First step taken in the labour market for the technology industry

The technology industry has taken the first step in the labour market negotiations. The boards of Technology Industries of Finland and Industrial Union have accepted Friday’s negotiation results concerning the new collective agreement for the industry’s employees. The agreement period is 25 months, with the total wage increase during the agreement period being 3.3%. Approximately 93,000 employees are within the settlement’s scope.

The primary premise of the agreement is that wage adjustments are agreed locally while taking into account the company’s circumstances. The magnitude, timing and method of wage adjustments can be agreed through local bargaining. A local wage settlement is the primary objective for both years.

If no local wage settlement is agreed, wages will be adjusted in accordance with the so-called fallback clause of the collective agreement. In this case, according to the fallback clause, the total increase of 3.3% is divided as follows: In the first agreement year, a general increase of 1.3% is applied to wages by 1 March 2020. In the second agreement year, a general increase of 1.4% is applied to wages by 1 February 2021, in addition to which the employer uses 0.6% for a company or workplace-specific element.

The 24-hour extension of working hours included in the previous agreement was removed on 31 December 2019, when Technology Industries of Finland terminated the protocol on the hours included in the Competitive Pact. However, as part of the new settlement, a working time experiment was agreed to allow agreeing on a working time extension of up to 170 hours per year through local bargaining.

In the collective agreement for technology industry employees, the extra hours of the Competitive Pact were included in a protocol that could be terminated and, unlike in other sectors, the hours were not included in the agreement framework.

The settlement that was agreed extends the scope of local bargaining so that in addition to wage adjustments, local remuneration systems can also be agreed at the workplace. Apart from a few experiments, the grading of wages has so far been based on the so-called “PARAKE” system, so this settlement is a new opening in the development of remuneration.

If you have questions, please contact Team Manager, International Services, Tiina Savolainen, email: tiina.savolainen(a)econia.com or tel. +358 44 242 4597.

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