A €20 pay raise is in the works for staff from August 2014.

The collective agreement negotiations for universities came to a conclusion on 25 October. The new agreement will be valid from 1 April 2014 to 31 January 2017, and complies with the Pact for Employment and Growth negotiated by the labour market confederations in August.

The recent negotiations pertained to the salaries for the first two years of the term of the collective agreement. A €20 base salary increase will be implemented on 1 August 2014. The increase will be reflected in the portion of the salary which is based on personal performance. One year later, on 1 August 2015, a 0.4% increase will be implemented for the base salaries of teaching and research staff. For other staff, the general increase will be 0.3%.

“For university units, having the agreement be in line with the national policy provides stability”, states Director of Human Resources Kira Ukkonen, who was closely involved in the negotiations as a university representative. “These conservative increases mean that any plans made for the coming year can safely be implemented.”

Qualifying period for sickness during annual leave abolished

The agreement on annual leave will be amended due to changes in the Annual Holidays Act. The new agreement on annual leave will enter into force on 1 April 2014.

The qualifying period for sickness during annual leave will be abolished, meaning that employees can transfer their annual leave due to inability to work. If an employee falls ill during his or her holiday, he or she is entitled to transfer the holiday with no qualifying days required. Currently the holiday can only be transferred if the sickness continues for more than seven days.

The holiday can also be transferred if the inability to work is known before the holiday begins. To request a transfer of the leave, the employee must present a doctor’s certificate or another reliable proof specified by the employer.

Text: Tiina Palomäki