What if you fell ill for three months?
It is precisely for situations like these that trade unions negotiate terms in collective agreements that go beyond statutory requirements. The employment terms negotiated by unions ensure, among other things, better sick pay than is required by law.
Anyone can find themselves on extended sick leave. A serious illness or accident can keep you away from work for weeks or even months. When dealing with health concerns, financial security is particularly important. One of the most significant benefits negotiated by trade unions is sick pay that extends beyond the period required by law.
The law only guarantees minimum protection
Under the Finnish Employment Contracts Act, employees are entitled to full sick pay for the day on which they fall ill and the following nine weekdays. Without the extended period of paid sick leave provided by a collective agreement, an employer’s obligation to pay wages could therefore end after just ten days or so. After that, employees would generally have to rely on sickness allowance from Kela, the Social Insurance Institution of Finland, which is typically lower than their regular salary.
The financial protection provided by a collective agreement can therefore be extremely significant.
Collective agreements provide significant additional benefits
Thanks to collective agreements, many workplaces offer paid sick leave for considerably longer than the statutory minimum. For example, under the collective agreement for senior salaried employees in the chemical industry, sick pay may be paid for up to three months. This provides substantial financial security when life unexpectedly brings an extended period of sick leave.
In practice, it would be very difficult for an individual employee to negotiate equivalent benefits on their own. Employers are required to treat employees equally and cannot offer one employee better terms than another without justified grounds.
This is why collectively negotiated employment terms are so valuable. The benefits included in collective agreements have already been negotiated for everyone covered by the agreement.
Union membership makes better employment terms possible
Employment terms, however, are subject to repeated negotiations. Maintaining existing benefits therefore also requires ongoing effort. As a member of Loimu, you help ensure that collective agreements continue to provide employment terms that go beyond statutory requirements.
The benefits provided by a collective agreement can be worth thousands of euros. A collective agreement is indeed one of the best forms of insurance against life’s unexpected setbacks.