Working time and absences

Working hours

The annual work load for teaching and research personnel is 1,612 hours. An employee is responsible for his/her own working hours and its use for the tasks in the working plan. A superior and an employee will examine the implementation of the working plan and work results within the framework of the total work load during a term.

Each employee will prepare a working plan in cooperation with his/her superior each year. In preparing the working plan consideration will be given to the person’s participation in teaching, research and other tasks. For professors the maximum for contact teaching is 141 hours during an academic year.

A unit’s working plans should be coordinated so that each person in turn will have an opportunity for a research period free from teaching and administrative work.

The working plan should take into consideration longer leaves of absence that can have significance for the content of the working plan. If a new task that cannot be considered part of tasks according to the working plan is agreed in the middle of the academic year, the working plan must be changed in this respect.

Total working time experiment during academic years 1 August 2026–31 July 2027 and 1 August 2027–31 July 2028

The parties emphasise the importance of work plans in the planning of university work, the management of one’s own work and the appropriate distribution of work. The principles, recommendations and guidelines concerning work plans vary by university and unit. Where necessary, the local parties shall establish jointly agreed principles by concluding a local agreement.

If the university has not concluded a local agreement on the principles of work plans, or if the local parties disagree on whether there is a need to reform the practices of the university or one of its units, the university or its unit shall try out the new approach to total working time for at least two academic years. During the total working time experiment, the principles concerning work plans and maximum number of contact teaching hours will not be complied with.

Teaching tasks include various forms of teaching and guidance regardless of how they are organised, their preparation and finalisation, joint teaching by teachers, field courses, laboratory teaching, development of teaching, and the development and utilisation of new learning environments.

The following maximum range percentages will apply to teaching tasks:

50–70% of total working time per academic year in a teaching-centred position may be comprised by teaching tasks.
10–40% of a professor’s total working time per academic year may be comprised by teaching tasks. If the supervision of doctoral dissertations is considered a teaching task at the university, the number of teaching tasks may be 10 percentage points higher.
In teaching positions that do not include research, teaching tasks may account for 70–90% of the total working time per academic year.

According to the Appendix research tasks generally account for 30–70% of a professor’s total working time. When drawing up work plans for professors, it must be ensured that they have sufficient time to perform the tasks specified for professors in the Universities Act. During the forthcoming collective agreement periods, the parties will monitor how effective the local practices and agreements concerning work plans are, as well as the experiences and observations gained from the total working time experiment.

Annual holiday

Those persons who are subject to the working time regulations for teaching and research personnel are subject to regulations concerning annual holiday in universities’ collective agreement only with regard to holiday pay. Holiday pay is paid in connection with July salary. Holiday pay is determined according to the salary that the person in question receives in June.

Holiday pay for a salaried employee is:

– 4% of the salary for the month preceding the month in which holiday pay is paid times the number of full months on which holiday pay is based if the employee has been employed by the present employer or another university for less than a year at the end of the year on which holiday pay is based.
– 5% of the salary for the month preceding the month in which holiday pay is paid times the number of full months on which holiday pay is based if the employee has been employed by the same employer, another Finnish university or research institute comparable to a university or university hospital for at least a year.
– 6% of the salary for the month preceding the month in which holiday pay is paid times the number of full months on which holiday pay is based if the employee before the beginning of the holiday period (no later than 31 May) has been in employment entitling the employee to holiday pay for at least fifteen years.

In calculating the 15-year employment period full-time employment will be taken into account:

1. in the service of the employing university
2. in the service of another Finnish universityin the service of the Finnish state, excluding time in military service or alternate service, crisis management and peacekeeping tasks or leave other than sick leave or family leave according to Chapter 4 section 1 of the
3. Employment Contracts Act
4. in the service of another employer in Finland or abroad in tasks insofar as these are of essential benefit in performing the employee’s tasks.

At the start of employment an employee must list previous work experience that the employee wants to be taken into account in granting annual holiday benefits.

Sick leave

An employee has the right to miss work if he/she is unable to perform tasks because of disability owing to sickness or a handicap or injury. The matter must be reported immediately to the employer.

The paid part of sick leave is as follows:

Length of employment	Maximum length of sick leave
under 1 month	1+9 weekdays, 50% of salary
1 month – less than 1 year	40 calendar days a year and after that 75% of salary up to a maximum of 365 calendar days
1 year – less than 5 years	50 calendar days a year and after that 75% of salary up to a maximum of 365 calendar days
5 years –	60 calendar days a year and after that 75% of salary up to a maximum of 365 calendar days

If an employee transfers from one university to another university or a research institute comparable to a university or a university hospital, previous work experience will be taken into account in the length of employment in calculating the paid part of sick leave.

The days known as calculated annual holiday shall not count towards the paid periods of 40, 50, 60 and 90 calendar days referred to in sections 5, 8 and 9 of this chapter for an employee who is not covered by the annual holiday regulations of this collective agreement, but the period of calculated annual holiday shall be included in the maximum period of 365 calendar days. The right of staff who are not entitled to annual holiday to a per diem allowance under the Sickness Insurance Act shall not be assigned to the employer for the period known as calculated annual holiday beginning on 16 June.

Family leave

An employee who has the right to maternal leave according to the Health Insurance Act will be paid salary for a period of 72 weekdays from the beginning of maternity leave.

An employee who has the right to paternal leave according to the Health Insurance Act will be paid salary for a period of 6 weekdays from the beginning of paternity leave.

Starting from August 1, 2022, an employee, who has the right to a pregnancy allowance according to the Health Insurance Act, shall be paid salary from the beginning of the pregnancy allowance period for the duration of 40 days.

Starting from August 1, 2022, an employee, who has the right to a parenthood allowance according to the Health Insurance Act, shall be paid salary during the parenthood allowance period for the first 32 weekdays.

Prerequisite for this is that the employment relationship of the employee has lasted without a break for the minimum of three months. The new parental daily allowances will be paid, if the expected date of delivery of your child is September 4, 2022, the earliest.

An employee has the right to temporary care leave to arrange care for or take care of a child who is under the age of ten or disabled or has a chronic illness who suddenly falls ill for up to four working days at a time. The employee will be paid salary for temporary care leave, up to a maximum of four working days.

An employee has the right to temporary unpaid leave from work if his/her presence is necessary as a result of an unforeseeable and pressing reason due to illness or an accident involving his/her family.

An employee may receive unpaid care leave until a child reaches the age of three.

An employee who has worked for the same employer for a total of at least six months during the past 12 months can receive partial care leave to care for his/her child or some other child living permanently in his/her household until the child’s second year of elementary school ends.

Kela provides many benefits for families with children.

Other absences

Paid days off:

50th and 60th birthdays
own wedding day and registration of partnership day
day of a close relative’s funeral
maximum of one day owing the death of a family member
sickness of a family member besides a child who is under the age of ten or disabled if leave is necessary to arrange or provide care
call-up day