On the 31st of March 2020, a new Collective Agreement for the financial sector was achieved after the parties involved accepted the negotiation result brought about last week. The negotiations were difficult right from the start and, towards the end, took place remotely. When the corona crisis hit Finland, achieving an agreement without delay became important for all parties.
The Collective Agreement will be valid for 25 months and includes an agreement on pay increases of 3.3% for the agreement period in line with other sectors in the country.
Pay increases will take place for the first time from the 1st of May 2020 with a 1.2% across-the-board rise.
In 2021, pay increases will take place starting on the 1st of May 2021 with a 0.45% across-the-board rise and a 1.65% pay discussion element. A different date for the pay discussion element may be agreed locally. Salaries will be developed to better correspond to the increase in the difficulty of the work in the sector.
”The difficulty of the work carried out in the financial sector has increased significantly since the qualification categorisation was compiled for the collective agreement. It is important to develop salaries in this sector so that they better correspond to today’s requirements. For this reason, full increases of minimum wages, raising the lowest salaries and paying pay discussion salary increases on top of the pay grade table rise are steps in the right direction. Work will be continued as team work during the agreement period,” says trade union Chairman Kari Ahola.
Unpaid voluntary work will be removed from the financial sector’s Collective Agreement on the 1st of July 2020 when the necessary system changes have been implemented. The impairments sought by employers, for example, to salary payment during absence due to illness, extra days off and the lengthening of working hours on Maundy Thursday and New Year’s Eve were successfully prevented.
In the new Collective Agreement, investments in the competence development of the entire personnel were agreed on. In future, a maximum of 24 hours a calendar year can be used for training in addition to regular working hours, within certain limits. These additional hours will be added to regular working hours and basic hourly wage will be paid for them, without an increment for inconvenient working hours or other bonuses.
“The investments to be made in competence development will give everyone the opportunity for continuous learning and training in an ever-changing work environment. The practical arrangements for developing competence also take into account the considerations of matching work and private life. In this regard, the stipulations of the new Collective Agreement are exceptionally good, compared to other sectors,” says Ahola.
You can find more detailed information about the contents of the Collective Agreement in Unio’s member bulletin.
For more information contact:
Chairman Kari Ahola, tel. +358 (0)50 324 1458
Executive Director Minna Ahtiainen, tel. +358 (0)50 387 7030
