer holiday of 24 days and a winter holiday of 6 days. The employee’s basic monthly wage is EUR 1,680 and monthly bonuses of 5% amounting to EUR 84 were also earned. The employee earned EUR 968 in hourly bonuses (for evening and Saturday work) in the leave-earning year from 1 April to 31 March. 12.5% of this sum, amounting to EUR 121, will be added to the annual holiday pay.

The holiday bonus for the summer holiday will be 50% of the summer holiday pay
of EUR 1,790.24, i.e. EUR 895.12.

The holiday bonus for the winter holiday will be 50% of the winter holiday pay of EUR 447.56, i.e. EUR 223.78.

The total holiday bonus for the summer and winter holiday will be EUR 1,118.90.

Child care leave

3. With respect to annual holiday to be taken during child care leave or that ends with child care leave, holiday bonus shall be paid after the employee returns to work from child care leave in accordance with the original or amended advance notification.

National military service

4. Holiday bonus shall be paid to an employee on duly returning to work after completing national military service.

The holiday bonus shall be 50% of the holiday pay or holiday compensation paid before embarking on national military service.

Termination of employment during annual holiday

5. Holiday bonus shall be paid when the employee is made redundant during the annual holiday or on the last day of the annual holiday.

Retirement

6. Holiday bonus shall be paid in respect of holiday pay and holiday compensation when an employee retires on old-age or invalidity pension.

Time of payment

7. Holiday bonus shall be paid when the holiday begins, unless other payment arrangements have been agreed at the individual workplace (in accordance with section 23). The agreement shall be concluded with the company shop steward if one has been elected.

Half of the summer holiday bonus may be paid no later than the last wage payment day before Christmas. Holiday bonus shall be paid with the final wage settlement if the employment ends before this time.

Holiday bonus for holidays not exceeding 6 days may be paid on the normal wage payment day for the company.

Exchange of holiday bonus for time off

8. The employer and the employee may agree in writing that the holiday bonus will be taken as a corresponding period of paid time off.

The employee earns annual holiday during time off in lieu of the holiday bonus.

If the employee falls ill during time off in lieu of the holiday bonus, the provisions of the Annual Holidays Act shall apply.

Employees working less than 37.5 hours

9. Holiday bonus shall only be paid if the employee has earned days of annual holiday.

7. TRAVEL

Section 22 Travel expenses

Travel expenses

1. Travel expenses shall be reimbursed in the following alternative ways:

• under the State travelling regulation
• under the decision of the Tax Administration
• under the company travelling regulation

Company travelling regulation

2. The reimbursements of the company travelling regulation shall be determined in accordance with the State travelling regulation and the payment principles (time limits) specified in the decision of the Tax Administration.

Per diem allowance

3. No per diem allowance shall be paid when applying the decision of the National Board of Taxes or the company travelling regulation if:

• the employee performs work-related travel for a company that is limited by region and operates in several municipalities
• the employee participates at the employer’s expense in training that is internal to the company or trading group.

Meal allowances

4. A meals allowance shall be paid when:

• work-related travel lasts for not less than 6 hours, and
• the employee has no opportunity for ordinary or corresponding
  workplace meals or for meals at home.

No meal expenses shall be paid when:

• the employee receives a per diem allowance in full or in part, or
• the employee works in another establishment of the company in the same locality.

The meal allowance shall be determined according to the State travelling regulation.

8. LOCAL AGREEMENTS

Section 23 Local collective bargaining

1. When local agreements are made, the parties to the agreement are:

• the employer and the shop steward,
• the employer and all of the employees covered by the agreement together or
• the employer and an employee,

unless otherwise stipulated in the collective agreement.

Local agreements:

• shall be made in writing
• may be concluded for a specified fixed period or indefinitely
• if an agreement is made for an indefinite term, it can be terminated with 3 months’ notice
• any agreement concluded for a specified period longer than 9 months shall be subject to termination at 3 months’ notice
• the terms and conditions of the collective agreement shall apply after the local agreement expires.

2. An agreed arrangement that is bound to a certain time period shall remain in force until the end of the said period notwithstanding termination.

3. Local agreements are made as separate documents, not as part of an employment contract. Terminating a local agreement shall not result in the termination of the employment contract – local agreements can be terminated independently.

Section 24 Local agreement

1. Local agreements that are made on the basis of this collective agreement and that are valid indefinitely may be terminated with 3 months’ notice unless a different notice period has been agreed.

9. MISCELLANEOUS REGULATIONS

Section 25 Miscellaneous regulations

Applicable agreements

1. The following agreements shall apply as part of the Collective Agreement for the Commerce Sector:

• Training agreement (page 157-160)
• Agreement on shop stewards (page 132-144)
• Labour protection cooperation agreement (page 145-156)
• Agreement on the collection of trade union membership fees
• Tutustu ja tienaa (Learn and Earn) summer trainee programme
• Agreement on workplace meals
• Cooperation agreement
• General agreement

In addition, the following are appended to the collective agreement:

• The recommendation on preventing substance abuse problems, processing matters of substance abuse and referral for treatment at workplaces; and
• The recommendation drafted by the labour market organisations on the ground rules for on-the-job learning.

The training agreement, agreement on shop stewards, and labour protection cooperation agreement are in section D (“Agreements”) of this collective agreement. The other agreements and recommendations are in a separate appendix. The appendix is on the websites of the Finnish Commerce Federation and Service Union United PAM.

Collection of membership subscriptions

2. At the employee’s request, the employer shall withhold membership subscriptions to Service Union United PAM and shall credit them to the union’s bank account.

Debt collection shall comply with the section on debt collection in the agreement on the collection of trade union membership fees.

Meetings at the workplace

3. The associations, branches, local chapters or other affiliates of PAM may hold meetings outside of working hours to discuss employment issues, provided that:

• the holding of a meeting is agreed upon with the employer at least three days in advance where possible,
• the employer designates a suitable meeting place, and
• the organiser takes responsibility for order at the meeting and for keeping the meeting room clean and tidy

The organiser shall be entitled to invite union representatives to the meeting.

Shop steward

4. The employer shall explain the company’s negotiation and shop steward system to new employees.

The employer and the shop steward shall agree on practical arrangements for notifying employees of shop steward business.

The agreement on shop stewards is in section D (“Agreements”) of this collective agreement.

Members of the Delegate Council and Executive Board of PAM

5. An opportunity shall be arranged for a member of the Delegate Council of PAM to participate in the Delegate Council Congress, and for a member of the PAM Executive Board to attend meetings of the said Board.

Familiarisation

6. The person assigned to familiarise new employees, trainees and students completing vocational qualifications shall be designated in advance and vocationally competent. This person shall be given sufficient time to perform the assignment.

If a workplace instructor or an employee participating in implementing training is paid a performance-related wage or equivalent part of the wage, he/she shall be paid the foregoing part of the wage in an average amount for the period when he/she worked as a workplace instructor or instruction.

Group life insurance

7. The employer shall defray the costs of group life insurance cover for the employees.

Uniforms – sales staff

8. The employer shall furnish permanently employed sales staff with serviceable uniforms unless a different arrangement is agreed upon in the workplace (in accordance with section 23).

The employer shall look after the uniform unless otherwise agreed with the employee for extra remuneration.

Uniforms – logistics workers

9. The employer shall furnish permanently employed logistics workers with overalls or working attire and working gloves.

The employer shall look after the uniform unless otherwise agreed with the employee for extra remuneration.

Cash register deficit (short till)

10. The employer and the employee shall investigate the reasons for any cash register deficit before any action is taken to recover compensation for losses.

The collective agreement negotiating procedure shall be followed if no consensus is reached.

10. NEGOTIATING PROCEDURE AND INDUSTRIAL PEACE

Section 26 Disputes

Local grievance procedure

1. Disputes arising from the collective agreement shall be negotiated initially between the employer and the employee or between the employer and the shop steward.

A memorandum of the dispute shall be prepared in duplicate when no settlement can be reached.

Inter-federation negotiations

2. The local parties may refer a dispute to the federations for settlement.

Negotiating procedure

3. Local and inter-federation negotiations shall be initiated and conducted without delay.

Labour Court

4. Any dispute that remains unresolved in inter-federation negotiations may be submitted to the Labour Court for settlement.

Section 27 Industrial peace and breaches of the collective agreement

1. All industrial action against this agreement shall be prohibited.

2. The consequences of infringing this collective agreement shall be governed by the Collective Agreements Act that is current at the time of signing this agreement.

11. VALIDITY

Section 28 Duration of the Agreement

1. This agreement shall remain in force until 31 January 2025.

2. After 31 January 2025, the agreement shall continue for one year at a time unless written notice of termination is served no later than one month before the end of the validity period.

3. The said notice of termination shall include detailed written proposals for amending the agreement; otherwise the notice of termination shall be null and void.

ATTACHMENTS 1.6.2023–31.1.2025

Protocols for occupational groups

Mechanics and servicing staff

Section 1 Scope

1. This protocol shall apply to mechanics and servicing staff.

2. This protocol shall not apply to service mechanics at service stations or to real estate servicing staff.

3. The terms and conditions of mechanics and servicing staff shall be governed in applicable respects by the collective agreement, subject to the following exceptions.

4. Section 7 of the collective agreement shall apply in the manner agreed with respect to sales assistants and logistics workers.

5. Chapter 4 of the collective agreement shall not apply with the exception of pay for part of a month (section 11, clause 10).

Section 2 Guideline earnings and minimum wage

1. The guideline earnings include the monthly wage inclusive of bonuses and fringe benefits.

The guideline earnings do not constitute binding minimum wages.

Job requirement levels

2. The job requirement levels shall be:

Level 1

• mainly routine installation, assembly and cabling work
• straightforward repair and servicing of appliances and machinery
• periodic servicing, cleaning, testing and adjustment work

Level 2

• independently performed installation and assembly work of a more demanding, non-routine
• demanding installation and assembly work performed under guidance
• independently performed repair and servicing of appliances and machinery

Level 3

• demanding installation and assembly work performed independently
• demanding customer service, commissioning and maintenance work on appliances, machinery and systems performed independently.

Performance, skills and personal characteristics should affect remuneration within each job requirement level.

• performance
  quantity, pace, quality and outcome
• skill
  skills and knowledge acquired though training and experience in relation to the skills and knowledge required for the work, practicality and diversity of skills, development and maintenance of skills
• personal characteristics
  dependability, punctuality, initiative and language skills that are relevant to duties.

Minimum wage

3. The minimum wages of mechanics and servicing staff are set out in the wage annex.

Section 3 Travel expenses

1. Per kilometre or corresponding compensation shall be paid for travel between the employee’s residence and the job site when this is substantially longer than the journey between the residence and the workplace proper.

2. In addition to the provisions of the collective agreement governing the meal allowance, no such allowance shall be paid to a person who is entitled to a meal voucher either as a fringe benefit or on payment of the taxable value of the voucher.

3. Section 22 of the collective agreement shall apply in other respects.

Section 4 Holiday bonus

1. Holiday bonus may be exchanged for corresponding time off where locally agreed.

2. Section 21 of the collective agreement shall apply in other respects, with the exception of clause 8 thereof.

Service station employees

Section 1 Scope

1. This protocol applies to all service station employees.

2. The collective agreement shall govern the terms and conditions of service of all service station employees subject to the following exceptions:

Section 2 Sunday work

Sunday work shall be governed by section 17 of the Working Hours Act.

Double time shall be paid for regular work done on Sundays or on church holidays, Independence Day (6 December) and 1 May.

Working time bonuses shall not be included in the basic wage when calculating pay rate increases for Sunday pay. Claims for Sunday compensation shall expire in accordance with section 40 of the Working Hours Act (in the same way as compensation for additional work and overtime, see clause 20 of section 9).

Section 3 Wages

Training period

1. The training period shall be 1 year.

A car washer and service station cleaner shall be first-year employees immediately.

The trainee wage shall be 85% of the first-year pay in the lowest pay scale group for each occupational group.

Pay scale groups

2. Pay scale groups

The pay scale group shall be determined according to the work done during most of the employee’s working time.

A service station employee shall be assigned to pay scale group B1 (pay scale group B from 1 June 2024) when working at a service station with:

• a daily consumer goods shop stocking not less than 2,000 articles, or
• a cafeteria or restaurant preparing lunch or corresponding food
  and serving alcoholic drinks containing up to 5.5% ethyl alcohol by volume.

In other cases the employee shall be assigned to pay scale group A.

An employee whose working time is mainly spent serving as an assistant shall be assigned to pay scale A.

Service station restaurant employee

3. A service station restaurant employee is an employee who mainly works at a service station restaurant that serves alcoholic drinks containing more than 5.5% ethyl alcohol by volume.

The waves of restaurant workers are determined in accordance with the wage annex.

Deputy to the representative of the licensee

4. A service station restaurant employee whom the employer assigns to deputise for the representative of the licensee at a licensed restaurant serving alcoholic drinks containing more than 5.5% ethyl alcohol by volume shall be paid the hourly rate specified in the wage annex for these working hours.

The pay of an employee whose personal wage is already not less than the hourly rate specified in the wage annex shall not change.

Service station restaurant supervisor

5. The wages of a restaurant supervisor working at a service station and of the representative of the licensee as required under the Alcohol Act and designated by the employer shall be determined according to the wage annex.

Job requirement levels of service mechanics

6. The following job requirement levels of service mechanics shall be determined according to the principal duties of the position:

Service mechanic I: Lubrication, oil changing and chassis work, exhaust system repair and tyre work, and vehicle bodywork servicing.

The pay scale group of a service mechanic I shall be B2 (pay scale group B from 1 June 2024).

Service mechanic II: Periodic and brand servicing, brake, clutch and steering assembly work, testing and consequent adjusting work.

The pay scale group of a service mechanic II shall be C1 (pay scale group C from 1 June 2024).

Service mechanic III: Demanding installations, such as repairs to engine and transmission assemblies and diesel equipment.

The pay scale group of a service mechanic III shall be C2 (pay scale group C from 1 June 2024).

Section 4 Bonuses

1. Service station with a daily consumer goods shop stocking fewer than 2,000 articles
or with no daily consumer goods shop:

• The evening bonus specified in the wage annex shall be paid for any work that is done between 18.00 and 00.00. The bonus shall be paid at double rates on Sundays, church holidays, 1 May and Independence Day (6 December)
• The night bonus specified in the wage annex shall be paid for any work that is done between 00.00 and 06.00. The bonus shall be paid at the basic rate on Sundays, church holidays, 1 May and Independence Day (6 December).

2. Service station with a daily consumer goods shop stocking not less than 2,000 articles and with a daily consumer goods shop of sales area not exceeding 400 m²

• The evening bonus specified in the wage annex shall be paid for any work that is done between 18.00 and 00.00. The bonus shall be paid at double rates on Sundays, church holidays, 1 May and Independence Day (6 December).
• The night bonus specified in the wage annex shall be paid for any work that is done between 00.00 and 06.00. The bonus shall be paid at the basic rate on Sundays, church holidays, 1 May and Independence Day (6 December).

3. Service station with a daily consumer goods shop exceeding 400 m²

• Bonuses for work done in the daily consumer goods shop shall be paid in accordance with section 12 of the collective agreement.
• Bonuses for work done elsewhere than in the daily consumer goods shop shall be paid in accordance with clause 1 of this section.

Call-out pay

4. An employee shall be entitled to call-out pay when called back to work on the same day after leaving the workplace to deal with an emergency outside of regular working hours.

Call-out pay shall amount to 2 hours’ pay in addition to the wages payable for the emergency work done.

Section 5 Working clothes

1. The employer shall procure working clothes for the employee.

2. The employer shall look after the uniform unless otherwise agreed with the employee for extra remuneration.

3. The employer shall procure overalls and gloves for a service mechanic, car washer and chassis protection operative.

Kiosk sales assistants

Section 1 Scope

1. This protocol applies to kiosk sales assistants working in fixed kiosks or equivalent shops.

Kiosk or equivalent trading shall denote trading that is practised from commerce premises in which the sales area of the kiosk shop in permanent commerce use does not exceed 100 m2.

2. This protocol does not apply to employees in street kitchen kiosks.

3. The terms and conditions of kiosk sales assistants falling within the scope of this protocol shall be governed in applicable respects by the collective agreement, subject to the following exceptions.

Section 2 Wages

1. The wages of a kiosk sales assistant shall be paid according to pay scale group B1.

Section 3 Evening and night bonuses

Evening bonus

1. The evening bonus specified in the wage annex shall be paid for any work that is done between 18.00 and 23.00.

Night bonus

2. The night bonus specified in the wage annex shall be paid for any work that is done between 23.00 and 06.00.

Evening and night bonuses on Sundays

3. Single time evening and night bonuses shall be paid for work done on Sundays, church holidays, Finnish Independence Day (6 December) and May Day (1 May).

Section 4 Working time

The number of working days in the week shall be agreed upon in the employment contract.

Section 5 Sunday work

Sunday work shall be governed by section 17 of the Working Hours Act.

Double time shall be paid for regular work done on Sundays or on church holidays, Independence Day (6 December) and 1 May.

Working time bonuses shall not be included in the basic wage when calculating pay rate increases for Sunday pay.

Claims for Sunday compensation shall expire in accordance with section 40 of the Working Hours Act (in the same way as compensation for additional work and overtime, see clause 20 of section 9).

Sales assistants working on commission

Section 1 Personal commission pay

The following considerations shall govern commission:

• Regardless of any fault arising in the goods after sale, commission shall be paid in full if the fault arose in manufacturing or shipping the goods and was not known when concluding the sale.
• A sales assistant shall be entitled to commissions falling due after the employment has ended on the same principles as those that fall due while the employment continues.
• The effect of any transfer on commission accruing shall be investigated when transferring a sales assistant from duties under the employment contract to substantially different duties.

Section 2 Average daily wage

1. The average daily wage with respect to commission shall be calculated twice per calendar year on the basis of earnings for the preceding 12 calendar months (the calculation period).

The commission that has been paid and that has fallen due for payment for regular working time during the calculation period shall be divided by the actual number of working days in the calculation period.

The hourly wage shall be calculated by dividing the daily wage by the average number of hours in a working day.

2. The federations recommend calculation periods from 1 April to 31 March and from 1 October to 30 September.

3. Calculating when employment begins after the start of the calendar year shall be based on the average earnings of calendar months included in the employment.

The provision in clause 1 of this section shall apply in other respects.

Window dressers

Section 1 Scope

1. This protocol applies to window dressers and trainee window dressers.

2. The collective agreement shall govern the terms and conditions of service of all window dressers and trainee window dressers subject to the following exceptions:

Section 2 Wages

Seniority

1. This protocol applies to window dressers and trainee window dressers.

2. The collective agreement shall govern the terms and conditions of service of all window dressers and trainee window dressers subject to the following exceptions:

Job requirement levels

3. The job requirement levels shall be Window dresser I and Window dresser II.

Window dressers shall be classified at the Window dresser I grade unless their duties require their classification at the Window dresser II grade.

The Window dresser II grade shall include window dressers who independently design and perform dressing of windows, points of sale or shops in accordance with basic guidelines, or who take care of newspaper advertisements.

Particularly demanding window dressing

4. A window dresser performing a particularly demanding window dressing assignment shall be paid not less than the wage for the Window dresser II grade increased by 20%.

Examples of particularly demanding window dressing include:

• designing serial advertisements
• demanding interior advertising solutions for shops and department stores
• designing trade fair stalls or showrooms
• technical arrangements for exhibitions.

Working in a more demanding position

5. The bonus shall be determined in accordance with clause 5 of section 11 of the collective agreement.

The bonus may also be paid to a window dresser who:

• is appointed as a senior member of a workteam
• repeatedly works in dirty, strenuous or otherwise unusual conditions.

Section 3 Working clothes

1. The employer shall provide serviceable working clothes for permanently employed window dressers.

2. The employer shall own and look after the working clothes unless otherwise agreed with the employee for extra remuneration.

Sales staff and buyers in wholesale trading

Section 1 Scope

1. This protocol applies to sales staff and employees working in sales-related customer advisory capacities in wholesale trading.

2. This protocol does not apply to sales staff working in wholesale trading either wholly or partly on commission.

Section 2 Job requirement levels

1. Assignment to job requirement levels shall allow for the following and other job requirement factors:

• the initiative and independence required for the duties
• the responsibility and scope of independent decision making
• the special expertise required for the duties
• business competence
• planning duties
• procurement of new customers
• guidance and supervisory duties.

2. The following job requirement levels shall apply to sales staff in retail trading:

Wholesale sales assistant I

Normal sales work, typically involving:

• selling and offering as instructed
• taking orders
• sales travel as instructed
• top-up orders
• buyer duties of a corresponding standard as instructed.

The pay scale group for a wholesale sales assistant I shall be D.

Wholesale sales assistant II

Demanding sales work, typically involving:

• responsibility for offering and selling all articles in a class of goods
• participating in buying functions
• guiding and advising customers
• sales promotion
• sales travel as instructed
• buyer duties of a corresponding standard.

Wholesale sales assistant III

Highly demanding sales work, typically involving:

• independent duties, for example with respect to annual agreements, customers and offers
• independent planning, implementation and monitoring of demanding marketing
• buyer duties of a corresponding standard.

The pay scale rates for Wholesale sales assistant II and Wholesale sales assistant III grades are set out in the wage annex.

Section 3 Other regulations

The collective agreement and its provisions on clerical employees shall apply in other respects.

Logistics workers

Section 1 Performance-related pay

1. Performance-based pay shall comprise a fixed and variable salary element. The variable salary element shall be mainly based on a determination of the quantity and quality of job performance, either for the individual or for a team. Performance-based pay does not mean commission rate pay or any productivity or profit bonus.

2. The purpose of performance-based pay is to increase employee earnings beyond the wages stipulated in the collective agreement due to unusually high efficiency and quality of work.

3. Before the work begins, an employee shall be entitled to details of the grounds for determining performance-based pay. Substantial changes in factors that affect performance shall be taken into consideration in the grounds for determining wages without delay or the said grounds shall otherwise remain unchanged.

4. An effort shall be made to arrange other work on performance-based pay for an employee in the event that work is interrupted due to circumstances that are beyond the employee’s control. If this is not possible, the employee shall be paid wages under the collective agreement without performance pay, having regard to section 12 of chapter 2 of the Employment Contracts Act.

5. Performance pay shall be considered in sick leave pay and annual holiday pay if it is not otherwise paid for these periods. Any performance pay for additional and overtime work shall be considered in compensation for additional and overtime work.

A different local agreement can be made on the matters described above in accordance with section 23 of the collective agreement. The matter shall be concluded with a shop steward if one has been elected at the workplace.

6. The work efficiency studies pertaining to work done for performance-based pay shall be conducted transparently. They shall otherwise be governed in applicable respects by section 2 of part IV of the cooperation agreement. The findings of work efficiency studies shall be considered when developing performance-based pay.

7. A shop steward may, for a legitimate reason, request a review of the grounds for determining work done for performance-based pay. The associated investigations shall be conducted and any modifications made without delay, and in any case within 2 months.

The training requirements of a shop steward in matters of performance-based pay shall be considered when arranging trade union and joint training under the training agreement.

Section 2 General increase in performance-related pay

The general increases in pay agreed between the union and the federation apply to the performance-related components of logistics workers’ pay increases in companies using a performance-related system at the time of the pay increase.

In these companies, the pay increase applying to the performance-related component is realised in a manner decided upon by the employer in accordance with one of the models described below:

Alternatively, a local agreement may be made on a different method of calculating, dividing or replacing the performance-related component of the increase in accordance with section 23 of the collective agreement.

A. The general rate of increase is used to calculate the proportion from the employee’s average performance-related pay. The monetary sum obtained in this way is added to the employee’s personal monthly salary or hourly wage on the next pay day.

B. The general increase is used to increase the performance-related unit prices, multipliers or comparable components in such a way that an equivalent performance yields the same performance-related pay plus the amount corresponding to the general increase.

Section 3 Making different agreements on certain regulations

1. Employers and logistics workers can make local agreements on granting leave in lieu of performance-related pay or working time bonuses in accordance with section 23 of the collective agreement. When leave is taken or converted, the provisions concerning holiday bonuses and working time bank leave shall apply,

2. In accordance with section 23 of the collective agreement, a local agreement may be made to change the provisions of paragraph 3 in clause 3, section 7 of the collective agreement, whereby the maximum number of working days between days off when planning the schedule of work shifts is 8.

3. In accordance with section 23 of the collective agreement, a local agreement may be made to change the provisions of paragraph 2 in clause 3b, section 6 in the collective agreement, whereby the averaging period can be a maximum of 26 weeks. If a local agreement is made, the averaging period may not exceed 52 weeks.

The provisions of clause 6 of section 6 of the collective agreement do not apply to logistics workers.

Section 4 Reviewing and reducing the number of absences due to illness

The employer and logistics workers commit to regular reviews of absences due to illness, as well as to developing and implementing means for reducing the number of such absences.

Working time protocols

Weekday public holiday system

Introducing a weekday public holiday system

1. Instead of using the annual leave system, a weekday public holiday system may be introduced within a company or part of a company. The selected system cannot be changed during the calendar year.

2. Clauses 3–7 of this protocol concerning reductions for weekday public holidays replace clauses 4–9 of section 7 of the collective agreement applying to annual leave.

Reduction in working time for weeks including a weekday public holiday

3. A weekday public holiday that reduces working time, decreases the number of working days in the week or balancing period in question by 1 and the number of working hours by 7.5 (7 hours and 30 minutes).

4. The reduction in working time shall be arranged by granting a day off:

• in a week including a weekday public holiday
• during the 2 preceding weeks
• during the 2 following weeks, or
• in the system for averaging working time.

A local agreement (in accordance with section 23) shall be required for reducing the working time of clerical employees in a system for averaging working time unless there are justified grounds based on the company’s business as specified in section 7.1 of the collective agreement.

If Saturday is a fixed day off, it shall also be a day off in a week including a weekday public holiday.

Example 45

At a company with no system for averaging working time: 

The average weekly working time of a sales assistant is 37.5 hours. Week 14 includes a weekday public holiday. The working time reduction may be arranged during weeks 12–16 by reducing the number of working days in the selected week by 1 and weekly working time by 7.5 hours (7 hours and 30 minutes). There will be 4 working days in the reduction week and the weekly working time will be 30 hours (30 hours).

Example 46

At a company using a system for averaging working time: 

The average weekly working time of a sales assistant is 37.5 hours. The third week of a 6-week system for averaging working time includes a weekday public holiday.

The 6-week system for averaging working time is as follows:

The reduction in working time is achieved by reducing the number of working days in any week by 1 day and the number of working hours in the period by 7.5 hours (7 hours 30 minutes). The normal number of working days in the period is 6 x 5 = 30 days. The normal number of working hours in the period is 6 x 37.5 = 225 hours. The reduction is achieved by requiring 29 working days and 217.5 working hours (217 hours 30 minutes) in the period.

5. Hours of work shall be reduced to compensate for:

• Good Friday
• Easter Monday
• Ascension Day
• Midsummer’s Day.

Hours of work shall also be reduced to compensate for the following public holidays when they fall on a day from Monday to Friday:

• New Year’s Day
• Epiphany (6 January)
• May Day (1 May)
• Independence Day (6 December)
• Christmas Eve
• Boxing Day.

6. An employee shall be entitled to the weekday public holiday reduction, provided that his or her employment has lasted for not less than one month before the weekday public holiday. This condition concerning length of employment shall not apply to the reduction in working time arising from Independence Day (6 December).

7. A reduction in working time for a weekday public holiday shall be granted to an employee working less than 37.5 hours per week:

• as cash compensation in addition to working hours performed, paid during the working time reduction period, or
• as paid time off during the working time reduction period.

The cash compensation or reduction in working time shall be calculated by dividing the weekly working time agreed upon in the employment contract by 5.

Additional work and overtime

8. Section 9 of the collective agreement shall apply to additional work and overtime in other regards.

Pay rate increases

9. Section 9 of the collective agreement shall apply to the calculation of pay rate increases.

A pay rate increase of 50% (“time and a half”) shall be paid to full-time employees for work done in excess of the maximum working time in a week including a weekday public holiday.

The maximum working time of a full-time employee in a week including a weekday public holiday shall be 30 when there is one such holiday and 22.5 hours (22 hours 30 minutes) when there are two such holidays in the week.

10. To calculate the pay rate increases during the averaging period, the number of midweek public holidays for full-time employees is multiplied by 7.5 then subtracted from the maximum working time during the weeks in the averaging period.

Reduction in annual working time

Scope of application

1. Reduction of annual working time by 116 hours shall apply to forms of working time in which the regular weekly working time averages 40 hours.

2. The reduction shall be shortened by the following factors that reduce working time based on local agreement or custom and practice:

• annual regularly repeating time off
• annual holiday based on entitlement to more than 2.5 days per leave-earning month.

Working time reduction models

3. The working time reduction may be implemented annually:

• by reducing the average weekly working time to 37.5 hours in accordance with section 6 of the collective agreement,
• by granting the reduction in the form of Pekkaspäivä days off, or
• by agreeing on a different reduction approach locally.

Working time reduction by local agreement

4. Any local agreement:

• shall be made in writing
• shall be concluded with a shop steward where such an official has been elected at the workplace
• may apply to the entire company, or to an establishment, department or other unit thereof
• shall be valid for one calendar year unless otherwise agreed.

Accruing Pekkaspäivä days off

1. Full-time employees shall be entitled to Pekkaspäivä days off for each calendar year as follows:

The preceding months shall comprise all months that include no fewer than 14 working days.

2. The following days shall be deemed equivalent to working days:

• days referred to in section 7 of the Annual Holidays Act, with the exception of the days referred to in section 7(2)(1), 7(2)(7) and 7(2)(8) of the said Act.
• days referred to in section 17 of the collective agreement, with the exception of days spent caring for a severely ill child.

Granting Pekkaspäivä days off

3. Pekkaspäivä days off shall be granted no later than the end of April in the year following the year in which entitlement accrues.

Pekkaspäivä days off shall be granted:

• individually, or by combining days into one or more continuous periods of time off
• by combining with days off under the collective agreement.

Pekkaspäivä days off shall be announced in accordance with clause 7 of section 6 of the collective agreement.

Absences and annual holiday

4. Absences shall not affect the Pekkaspäivä days off entered in a schedule of work shifts.

Annual holiday shall accrue for Pekkaspäivä days off.

Pekkaspäivä days off at the end of an employment relationship

5. At the end of employment:

• regular wages shall be paid in compensation for Pekkaspäivä days off not taken
• the wages corresponding to excessive Pekkaspäivä days off granted shall be deducted from the final wage settlement as a pay advance without the offsetting limitation referred to in section 17 of chapter 2 of the Employment Contracts Act.

Pekkaspäivä days off and the annual leave system

6. The annual leave system is specified in accordance with clauses 4–9 of section 7 of the collective agreement, subject to the following exceptions:

The employee accrues annual leave in accordance with the table below:

Annual leave is granted in the form of an 8-hour working day rather than a 7.5-hour day.

Pekkaspäivä days off and the weekday public holiday system

7. The weekday public holiday system is specified in accordance with the “Weekday public holiday system” protocol (p. 109), which forms part of the collective agreement, subject to the following exceptions:

Reduction in working time for weeks including a weekday public holiday

8. A weekday public holiday that reduces working time, decreases the number of working days in the week or balancing period in question by 1 and the number of working hours by 8.

Example 53

Company with no system for averaging working time

The average weekly working time of a sales assistant is 40 hours. Week 14 includes a weekday public holiday. The working time reduction may be arranged during weeks 12–16 by reducing the number of working days in the selected week by 1 and weekly working time by 8 hours. There will be 4 working days in the reduction week and the weekly working time will be 32 hours.

Example 54

Company using a system for averaging working time 

The average weekly working time of a sales assistant is 40 hours. The third week of a 6-week system for averaging working time includes a weekday public holiday.

The 6-week system for averaging working time is as follows:

The reduction in working time is achieved by reducing the number of working days in any week by 1 day and the number of working hours in the period by 8 hours. The normal number of working days in the period is 6 x 5 = 30 days. The normal number of working hours in the period is 6 x 40 = 240 hours. The reduction is achieved by requiring 29 working days and 232 working hours in the period.

Additional work, overtime and pay rate increases

9. Section 9 of the collective agreement shall apply to additional work and overtime in other regards. In clauses 6, 7, 9, 14, 15 and 16 of section 9 of the collective agreement, a value of 40 hours is used instead of 37.5.

If the company uses a weekday public holiday system, the following clauses shall also apply:

10. A pay rate increase of 50% (“time and a half”) shall be paid to full-time employees for work done in excess of the maximum working time in a week including a weekday public holiday.

The maximum working time of a full-time employee in a week including a weekday public holiday shall be 32 hours when there is one such holiday and 24 hours when there are two such holidays in the week.

11. To calculate the pay rate increases during the averaging period, the number of midweek public holidays for full-time employees is multiplied by 8 then subtracted from the maximum working time during the weeks in the averaging period.

Flexible full-time work

Meaning of flexible full-time work

1. “Flexible full-time work” refers to a practice whereby an employee whose employment contract calls for less than 37.5 hours of work per week is paid a full monthly salary. In return for the monthly salary, the employee undertakes to accept “flexible hours”, in addition to the shifts stated in advance on the work shift plan, in such a way that the total number of hours corresponds to full-time work.

The purpose of the arrangement is to increase the amount of full-time work. Flexible full-time work is not intended to replace conventional full-time work. Employees covered by flexible full-time work arrangements are within the scope of working time reviews (section 6 of the collective agreement).

Introducing the system

2. Flexible full-time work can be introduced by local agreement (in accordance with section 23). The introduction shall be agreed with the workplace shop steward if such a representative has been elected.

3. The agreement can be terminated with three (3) months’ notice. In such a case, the agreement shall end at the end of the averaging period when the termination takes effect.

Agreement on flexible full-time work and termination of the agreement

4. In addition, the employer and employee shall make a local agreement on flexible full-time work (in accordance with section 23). The agreement can be made with an employee who works less than 37.5 hours per week, and the agreement cannot be made until the employee has completed his/her trial period. The averaging period for an employee within the scope of the system can be no longer than 26 weeks.

5. The agreement can be terminated with one (1) month’s notice. The agreement shall end at the end of the averaging period when the termination takes effect.

It is not necessary to observe the notice period if the party terminates the agreement for an unforeseen reason that materially changes his/her circumstances and could not have been taken into consideration when the agreement was made.

Following the end of the agreement, the employee shall return to the number of hours specified in the employment contract.

Matters to be agreed upon in local agreements concerning flexible full-time work

6. The employer and employee shall agree on the following matters:

1. The number of working hours for inclusion in the work shift plan in advance. However, at least 22.5 hours of work per week shall be included in the work shift plan that is published in advance (“list hours”). The employer and employee may agree to deviate from the minimum amount on a case-by-case basis.
2. The procedures for offering flexible hours. The flexible hours offered to supplement the working time included in the work shift plan must be announced at least 24 hours before the beginning of the shift in question.
3. The times when the employee is willing to work flexible hours. The employer must endeavour to offer flexible hours primarily at these times.

Employee’s right to refuse flexible hours

7. The employee shall be obliged to work flexible hours if they are offered more than 24 hours before the work begins, unless a longer period is stated in the agreement (the “deadline”). However, offers shall not be sent between 10 pm and 6 am (“close time”) unless otherwise agreed with the employee.

If the employee refuses to work these hours without a reason referred to in clause 9, the hours may be deducted from the pay. If an averaging period is in use, the deduction shall be made no later than on the payday following the end of the averaging period. The employer may also use hours of annual holiday instead of deducting the pay after having consulted the employee.

8. The employee shall not be obliged to work flexible hours if they are offered after the deadline.

9. The employee shall be entitled to refuse the flexible hours that are offered and the employee’s monthly salary shall be unaffected in the following circumstances, even though the hours are offered more than 24 hours (or other agreed time) before the beginning of the shift:

• The provisions of the collective agreement concerning the rest period and days off are not realised
• A day off had been agreed with the employee
• The employee is entitled to time off in accordance with section 17 of the collective agreement
• The employee is absent due to annual holiday, illness or family leave.

10. Hours that were not offered cannot be deducted from the pay.

11. In other regards, flexible full-time work shall be subject to the rules and regulations concerning work shift planning.

Other working conditions

12. The holiday pay shall be calculated in accordance with clauses 8–11 of section 20 of the collective agreement. In other words, the holiday pay shall be a percentage of the earnings during the leave-earning year. If the employee has done flexible full-time work throughout the leave-earning year, an agreement may be made with the employee that the holiday pay is determined using the calculation rules for employees with monthly salaries.

13. Sick pay shall be paid in accordance with the collective agreement. However, the amount of sick pay shall correspond to at least the number of hours stated in the employment contract. In any case, the basis for the amount of sick pay shall be at least 22.5 hours per week if the schedule of work shifts has not yet been drawn up for the period concerned.

Offering additional work

In relation to the obligation in Chapter 2, Section 5 of the Employment Contracts Act to provide addition work to the company’s employees, the labour market organisations recommend that companies introduce an arrangement for offering additional work.

1. The aim of a company-specific arrangement is to boost the efficiency with which temporary or unforeseen additional work is allocated to the company’s own personnel. This type of additional work is temporary work that can be planned and entered into the schedule of work shifts or unforeseen additional work that could not be taken into account when planning work shifts. Digital channels are typically used to offer additional work.

2. A company-specific arrangement includes an agreement on how the process of offering additional work is arranged at the company.

3. The total number of working hours planned in the schedule of work shifts and the unforeseen additional working hours shall not exceed 10 hours in a 24-hour period and 37.5 hours per week, or an average of not more than 37.5 hours per week when using a system for averaging working time.

4. The employer shall ask every employee working fewer than 37.5 hours per week to specify the establishments from which the employee is willing to accept additional working time.

The employee shall be entitled at any time to enrol in or withdraw from the additional work notifications of a certain establishment.

5. Additional working time at a certain establishment shall be offered to employees working fewer than 37.5 hours per week who have notified the employer of their desire for additional work at the said establishment.

The employee shall sign up in the agreed manner on receiving an offer of additional work and being willing to perform the work that has been offered.

On responding to an offer of additional work the employee shall declare whether the total number of working hours planned in the employee’s schedule of work shifts and the additional working hours offered exceed 10 hours in a 24-hour period or an average of not more than 37.5 hours per week.

6. An effort shall be made to ensure that additional work is assigned impartially with particular regard to the employee’s skills, expertise, experience and aptitude for the assignment.

Additional work shall, where available, be offered initially to employees of the establishment in need of additional work, thereafter to other employees of the company, and finally to workers from outside of the company.

Allocating additional working hours to current employees of the company and the workplace concerned is the best way for the employer to ensure a skilled and capable staff. It also signals to the staff that their work and skills are valued, further promoting employee motivation and commitment to work.

7. The employer shall be entitled to exclude an employee from additional work notifications until a new averaging period begins if the number of working hours of the employee in an averaging period is exceeding an average of 37.5 hours per week.

Agreement

8. The introduction and implementation of a company-specific arrangement shall be locally agreed in the workplace (in accordance with section 23 of the collective agreement). The matter shall be concluded with a shop steward if one has been elected at the workplace.

9. The agreement on a company-specific arrangement must include at least the following:

• How employees can state their desire to enrol in or withdraw from additional work notifications for a specific establishment.
• How the employer announces additional working hours and which details about the additional work must be specified in the announcement.
• How employees announce their willingness to accept the additional working hours.
• How much time employees have to announce their willingness to accept the additional working hours offered in various circumstances.
• How the employer announces which employees have been given the additional working hours.

10. A shop steward who has agreed on a company-specific arrangement shall be entitled to the following details on request:

• The number of employees who have enrolled in the arrangement.
• The division of additional working hours between people who have enrolled in the arrangement and workers from outside of the enterprise.

Offering full-time work

1. The introduction and implementation of a model for offering full-time work shall be agreed upon in the workplace (in accordance with section 23) with the exceptions stated herein. The contracting party on behalf of the employees shall be the shop steward or the relevant group of personnel. The matter shall be concluded with a shop steward if one has been elected at the workplace. If the agreement is made with a group of personnel, the group of personnel must decide together to make the agreement.

2. If the employer commits itself at the request of an employee to offering full-time work to every employee who wants it and whose employment relationship has lasted at least 12 months, the following obligations shall not apply during the period of validity of the agreement:

• The provision in section 6 of the Collective Agreement for the Commerce Sector concerning the review of working hours of an employee working less than 37.5 hours
• Chapter 2, section 5 of the Employment Contracts Act, insofar as it concerns hiring a new employee.

3. The following matters shall be settled in the agreement:

• Procedures to ensure that employees are properly informed of their rights to gain full-time employment under this model
• The procedure for requesting full-time work
• A reasonable period of time within which the employer must process and approve employees’ requests for full-time work. Unless otherwise agreed, 2 weeks shall be a reasonable time
• Places of work in which full-time work must be accepted. The working area defined in the employment contract shall apply unless otherwise agreed.
• The territory covered by the agreement. The agreement may apply to all employees subject to the Collective Agreement for the Commerce Sector or it may be limited to a specific occupational group, area and/or establishment. Unless otherwise agreed, the agreement shall cover employees working at least 50% of their working hours in a workplace/working area within the scope of the agreement.
• The procedure for offering individual additional shifts to employees
• The notice period. Unless otherwise agreed, the notice period to be observed by the employer shall be 3 months, and the notice period to be observed by the employees shall be 12 months.
• The procedure and actions at the end of the agreement. The review period, in accordance with section 6 of the collective agreement, for the working hours done by employees working less than 37.5 hours per week shall begin when the agreement ends. However, the review shall be retrospective if the agreement ends due to the actions or decisions of the employer less than six months after it entered into force unless otherwise agreed.

The agreement may also provide for the removal of all obligations to offer and accept additional work.

4. When the employer accepts an employee’s request for full-time work, the increased number of contractual hours shall be taken into consideration in the information for the week to be planned next unless otherwise agreed. However, if an averaging period is in use, there shall be no obligation to increase the number of hours in such a way that it would lead to increased pay. Consequently, there shall be no obligation to offer full-time work during an averaging period if the number of hours worked by the employee during the averaging period after switching to a full-time contract exceeds 37.5 hours per week on average. In addition, there shall be no such obligation if increasing the number of hours would render it impossible to comply with the provisions on rest periods or days off during the ongoing averaging period.

If the employee is absent when the increased contractual working time takes effect, the number of hours in the employment contract shall be increased no earlier than when the employee returns to work.

5. If the employer does not wish to accept a request, the employer shall notify the employee. If the request is not implemented, this agreement and its effects shall end at that moment. However, the agreement shall not end if the employer can demonstrate that the number of hours can be increased within a reasonable time and the cause of the delay is that the number of hours cannot be increased at exactly that moment. The length of time considered reasonable shall depend on the prevailing circumstances. The employer shall explain the grounds for the situation referred to herein to the party entering into the agreement and the employee whose contractual working hours shall be increased following the said delay.

In addition, the agreement shall not end if it was impossible to increase the number of hours due to the employer’s obligation to offer work.

In other cases, the agreement shall end when the employer announces that the commitment to offer full-time work has ended.

The end of the agreement shall not affect increases in the number of contractual working hours made while the agreement was in force.

Working time bank

1. By local agreement (in accordance with section 23 of the collective agreement), a working time bank can be introduced.

The employer and employee shall agree on the number of hours to be transferred into the working time bank separately.

Working hours deposited

2. The following hours can be transferred to the working time bank:

• additional work and overtime hours
• Sunday work increase hours
• hours worked on a collective agreement day off
• hours worked on a weekday public holiday reduction day
• hours worked on a day off pursuant to the Working Hours Act1
• hours worked on a Pekkaspäivä day off
• positive balance hours in a system of flexible working hours at the employee’s request
• hours of annual leave.

3. Hours worked at the employer’s request and compensated at increased rates of pay shall be deposited in the working time bank with a corresponding increase.

Hours worked on the employee’s initiative shall be deposited in the working time bank with no increase.

4. The employer and the employee shall agree on the number of working hours deposited.

The working time bank balance may not exceed 75 hours for a full-time employee and twice the weekly working time agreed upon in the employment contract for an employee working fewer than 37.5 hours per week.

Taking leave from the working time bank

5. The employer and the employee shall endeavour to agree on the time of taking any time off that has accrued in the working time bank. The time when leave is granted from the working time bank shall otherwise be stipulated by the employer.

The employee shall be notified of the leave granted from the working time bank in good time, and in any case no later than 2 weeks in advance.

6. Leave shall be granted from the working time bank as whole days off unless otherwise agreed. An effort shall be made to grant leave from the working time bank in conjunction with other days off or with annual holiday.

Leave taken from the working time bank shall be taken no later than during the calendar year following the year in which it accrues unless otherwise agreed for reasons of acceptable absence.

7. On termination of a working time bank agreement by the employer or the employee the working hours deposited in the working time bank shall be taken as time off in accordance with sections 5 and 6.

Incapacity to work and time off

8. Situations in which the employee is incapacitated for work before leave from the working time bank begins or in which incapacity to work begins during the leave shall be governed by the Annual Holidays Act.

Annual holiday shall accrue for leave from the working time bank.

Bookkeeping

9. A working time bank shall maintain records of:

• when the work was done
• on the initiative of which party
• how many hours were done and how many were deposited in the bank
• when time was taken off and how many hours are withdrawn from the bank.

End of employment

10. Time that has been deposited in the working time bank and that has not been taken as leave by the end of employment shall be compensated at the regular wage.

Threat of violence

Section 1 Assessment

In service duties the employer’s hazard assessment under the Occupational Safety and Health Act shall also include an evaluation of the threat of violence affecting the workplace, and this evaluation shall be updated at least annually.

The factors considered in the assessment shall include:

• working alone, particularly in the evening and at night
• cases of violence affecting the workplace and occurring in the immediate vicinity of
  the workplace
• handling of cash or valuables.

Based on the assessment, the employer shall arrange the work and working conditions with a view to combating or reducing the threat of violence.

Section 2 Prevention and after-care

1. The possibility of working alone and the associated occupational safety risks shall be explained to the employee when concluding the employment contract.

2. Measures taken to combat the threat of violence shall include:

• drafting guidelines on procedures in the event of incidents of violence
• providing the employee with adequate guidance or training in available security and alarm systems
• designing workstations to provide structural security
• allowing for the threat of violence ascertained in the assessment when determining staffing levels and in planning work shifts and working time
• ensuring contact with the police or private security guards, for example by telephone.

3. The employer shall investigate the opportunities and arrangements for after-care.

Section 3 Working alone

Working alone shall denote customer service work:

• done by a sales assistant alone in a shop, kiosk, floor of a shop or department store, or service station, and
• where operations are arranged so that one employee at a time is normally working during opening hours.

Work and working conditions shall also be arranged with a view to combating or reducing the threat of violence when the employee is working alone.

When providing meal breaks and coffee breaks the employer shall take care to ensure that these breaks can be taken in practice.

Agreement on shop stewards

Introduction

The agreement on shop stewards seeks to promote employer-staff cooperation in various departments of a company and to forestall problems before they arise.

Cooperation and local agreements are increasingly important when operating conditions are changing rapidly. Employers and shop stewards must adopt an open-minded approach to the challenges of the times.

It is important for shop stewards to have an adequate understanding of the company’s business and the changing operating conditions, and to be able to work with the employer in the tasks set out in this agreement.

The role of a shop steward as a cooperation partner in various company and staff development projects and in improving productivity and job satisfaction in the company is emphasised when discharging shop steward duties arising from changes.

The future challenges of commerce, common development projects and local collective bargaining require a sufficiently comprehensive shop steward system in which shop stewards have the information and skills that are necessary for discharging their duties.

To promote collaboration and local collective bargaining, the employer and the chief shop steward shall investigate the practical needs and agree on arrangements for:

• using the internal communication systems of the company for shop steward announcements,
• mutual communication between and meetings of shop stewards in the company,
• opportunities for online shop steward training, and
• improving the business competences of shop stewards.

Section 1 Scope of the agreement

This agreement shall apply in companies that are affiliated to the Finnish Commerce Federation.

Section 2 Duties of a shop steward

It shall be the duty of a shop steward to:

• improve cooperation between the employer and employees
• participate in local collective bargaining
• serve as an active partner in joint productivity and development projects
• participate in improving vocational training for staff
• represent organised employees in the shop steward’s sphere of operations
• represent the temporary agency staff working in the company when settling disputes as stipulated in the Act on the Contractor’s Obligations and Liability when Work is Contracted Out
• channel feedback from the employees to the employer
• supervise compliance with the collective agreement and labour legislation
• participate in resolving local disputes
• seek to improve relations between the employer and employees and uphold industrial peace in the workplace by taking timely action and intervening to prevent impending industrial action.

Section 3 Election of shop stewards

General

1. The shop steward shall be elected by staff of the company who are organised in PAM.

2. The shop steward shall be a member of the PAM branch and an employee of the company.

3. An election committee elected by the organised employees shall take care of the practical arrangements for the shop steward election. The employer shall provide an opportunity to conduct the election.

4. The employer shall be notified of the organisation of a shop steward election at the workplace 7 days before the election takes place.

Shop stewards

5. Shop stewards may be elected as follows:

The company shop steward

A shop steward may be elected for the company. A chief shop steward in the sense of this agreement shall be a shop steward elected for a company with no fewer than 30 employees.

Shop steward organisation

A company that has a nationwide shop steward organisation or that employs more than 700 employees must negotiate on a shop steward organisation in order to increase the amount of local interaction between the employer and the chief shop steward.

The negotiations must cover the following matters:

• the nature of the company’s activities and its organisational and decision-making structure
• administrative independence and separateness
• regional coverage, number of sites and distances
• the number and distribution of staff
• the use of work procedures and tools in operations, contact with shop stewards and communications
• the need to improve cooperation, local bargaining and the negotiation system
• the authority and contractual rights of shop stewards
• the nature and scope of local agreements
• the diversity of personnel and types of work
• job release period and compensation
• rights to receive information and responsibilities

When a shop steward organisation is agreed, the agreement must be made in writing.

If it is not possible to reach a consensus on the shop steward organisation, the matter can be submitted to the central labour market organisations for resolution at the request of either party.

Establishment shop steward

An establishment shop steward may be elected in addition to the company shop steward where so agreed upon in writing before the election is arranged.

Area shop steward

Area shop stewards may be elected in a company with a nationally extensive area organisation where so agreed upon in writing before the election is arranged.

If several area shop stewards have been elected for a company, one of these shall serve as chief shop steward for the company with additional responsibility for arranging the consideration of common business affecting the entire company.

Election of an establishment or area shop steward

The following points shall be considered when the employer and the chief shop steward agree on the election of an establishment or area shop steward at a company:

• the organisation and policy-making structure of the company
• administrative independence and separateness
• the number and distribution of staff
• the need to improve cooperation, local bargaining and the negotiation system.

An establishment shop steward may be elected for an independent functional unit of the company in which the employer’s representative enjoys independent bargaining rights and is responsible for the performance and staff of the unit. Examples of independent functional units include the procurement and distribution centre of a company, a department store or another separate site.

An area shop steward may be elected for an area in which the employer’s representative enjoys independent bargaining rights and bargaining system business may be organised effectively and efficiently.

Supervisors’ shop steward

Personnel who are in supervisory positions and are covered by the Collective Agreement for Retail Supervisors or the Collective Agreement for Logistics Supervisors may elect a shop steward from among their number.

If the supervisors have not elected a shop steward for themselves, they shall be represented by the shop steward elected by the employees. In this case, the supervisors shall also be entitled to vote at elections of shop stewards for employees.

Deputy shop steward

A deputy may be elected for a shop steward. The employer shall be notified in writing when the deputy is serving as shop steward. The deputy shall have the rights and duties of the shop steward when so deputising.

Unless otherwise agreed upon in the workplace, when the deputy shop steward is acting as the shop steward, the deputy shop steward shall be entitled to job release and a shop steward’s remuneration. Job release shall be granted and the shop steward’s remuneration shall be paid if the company’s shop steward is unable to discharge his/her duties for an uninterrupted period of at least one week. The remuneration payable for the period of deputisation shall be calculated using the wage calculation rule for a partial month.

Notifications to the employer

6. The employer shall be notified immediately in writing of elected shop stewards and their deputies, and of the expiration of shop steward functions.

The employer shall be notified that a shop steward is continuing in office without an election immediately on conclusion of the electoral period.

On receiving notice of new shop stewards the employer shall notify the shop steward of the corresponding employer’s representative immediately and in writing.

If a shop steward steps down, the outgoing shop steward and the employer will familiarise the new shop steward with the local agreements and practices in the company. The procedures and timetable for this orientation are subject to agreement with the employer. Shop stewards participate in orientation with no loss of earnings.

Situations of change

7. The local parties shall bring the shop steward organisation into line with the altered size and structure of the company or part thereof at the earliest opportunity when its operations substantially contract or expand, or due to assignment of business operations, merger, incorporation or comparable reorganisation.

Section 4 Information to be provided to a shop steward

1. The shop steward shall be given all necessary information concerning local agreements.

The shop steward shall be furnished with all of the information that is relevant to resolving any case of confusion or difference of opinion that emerges concerning the wages of an employee or the application of legislation or agreements to employment.

2. A company shop steward shall be entitled to receive upon request the following details on company employees falling within the scope of the collective agreement:

Annually

• Surname and forenames
• The number of employees working less than 37.5 hours per week and fixed-term employees regionally, in each workplace or on a scale that is otherwise appropriate for the employer. No details shall be provided on employee groups of fewer than 6 persons.
• The pay scale group or equivalent to which the employee or the work performed by the employee belongs
• The number of employees and the number of casual and other temporary staff who have been working during the year.
• Other matters not containing identifying personal information where locally agreed in accordance with section 23 of the collective agreement.

Within one month of commencing employment

• The surname and forenames of new employees and the time they entered the employer’s service.

3. A chief shop steward shall also be entitled on request to the following details concerning groups of employees falling within the shop steward’s sphere of operation, provided that the said details are derived from data generated in the course of other operations of the company:

• Average monthly or hourly wages excluding bonuses
• Average monthly or hourly wages including bonuses
• Number of working hours and proportion of overtime in hours worked

A chief shop steward shall be entitled to receive the foregoing details once a year, sorted by collective agreement occupational groupings. No details shall be provided on employee groups of fewer than 6 persons.

4. A shop steward shall be furnished on request with an account of the type of information that is collected in the course of recruitment.

5. The shop steward shall be entitled to examine the register of emergency and overtime work and of the increased wages paid for such work.

6. According to the Act on the Contractor’s Obligations and Liability when Work is Contracted Out, the shop steward must be informed upon request when an agreement is made on temporary workers or subcontracting. The information shall include the grounds for using temporary workers, the number of workers used, details on the company, the place of work, the working duties, the duration of the contract and the applicable collective agreement or key working conditions.

7. The shop steward must uphold the confidentiality of the information received in order to perform the duties of the shop steward. The shop steward must comply with applicable data protection legislation in all of his/her activities.

Section 5 Matters for consideration with the shop steward

1. The employer and the shop steward consider the following matters annually:

• The structure and size of the entire staff of the company and projected
• changes therein.
• The principles governing planning of working time and offering of additional work,
• and the effectiveness thereof.
• The structure of personnel working less than 37.5 hours per week regionally, in each workplace or on a scale that is otherwise appropriate for the employer, and actual and forecast changes in the structure.
• The numbers and ratio of contractual working hours and the actual number of hours worked regionally, in each workplace or on a scale that is otherwise appropriate for the employer, and the actual and forecast changes in these figures.
• The possibility of using flexible full-time work arrangements
• Other potential measures seeking to increase the number of full-time or near-full-time jobs.

The purpose of this consideration is to promote the implementation of the obligation to offer additional work and section 6 of the collective agreement.

Section 6 Job release and working conditions

Job release

1. A shop steward shall be entitled to adequate job release for the purpose of discharging the duties of a shop steward.

The extent of job release shall allow for such factors as the number of employees and establishments, the location of an establishment and the nature of company operations.

Job release and time management

2. Job release according to the following table shall only be granted to a company shop steward unless otherwise locally agreed.

The following job release shall be granted to a company shop steward based on the number of employees in the shop steward’s sphere of operation (regardless of union membership):

In addition, for shop stewards who are not fully released from their working duties on the basis of the number of employees, the job release period shall be increased by at least 7.5 hours a week if the shop steward is responsible for at least 30 sites and the shop steward’s area of responsibility covers the entire country.

If the weekly working time stated in the shop steward’s employment contract is less than the number of job release hours determined as described above, the contracted hours shall be increased to the next higher job release time for the duration of the term of office as shop steward.

Weekly times agreed for discharging shop steward duties may also be combined.

The shop steward must prepare a time management plan specifying the time used for attending to shop steward duties organised by principal topic.

A shop steward shall also be entitled to an annual visit to establishments falling within the shop steward’s sphere of operation at a time agreed with the employer.

The aforementioned job release shall not include time taken to travel between establishments.

A separate investigation shall be made in each case involving fewer than 20 employees of when it is expedient to agree on fixed job release.

Unless otherwise agreed locally, the number of employees shall be stated every 6 months.

Working conditions

3. Taking into consideration the conditions in the workplace, shop stewards are provided with adequate facilities for storing documents that they require and, if necessary, are entitled to use appropriate office premises and ordinary office equipment as possessed by the employer. A shop steward may supply the employees with trade union materials.

Ordinary office equipment includes computer equipment and related software and internet connections (email) that are generally used in the company. The assessment may consider factors such as the size of the company, the extent of the duties of the shop steward and the need arising from these duties, as well as the amount of time used. Practical arrangements are subject to local agreement.

If necessary, the shop steward shall be afforded the opportunity to supervise work or take other measures available in the workplace with the intention of preventing excessive workloads.

Section 7 Compensation for lost earnings

Lost earnings

1. The employer shall compensate a shop steward for the loss of earnings from regular working time arising from attending to the duties of shop steward.

Compensation shall be paid for any evening, night and Saturday bonuses that a shop steward would have earned from regular working time according to the schedule of work shifts, unless otherwise agreed locally.

Additional work and overtime compensations shall be paid when a shop steward performs duties agreed with the employer outside of regular working hours unless otherwise agreed.

Travel expenses

2. Travelling compensation shall be paid in the same way as for other duties in accordance with the normal practice at the company when a shop steward travels on account of shop steward duties agreed with the employer.

A per-kilometre allowance shall be paid when a shop steward uses a private motor vehicle for travelling with the employer’s consent.

Shop steward compensation

3. Shop steward compensation for discharging the duties of shop steward shall only be paid to a company shop steward unless otherwise locally agreed at the company concerned.

The following shop steward compensation shall be paid to a company shop steward based on the number of employees in the shop steward’s sphere of operation (regardless of union membership):

Unless otherwise agreed locally, the number of employees shall be stated every 6 months.

Progress in earnings of a chief shop steward

4. The progress in earnings of a chief shop steward shall correspond to no less than the average progress in earnings of a corresponding employee of the company in the occupational group concerned.

The occupational group to which the chief shop steward belongs within the company shall be regarded as the reference group for the progress in earnings of the chief shop steward.

Section 8 Shop steward training

1. A shop steward shall be entitled to participate in training arranged under the training agreement.

Training of a new shop steward shall be discussed with the employer within 2 months of the election.

2. After the term of office of a chief shop steward has ended, the said employee and the employer shall jointly determine whether maintenance of the employee’s vocational skills requires vocational training for the said employee’s former duties or for corresponding duties.

The employer shall arrange any training that is required by the said determination.

During the term of office as shop steward the employer and the chief shop steward shall investigate whether maintenance of skills in respect of either previous or corresponding duties requires the provision of any vocational training that is also arranged for other employees.

Section 9 Security of employment

Prohibition of discrimination

1. A shop steward may not be dismissed or otherwise subject to discrimination on account of the duties of shop steward.

2. A shop steward may not, during the term of office as shop steward or on account thereof, be transferred to work at lower pay or status than was enjoyed at the time of election as shop steward.

3. If the working duties proper of a chief shop steward hamper attendance to the duties of the position, other work shall be arranged for the said employee, having regard to conditions at the company or part thereof and to the vocational skills of the employee concerned. Arrangements of this kind may cause no reduction in the employee’s earnings.

Grounds for redundancy

4. Dismissals or lay-offs of company staff for reasons of redundancy shall not affect a chief shop steward unless the operations of the company or of the part thereof constituting the sphere of operation of the chief shop steward are entirely discontinued.

The foregoing regulation shall not apply when jointly verifying or otherwise when the employer demonstrates in detail in the course of negotiations that no work can be offered to the chief shop steward that corresponds to the said employee’s vocation or is otherwise suitable for the said employee.

The federations shall negotiate during the period of notice if the chief shop steward contests the dismissal.

5. A shop steward may be dismissed or laid off when the work of the said employee ends
entirely, provided that:

• the employer is unable to arrange work for the employee that corresponds to the employee’s vocation or is otherwise suitable, or
• the employer is unable to retrain the employee for other duties in the manner referred to in section 4 of chapter 7 of the Employment Contracts Act.

Individual job security

6. A shop steward may not be dismissed for individual fault without the consent of the employees whom the shop steward represents (section 10(1) of chapter 7 of the Employment Contracts Act).

7. The employment contract of a shop steward may not be rescinded or considered dissolved in a manner contrary to Chapter 8, Sections 1–3 of the Employment Contracts Act.

The employment contract of a shop steward may only be rescinded for an infringement of administrative regulations if the shop steward has repeatedly and substantially failed to perform working obligations despite being cautioned for so doing.

Protection of candidates

8. The provisions on security of employment shall also apply to a candidate for the position of chief shop steward if the employer has been notified in writing of this candidacy.

The protection of candidates shall begin no sooner than 3 months before the beginning of the term of office of a chief shop steward. The protection of candidates shall end with respect to candidates other than the person elected when the election organiser has determined the outcome of the election.

Residual protection

9. The provisions on security of employment shall continue to apply for a period of 6 months after the end of an employee’s term of office as chief shop steward.

Chief shop steward and assignment of business operations

10. The position of a chief shop steward shall continue unchanged when a transferred business or part thereof retains its independence.

If a transferred business or part thereof loses its independence, the chief shop steward shall be entitled to the residual protection referred to in clause 9 of this section as of the end of the term of office arising from the assignment of business operations.

Compensation

11. If the employment contract of a shop steward has been terminated in a manner contrary to this agreement, the employer shall pay compensation of no less than 10 months’ and no more than 30 months’ wages.

The compensation shall be determined according to the principles set out in section 2(2) of chapter 12 of the Employment Contracts Act, having regard to the shop steward status of the employee.

The federations may agree on compensation of less than 10 months’ wages in individual cases.

Section 10 Negotiation procedure

1. The negotiating procedure shall be governed by section 26 of the collective agreement.

2. An employer who considers terminating the employment of a shop steward or deputy shop steward shall contact the employers’ federation before taking any action. On receiving such contact the employers’ federation shall immediately take the measures that the situation requires.

3. Local and inter-federation negotiations shall be initiated and conducted without delay.

Section 11 Duration of the Agreement

1. This agreement shall remain in force until further notice.

2. The period of notice of termination shall be 1 month.

Labour protection cooperation agreement

Section 1 Scope

The labour protection cooperation agreement concluded between the Finnish Commerce Federation and Service Union United PAM shall apply in the Federation’s affiliated companies.

Section 2 Cooperation in labour protection

2.1 Concept of a workplace

A workplace shall denote an affiliated company of the Finnish Commerce Federation or a regionally or functionally coherent part of such a company. The concept of a workplace shall be defined locally.

2.2 Labour protection cooperation

Labour protection regulations shall be applied by operating sector. If the operating sectors of a multi-sector company cannot be clearly distinguished, it shall comply with the labour protection regulations for the sector to which a majority of its employees belong.

Instead of a labour protection commission, other approaches to implementing labour protection cooperation may also be applied by local agreement. Such approaches shall comply with the provisions of section 2.10.3 of the labour protection cooperation agreement concerning the functions of the labour protection commission and supervision of labour protection, and with section 26 of the Act on Occupational Safety and Health Enforcement and Cooperation on Occupational Safety and Health at Workplaces.

The labour protection delegate shall be involved in cooperation.

2.3 Joint workplace

A joint workplace is defined in Section 49 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act as a workplace where one employer exercises primary authority and where more than one employer or independent worker working for payment operate simultaneously or consecutively in such a way that the work can affect the health and safety of other employers’ employees.

The parties to labour protection cooperation in a joint workplace are the employer who exercises primary authority and the labour protection delegates in the service of this employer. These labour protection delegates shall also represent the employees of external employers working in the workplace on matters related to working conditions.

Other matters related to cooperation on labour protection are handled by the relevant employer and the labour protection delegate in the employer’s service. A labour protection delegate in the service of an external employer must have access to the joint workplace in order to discharge his/her duties under the same conditions as apply to the employees that he/she represents, taking into consideration the general access and safety regulations in the workplace.

2.4 Labour protection manager

The employer must nominate a labour protection manager for the purpose of labour protection cooperation, unless the employer acts in this capacity himself/herself. A single common labour protection manager can be appointed for several workplaces if the appropriate organisation of labour protection calls for this.

The labour protection manager is responsible for representing the employer in cooperation on labour protection matters, as well as for handling labour protection matters as provided for in Section 28 of the Act on Occupational Safety and Health Enforcement and Cooperation on Occupational Safety and Health at Workplaces.

The labour protection manager should have sufficient knowledge of matters related to health and safety in the workplace, taking into consideration the type and extent of the workplace. He/she should have adequate information and operating conditions to discharge his/her duties.

2.5 Labour protection delegate

The labour protection delegate and two deputy delegates are elected by the personnel in workplaces with at least 10 regular employees. The personnel in smaller workplaces are also entitled to elect the aforementioned delegates.

The labour protection delegate represents employees in matters concerning safety and health in the workplace.

The duties of the labour protection delegate are defined in Section 31 of the Act on Occupational Safety and Health Enforcement and Cooperation on Occupational Safety and Health at Workplaces. In addition, the labour protection delegate’s duties include participating in the preparation of plans for discussion and other matters relating to occupational safety on the labour protection commission or equivalent labour protection cooperation body.

If the labour protection delegate is not able to discharge the duties of the labour protection delegate, the first deputy delegate will fulfil this role and, if this deputy is not available, the second deputy will fulfil this role. However, it is not appropriate for a deputy delegate to act as a substitute if the labour protection delegate is only unavailable for a fairly short period. The labour protection manager must be informed if the labour protection delegate is unavailable and the duration of the absence must be stated. If this person cannot be reached, the notification shall be made to the notifier’s supervisor. The notification shall be made by the labour protection delegate, unless he/she is unable to make the notification. When a deputy delegate discharges the duties of the labour protection delegate, he/she has the same rights and obligations as the labour protection delegate.

Unless otherwise agreed upon in the workplace, when the deputy labour protection delegate is acting as the labour protection delegate, the deputy labour protection delegate shall be entitled to job release and a labour protection delegate’s remuneration. Job release shall be granted and the labour protection delegate’s remuneration shall be paid if the company’s labour protection delegate is unable to discharge his/her duties for an uninterrupted period of at least one week. The remuneration payable for the period of deputisation shall be calculated using the wage calculation rule for a partial month.
Both operative and clerical employees shall be counted as staff when electing the labour protection delegate.

The same person may serve as both labour protection delegate and shop steward.

Clerical employees in supervisory positions may elect their own labour protection delegate and two deputies to the labour protection delegate from among their number.

If the supervisors have not elected a labour protection delegate for themselves, they shall be represented by the labour protection delegate elected by the employees from among their number. In this case, the supervisors shall also be entitled to vote at elections of the labour protection delegate.

2.6 Chief labour protection delegate

A labour protection delegate elected for a company with at least 30 employees is a chief labour protection delegate as referred to in this agreement.

If several labour protection delegates have been elected for a company with 30 or more employees, the said delegates shall appoint one of their number where necessary to serve as chief labour protection delegate in accordance with this agreement. The terms of office of a chief labour protection delegate and a labour protection delegate shall be the same. The employer shall be notified in writing of the appointment of a chief labour protection delegate.

The same person may serve as both chief labour protection delegate and chief shop steward.

The regulations governing the duties and working conditions of a labour protection delegate shall apply to a chief labour protection delegate.

The progress of earnings of a chief labour protection delegate shall correspond to the growth in earnings of company employees in the occupational group to which the chief labour protection delegate belongs.

If necessary, the labour protection delegate shall be afforded the opportunity to supervise work or take other measures available in the workplace with the intention of preventing excessive workloads.

2.7 Labour protection cooperation area

A company that has a nationwide regional organisation or that employs more than 700 employees must negotiate on a labour protection cooperation area in order to increase the amount of local interaction between the employer and the chief labour protection delegate.

The negotiations must cover the following matters:

• the nature of the company’s activities and its organisational and decision-making structure
• administrative independence and separateness
• regional coverage, number of sites and distances
• the election of labour protection ombudsmen if necessary
• the number and distribution of staff
• the use of work procedures and tools in operations, contact with labour protection personnel and communications
• the need to improve cooperation and the labour protection system
• the authority and contractual rights of labour protection delegates
• job release period and compensation
• the nature and scope of local agreement
• the diversity of personnel and types of work
• rights to receive information and responsibilities

When a labour protection delegate organisation is agreed, the agreement must be made in writing. If it is not possible to reach a consensus on the labour protection delegate organisation, the matter can be submitted to the central labour market organisations for resolution at the request of either party.

2.8 Labour protection ombudsman

1. The following regulations shall apply if the election of a labour protection ombudsman has been agreed locally:

• The sphere of operation of a labour protection ombudsman may be an establishment of the enterprise or a certain part thereof, such as a shop, warehouse or office.
• The sphere of operation of a labour protection ombudsman may also be a certain occupational group, such as sales assistants, logistics workers or clerical staff.
• The terms of office of a labour protection ombudsman and a labour protection delegate shall be the same.
• The job release required for discharging the duties of labour protection ombudsman shall be agreed locally.
• The employer shall ensure that a labour protection agent enjoys access as required to the laws, decrees, labour protection regulations and guidelines that are essential for discharging the duties of the said position.

2. The labour protection ombudsman’s duties within his/her area of remit shall include:

• • participating in inspections related to labour protection
• participating in investigations initiated due to the danger of an accident or occupational disease or the occurrence of an accident of a specific type or of potential impact on the planning and implementation of labour protection work
• monitoring compliance with labour protection regulations and drawing attention to breaches
• notifying the relevant supervisor in the first instance of any irregularities detected and, if necessary in light of the nature of the incident, notifying the labour protection delegate, and drawing the employees’ attention to compliance with the labour protection regulations and any hazards observed
• proposing initiatives to the labour protection delegate regarding the development of labour protection within his/her remit and liaising with the labour protection delegate on matters within his/her remit

2.9 Security of employment

1. A labour protection delegate shall enjoy preferential protection against dismissal, pursuant to section 10 of chapter 7 of the Employment Contracts Act, as well as equivalent protection against lay-off with grounds for dismissal.

Prohibition of discrimination

2. A labour protection delegate or labour protection ombudsman may not be dismissed for discharging the duties of a delegate.

3. A labour protection delegate or labour protection ombudsman may not, during the term of office as a delegate or ombudsman or on account thereof, be transferred to work at lower pay or status than was enjoyed at the time of election as a delegate.

The labour protection delegate’s earnings must also not be reduced as a result of being on full or partial job release due to his/her duties as a delegate.

The opportunities of a labour protection delegate for personal development and vocational advancement may not be impaired on account of delegate duties.

4. If the ordinary working duties of a labour protection delegate hamper attendance to the duties of the position, other work shall be arranged for the said employee, having regard to conditions at the company or part thereof and to the vocational skills of the delegate concerned. Arrangements of this kind may cause no reduction in the employee’s earnings.

Individual job security

5. The employment contract may not be rescinded in a manner contrary to sections 1–3 of chapter 8 of the Employment Contracts Act.

The employment contract may only be rescinded for an infringement of administrative regulations if the labour protection delegate has repeatedly and substantially failed to perform working obligations despite being cautioned for so doing.

Chief labour protection delegate

6. The regulations on security of employment shall apply to a chief labour protection delegate from the time of appointment and for a period of 6 months after the said duties come to an end.

7. Dismissals or lay-offs of company staff for reasons of redundancy shall not affect a chief labour protection delegate unless the operations of the company or of the part thereof constituting the sphere of operation of the chief labour protection delegate are entirely discontinued.

The foregoing regulation shall not apply when jointly verifying or otherwise when the employer demonstrates in detail in the course of negotiations that no work can be offered to the chief labour protection delegate that corresponds to the said employee’s vocation or is otherwise suitable for the said employee.

8. After the term of office of a chief labour protection delegate has ended, the said employee and the employer shall jointly determine whether maintenance of the employee’s vocational skills requires vocational training for the said employee’s former duties or for corresponding duties. The employer shall arrange any training
that is required by the said determination.

Compensation

9. If the employment contract of a chief labour protection delegate or a labour protection delegate has been terminated in a manner contrary to this agreement, the employer shall pay compensation of no less than 10 months’ and no more than 30 months’ wages. The grounds for compensation shall be determined in accordance with section 2(2) of chapter 12 of the Employment Contracts Act. Infringement of this agreement shall be considered an aggravating factor that increases the compensation payable.

The federations may agree on compensation of less than 10 months’ wages in individual cases.

2.10 Labour protection commission

1. The labour protection commission shall have the following number of members:

2. 25% of the members of the commission shall represent the employer and 75% shall represent the employees.

3. The labour protection commission or equivalent organ of cooperation is tasked with the following:

• Preparing itself an annual plan of action that also takes into consideration the employer’s proposal on targets for the development of labour protection and associated cost estimates.
• Discussing actions related to safety and health, and maintaining employees’ working capacity, as well as the status and standard of the working environment, occupational accidents and any cases of violence against the personnel.
• Working with the occupational health personnel to discuss substance abuse rehabilitation.
• Annually discussing the need for cooperation training relating to labour protection, and preparing a proposal on this basis for the preparation of a training plan and budget.
• Discussing the occupational health care action plan and occupational health care compensation application. If no labour protection commission has been elected, compensation applications shall be handled with the labour protection delegate.

Meetings of the labour protection commission

4. The labour protection commission convenes as often as required by the duties set in this agreement and in legislation. The chairperson or, if the chairperson is unavailable, the deputy chairperson is tasked with convening the commission. In addition, the commission must be convened when the labour protection manager or delegate or at least one quarter of the commission’s members request this for a declared purpose.

If possible, meetings of the labour protection commission shall be held during working time and in such a way that as many members as possible can attend.

5. Any written material to be addressed at meetings is delivered to committee members along with the invitation to the meeting or otherwise before the meeting if possible. Before a matter is addressed at the meeting, the members are provided with the information required to address the matter. The representatives of the personnel are provided with an opportunity before or during the meeting to prepare themselves together for the matter at hand in a manner agreed upon by the employer’s representative and the labour protection delegate.

6. The duties of the labour protection delegate within the labour protection committee include participating in planning activities to maintain working capacity when the occupational health care service prepares the plan of action and individualised plan of activities, as well as participating in implementing and monitoring the plans.

7. The employer shall acquire the requisite laws, regulations and other provisions and guidelines concerning labour protection for the labour protection delegate to enable the delegate to discharge his/her duties. In addition, these documents must also be acquired if necessary for the use of other labour protection organs in the manner jointly stated by the labour protection cooperation organisation.

2.11. Working alone

The work of the parties to labour protection cooperation shall also give consideration to the provisions of section 3 of the inter-federation protocol on the threat of violence.

2.12 Labour protection and harassment

When the employer drafts a labour protection action plan in accordance with the Occupational Safety and Health Act, it must also include a code of practice to follow in the event of harassment and sexual harassment. The code of practice must cover the action to take within the work community, as well as instructions for handling harassment by customers.

2.13. Job release of a labour protection delegate

1. When determining the job release of a labour protection delegate, consideration shall be given to the number of employees represented by the delegate, the regional scale of the workplace, the number of working locations and the nature of the work that is done at them, factors arising from the organisation of work that affect the extent of the delegate’s duties, and other inconvenience, hazard and workload factors referred to in the Occupational Safety and Health Act that affect the safety and the physical and mental health of employees.

2. The following job release shall be granted to a labour protection delegate on the basis of the number of employees at the workplace (regardless of trade union membership):

In addition, for labour protection delegates who are not fully released from their working duties on the basis of the number of employees, the job release period shall be increased by at least 7.5 hours a week if the labour protection delegate is responsible for at least 30 sites and the labour protection delegate’s area of responsibility covers the entire country.

If the weekly working time stated in the labour protection delegate’s employment contract is less than the number of job release hours determined as described above, the contracted hours shall be increased to the next higher job release time for the duration of the term of office as labour protection delegate.

Unless otherwise agreed locally, the number of employees shall be stated every 6 months.

3. The job release time required for travelling between various establishments of a geographically extensive company shall be agreed locally. This shall not reduce the job release time in accordance with the table.

Participation by a labour protection delegate in training arranged in accordance with the training agreement shall not reduce job release time in accordance with the table.

4. Job release times may be combined by local agreement.

The labour protection delegate shall announce regular reception times.

2.14. Labour protection delegate compensation

1. The employer shall compensate a chief labour protection delegate, a labour protection delegate, a labour protection agent and the members and secretary of the labour protection commission for the loss of earnings from regular working time arising from attending to labour protection duties. Loss of earnings shall be determined according to the earnings that the employee would have earned when at work.

Compensation shall be paid for any evening, night and Saturday bonuses that a labour protection delegate would have earned from regular working time according to the schedule of work shifts, unless otherwise agreed locally.

2. Unless other compensation is separately agreed, the employer shall pay compensation equivalent to a committee attendance fee for labour protection work that is required by the employer and done outside of working hours, and for participation in meetings of the labour protection commission.

3. The following compensation for discharging labour protection duties shall be paid to a company labour protection delegate based on the number of employees in the delegate’s sphere of operation (regardless of union membership):

If several labour protection delegates have been elected for a company, the compensation shall be paid only to the chief labour protection delegate (see clause 2.6.) unless other arrangements are agreed for the company concerned.

The labour protection delegate for an establishment of a company shall nevertheless be compensated in accordance with the foregoing table if there are no fewer than 80 employees in the delegate’s sphere of operation (regardless of trade union membership).

The number of employees in the sphere of operation of the labour protection delegate for an establishment of the company shall not be counted when calculating the compensation of the chief labour protection delegate.

Unless otherwise agreed locally, the number of employees shall be stated every 6 months.

Section 3 Information confidentiality obligation

Before the employer discloses a business or professional secret, the basics of confidentiality are explained to the relevant personnel or representative of the personnel.

When announcing an obligation of confidentiality, the employer must specify the information falling within the scope of the confidentiality obligation and specify the confidentiality period for the information. Unless otherwise agreed between the employer and the people entitled to receive the information, confidential information may only be processed by the people or representatives of the people whom the matter concerns.

Information that is received with the written consent of the person concerned and that relates to the person’s financial position, state of health or other personal information, must be kept confidential unless the person concerned has consented to the disclosure of the information.

The labour protection delegate must comply with applicable data protection legislation in all of his/her activities.

The confidentiality obligation is also stipulated in Section 43 of the Act on Occupational Safety and Health Enforcement and Cooperation on Occupational Safety and Health at Workplaces.

Section 4 Negotiation procedure

Local and inter-federation negotiations shall take place without delay when a dispute concerns termination of the employment of a labour protection delegate or chief labour protection delegate.

Section 5 Validity

This agreement is valid as part of the Collective Agreement for the Commerce Sector, in accordance with section 28 thereof.

Training agreement

Section 1 Training task force

A joint training task force of the federations has been appointed for training under this agreement.

Section 2 Trade union training

Approval of courses

1. The training task force shall approve courses falling within the scope of employer subsidies as follows:

• A jointly verified educational need is a condition of approval
• Courses are approved for one calendar year at a time
• Courses may be approved during the calendar year when necessary
• Before approval, the task force shall be furnished with an account of the goals, syllabus, time and place of organisation and target group of the course
• The approved courses must also include courses lasting less than a week and local courses

The federations shall announce the courses no later than 2 months before the first course begins. The training task force may monitor course instruction.

Right to participate

2. Provided that no substantial inconvenience is caused to the company, a shop steward and a labour protection delegate may attend a course that has been approved by the training task force and lasts no longer than 2 weeks in 1 calendar year. A deputy shop steward and first deputy labour protection delegate may attend a course that has been approved by the training task force and lasts for no longer than 1 week, with the said participation causing no break in employment.

Notification obligation

3. Employees must declare their intention to participate in courses at the earliest opportunity.

Courses lasting for no longer than one week shall be announced no later than 3 weeks before the course begins and courses lasting for longer than one week shall be announced no later than 6 weeks before the course begins.

The employer shall notify the staff representative at the earliest opportunity and no later than 10 days before a course begins of any reason why participation in the course would cause substantial inconvenience to the company.

Compensation

4. Staff representatives may take part in courses approved by the training task force with no loss of earnings as follows:

• compensation shall be paid for the lost earnings of a shop steward and labour protection delegate for no more than 2 weeks, and
• compensation shall be paid for the lost earnings of a first deputy labour protection delegate and deputy shop steward for no longer than 1 week.

provided that the course is associated with the participant’s cooperation duties at the company.

Compensation for lost earnings shall be based on the employee’s regular wages.

No compensation shall be paid for evening and night work bonuses or any other hourly bonuses. Compensation shall be paid for monthly bonuses.

Other benefits

5. Participation in the training referred to in this section shall not reduce annual holiday, pension or comparable benefits.

Section 3 Joint training

1. Joint training shall generally be provided at individual companies.

2. Participation in training shall be agreed between the employer and the employee or shop steward, or in a different, locally agreed manner.

3. Examples of joint training include training pertaining to:

• the cooperation agreement,
• participation systems and
• labour protection cooperation.

4. The compensations shall be governed by section 4.

Section 4 Vocational further and supplementary training and retraining

1. The employer shall defray the costs of training and any loss of earnings when providing vocational training for the employee or sending the employee to vocational training events.

2. Compensation for lost earnings from regular working time shall be based on the employee’s regular wages.

No compensation shall be paid for evening and night work bonuses or other hourly bonuses.

Compensation shall be paid for monthly bonuses.

Compensation for travelling costs shall be calculated in accordance with the cheapest form of transport.

3. If training takes place outside of working hours, the employee shall be compensated for the direct costs of this training.

4. The question of whether training falls within the scope of this section shall be settled before enrolling in the training.

Section 5 Validity

This agreement shall remain in force indefinitely, subject to 3 months’ notice of termination.

FORMS

Instructions for completing the memorandum of dispute

General

The memorandum of dispute procedure only applies to members of the Service Union United PAM working for member companies of the Finnish Commerce Federation where the employment relationship is subject to the Collective Agreement for the Commerce Sector.

Disputes regarding employees’ work and wage conditions should primarily be resolved in the workplace in compliance with the local order of negotiation. Each party can avail itself of its own union’s advisory services during workplace-specific negotiations. The purpose of any support or advice that may be provided by unions is to help the negotiations to flow smoothly and identify a solution to the dispute within the workplace.

The memorandum of dispute should only be completed after a sufficiently thorough local negotiation when the parties wish to have the dispute settled at union level.

Subject of the dispute

The subject of the dispute shall be described in brief by way of a title, such as the requirement to pay wages during sick leave, payment of a bonus for unusual conditions, etc.

Agreed course of events

The undisputed facts underlying the dispute are described under the course of events. This statement accelerates the unions’ handling of the matter as it provides the handling personnel with a rapid overview of the events without them needing to request further clarification. These undisputed background details should be brought to the fore by both parties when requesting their own union’s views on the events.

For example, if the matter concerns whether wages need to be paid for an employee’s absence due to a sudden illness suffered by a child aged 10 (the subject of the dispute), the course of events could be described as follows: The employee was absent on Monday 6 October as his 3-year-old child had a cold. The employee provided a certificate issued by a nurse at the maternity and child health clinic to account for the absence. The certificate is in appendix 1 to the memorandum of dispute. The company’s instructions state that wages are only paid for periods of absences covered by doctor’s certificates. This ground rule was discussed with the employee during the orientation phase. The company’s instructions are in appendix 2 to the memorandum. One day’s wages were deducted from the employee’s pay. The employee’s pay slip for the month in question is in appendix 3 to the memorandum.

The claims of the local parties, with detailed grounds

The employee must present his/her own detailed demands and grounds for these demands during the local negotiations. The employer’s response and grounds for the response are reviewed during the negotiations.

In the example case set out above, the employee has presented a claim that he/she should be repaid EUR xx.xx, which equates to the one deducted day of wages.

As grounds for this demand, the employee says that the case involved an ordinary infectious illness and that he/she could not get an appointment with a doctor belonging to the local health care district to enable him/her to present a certificate (appendix 4). The employee presents clause 2, section 16 of the collective agreement as grounds for the demand.

In its response, the employer raises the issue that the workplace instructions state that wages can only be paid for absence in the event of a sudden illness of a child aged under 10 if there is a doctor’s certificate covering the period from the first day of absence onwards. Collective agreement, section 17, clause 2. This has also been discussed in joint staff meetings and the instructions have been complied with consistently. clause 2, section 16 of the collective agreement presented as grounds for the employee’s demand only applies to illnesses suffered by employees themselves.

Sending the memorandum to the unions

If the memorandum is not sent to the unions electronically, the parties shall deliver the memorandum with appendices to their own unions.

Instructions for completing the pro forma employment contract

Trial period

Any trial period must be agreed upon in the employment contract. A trial period is normally no longer than 6 months. No trial period may be applied to an employee who returns, within a reasonable period of time, to the service of a previous employer in duties similar to those formerly performed, unless there is an exceptional reason for a trial period as expressly agreed when the employment begins again.

If an employee is absent from work during the trial period due to incapacity for work or family leave, the employer is entitled to extend the trial period by one month for every 30 calendar days included in a period of incapacity for work or family leave. The employer must inform the employee of the extension of the trial period before the end of the trial period.

Including extensions, the trial period may not exceed half of any agreed fixed-term employment lasting for less than 12 months.

Regular employment contract

It is normal for employment to continue for an unspecified period until further notice. The appropriate box will be checked in such a case.

The date when the employee begins working will be entered as the date of commencing employment.

Fixed-term employment contract

If the employment is tied to a specified period, the date of the last day of employment will be entered on the form. In such cases, the reason for fixed-term employment must also be stated, e.g. substituting for an employee on pregnancy and parental leave or annual holiday, or the employee’s own request.

If the duration of employment is not tied to a specified calendar period but depends on completion of a certain task, the task in question and the estimated time for its completion must be specified in the spaces provided for this purpose in the employment contract.

A fixed-term employment contract concluded for longer than one year must be made in writing.

Working time

The average weekly working time of an employee who works for less than 37.5 hours per week must be agreed and recorded in the space provided for this purpose, having regard to clause 1 of section 6 of the collective agreement.

When an employee grants consent for additional work, the employer may plan additional work in the schedule of work shifts.

When an employee consents to Sunday work, there is no need for the employer to secure separate Sunday work consent from the employee with respect to individual Sundays or weekday public holidays.

The employer has no duty to offer work on Sundays or weekday public holidays to an employee who has refused Sunday work.

Duties

The employment contract shall record the principal duties agreed upon with the employee, e.g., department store sales assistant, logistics worker, clerical employee. If the duties agreed with the employee are broader than the usual conception of the occupation, this will be stated in the employment contract, e.g. sales assistant/logistics worker or sales assistant responsible for and attending to a department.

Remuneration

Wages will be determined in accordance with the applicable collective agreement. It is therefore necessary to state the basis for determining wages and the wage at the start of employment, e.g. B1 (B from 1 January 2024) third year for a sales assistant, or C1 (“demanding professional position” from 1 January 2024) fifth year for a clerical employee.

If a company applies a wage system differing from that of the collective agreement, a separate appendix will be used for determining remuneration.

Period of notice of termination

Fixed-term employment contracts must specifically state the terms of termination if the aim is to allow for a fixed-term employment contract to be terminated. Otherwise, fixed-term employment contracts end when the fixed term expires.

Other terms and conditions

This section records such matters as any agreed terms and conditions of employment that differ from the minimum standards of the collective agreement. Such terms and conditions may concern remuneration, working time or days off, benefits in kind, annual holidays, etc.

Separate appendix

If the space provided at any point on the form is insufficient, a separate appendix may be used with a reference thereto at the relevant clause in the contract.

Notification of amendments

Section 4 of chapter 2 of the Employment Contracts Act requires the employer to furnish the employee with a written account of any key modification in the terms and conditions of employment. This account must be provided at the earliest opportunity, and no later than the end of the next payroll period following the modification. No such account need be provided, however, if the modification is due to an amendment of legislation or collective agreement. The employer’s duty to notify amended terms and conditions of agreement has no bearing of any kind on the conditions under which an employer may unilaterally amend the terms and conditions of an employment contract.