The collective agreement for universities includes a responsible salary result and a family leave reform

The collective bargaining parties have reached the general collective agreement for universities. The board of the Finnish Union of University Professors accepted the bargaining result earlier this week. The agreement covers the period of April 1, 2022 – March 31, 2024. The collective agreement may be declared to be terminated by March 31, 2023, if the parties are unable to reach a settlement on the wage raises for the year 2023 by January 31, 2023.  

The salary results for the year 2022 are responsible. The general raise of 1.45 per cent will be given on June 1, 2022, and a local lot 0.45 per cent on December 1, 2022. The local lot will be given using the employer’s discretion to the job-specific pay components together with job-requirement addition, or to the individual pay.

“In the particularly exceptional circumstances, we maintained a responsible attitude and settled for a moderate salary result”, asserts Jukka Heikkilä, the Chair of the Finnish Union of University Professors. 

The laws concerning the family leave reform will come into effect in the beginning of August, and the reform has been embedded into the collective agreement for universities. The employee will receive a paid maternity allowance for a 40-day period now with the additional paid 32-day parental leave for both parents. The family leave reform will be funded by changing the holiday allowance. If the employment relationship ends for reasons related to the employee, such as giving his/her notice, only a half of the holiday allowance will be paid. 

”The universities wanted to agree on the family leave reform, and by doing this, better the equal and family friendly university community”, states Tarja Niemelä, the Executive Director of the Union. Niemelä serves as the chair of JUKOs University Advisory Board and took part in the bargaining.