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A new collective agreement for the construction trade

31.5.2018 Yleinen

The Finnish Construction Trade Union and the Confederation of Finnish Construction Industries RT negotiated an agreement for all the branches between the unions on 9 May 2018. The Board of Directors of the Finnish Construction Trade Union accepted the agreements on 15 May 2018, which were later also accepted in employers’ unions.

There are common issues in the agreements, entering into force with identical content in all collective agreements. In addition, branch-specific agreements only set out amendments to the collective agreement for a particular branch. Common issues included in all the agreements are explained here. Agreement amendments for the various branches are explained in branch-specific documents.

Wage settlement

All table-based pay will be increased by EUR 0.40 from the pay period starting closest to 1 June 2018, and a EUR 0.30 general increase will enter into force at the same time. The increase will be implemented so that an employees’ pay will not increase more than the general increase rate.

The amount between table-based pay and the actual salary, such as a personal pay component under the collective agreement for the construction industry, will be reduced by EUR 0.10. However, if the personal pay component paid in addition to table-based pay is EUR 0.10 smaller or has not been paid at all, the salary increase will be EUR 0.30 higher and at maximum equal the increase in table-based pay.

Performance-based pay will be increased from the same point in time. These increases and their implementation method are indicated in branch-specific documents.

The separate allowance to be paid to employees’ representatives will be increased by 3.4% for the whole agreement period, i.e. until 30 April 2020.

The next pay increase will take effect from the pay period starting closest to 1 June 2019. All table pay rates will increase by EUR 0.40, while the general increase will be EUR 0.30. The increase will be implemented in the same way as in 2018.

Self-notification procedure for reporting absences

A self-notification procedure must be agreed in companies for flu-type absences lasting no more than 3 days. The parties cannot agree that a medical certificate should always be submitted as proof of absence. The agreement should be made in writing.

If a self-notification procedure has not been agreed, the employer or its representative accepts the employee’s notification in flu-type disability in absences lasting no more than three days. In that case, the following rules are followed:

– The employee must notify their supervisor of the absence immediately or before the beginning of the shift at the latest. – If the notification has not been submitted before the beginning of the shift, sick pay will not be paid for the absence.

– For a justified cause, as in those cases where the employee has several repeated absences, the employer can request a medical certificate as proof of disability.

– The self-notification procedure is not applied during an annual leave.

The parties recommend that, when agreeing on the self-notification procedure, the local agreement should include procedures for absences caused by the temporary care of a child under 10 years old.

 Duration of the employment relationship as a criterion for a waiting day for sick pay

The duration of the employment relationship, which is the precondition for removing the waiting day, will be reduced to 6 months.

 Information submitted to shop stewards

 Information on the subcontracted and hired workforce used in the area of operation must be submitted to the chief shop steward, shop steward and occupational safety delegate in writing. The information must be available at the beginning of the work.

Joint working groups, documents and other measures

The parties agreed on different working groups for further developing the productivity of the field, for example. The earlier agreements concerning students and an introduction to working life were extended. However, the six-euro work experiment was ended because it did not produce the expected results.