TEK – Your guide to working life
TRADE UNIONS – YOUR
SUPPORT IN WORKING LIFE
In Finland, membership of a trade union is a legal
right and commonly accepted. Over 75 % of Finnish
people belong to a trade union, a number that is
one of the highest in the world. Membership of a
union is like having an insurance — it provides you
with protection for your future.
The purpose of unionisation has always been to
look after the general good of the employed work
force. Unionisation supports employees in the
achievement of their goals. The more members a
union has, the more power it has when promoting
the objectives of its members.
AT YOUR SERVICE
These days, however, unions are dedicated to
serving their members more thoroughly. TEK offers
many services and benefits to its members and
creates opportunities for social interaction. These
include legal consulting, career services and a
variety of discounts. TEK members can also join the
IAET-kassa unemployment fund (EUR 78 per year,
as of 2014). As a student member, you can use most
of these benefits as well, and as they are included
in the membership fee, you use them for free.
In this short guide, we will walk you through the
Finnish labour market, the most important things
you should know when finding a job and working in
Finland, and tell you more about TEK. As a student,
you can join TEK for free using the form found on the
last page.
TEK
Academic Engineers and Architects in Finland TEK is one of the
unions representing highly educated professionals, including
70 % of working academic engineers. Members also include
physicists, mathematicians, IT specialists and students.
Constantly growing, TEK today has approximately 73,000
members, of which 30 % are student members. You can find
more information at www.tek.fi/en.
AKAVA
TEK is a member union of Akava - the Confederation of
Unions for Professional and Managerial Staff in Finland.
Akava is a trade union confederation for those with university,
professional or other high-level education. Akava consists of
35 affiliates and 585,000 professionals as members. Further
reading at www.akava.fi/en.
BENEFICIAL
DECISIONS FOR YOU
The cornerstones of the Finnish labour market
are negotiation and collective bargaining. Both
employers and employees in Finland are very well
organised. Before signing your contract, you should
take into consideration that there usually are
agreements, which may affect your employment
At the national level, negotiations concerning
labour legislation are conducted between the
government and the representatives of employees’
and employers’ organisations - the system is a
tripartite system. In the past, this process has led
to agreements on maternity and paternal leave,
tax relief, unemployment benefit and many other
aspects of working life. The settlements are very
broad and serve as guidelines for industry level
collective bargaining.
At the industry level, trade unions and the
employers’ associations negotiate agreements
regarding a specific industry. These terms and
conditions are called collective agreements. The
negotiating parts create rules for these industries
so that individual wage earners do not have to
negotiate for the same issues. The collective
agreement defines, for example, the minimum
salary, holiday bonuses and reimbursements of
travelling expenses. Trade unions have achieved
significant results in collective bargaining. General
pay raises, increased working conditions and
flexible working hours to mention a few.
Government
Collective agreements are applied if the employer
belongs to an employers’ association or if the
agreement is generally binding. Generally binding
means that the majority of companies in the
industry belong to an employers’ association and
even those companies that do not belong to one are
obligated to apply the agreement for that industry. Employees’ Organisations Tripartite System Employers’ Organisations
Roughly 70 % of industries apply a collective
agreement.
When you negotiate about your own contract with
an employer, collective agreements are there to
guide you and your employer through the contract.
Take into account that if your employer does not
have to apply a collective agreement, you need to Trade Unions Collective Agreement Industry
pay even greater attention to what you are signing.
At the local level, employee representatives can
also make local agreements to create guidelines
that cover the work force of a company, thus also
affecting you.
For more information about collective agreements
and what they include, visit www.ytn.fi. Shop Steward Local Agreement Employer
Employee Employment Contract Employer
TOGETHER WE ARE MORE
One of TEK’s roles is to take part in national and
shop floor bargaining. TEK plays a big role in
the collective bargaining as a key negotiator for
academic engineers and architects.

Bargaining takes place through organisations

dedicated to the matter. YTN is responsible for
the employee side of negotiations with the private
sector and JUKO handles negotiations with the
public sector. Both of these organisations are
formed from trade unions that belong to Akava.
TEK, representing experts in technology, takes part
in technology-related industries and in all other
areas in which its members work.

At the local level, YTN also trains shop stewards.

Shop stewards are there to help you with any work-
related issues at your work place.

More information about collective bargaining,

YTN and JUKO can be found at www.ytn.fi and
www.juko.fi/en.
FINDING A JOB IN FINLAND
In Finland it is common to hire trainees for
summer. Most engineering and architecture
students even write their Master’s Thesis for a
company while working there. Working helps you
gain valuable practical experience. Also, it allows
you to learn about various employers and working
life, in general. Finnish employers allow you to
work independently and may trust you with similar
duties they give their full-time staff.
TEEKKARIN TYÖKIRJA
Teekkarin työkirja is a job-seeking guide for
students published annually by TEK in collaboration
with the career and recruitment services of the
technological universities in Finland. Turn to it for
all the most important job seeking tips: CV and
cover letter models, salary recommendations, tips
on how to look for a job in Finland and a database
of Finnish employers. For more information go to
www.teekkarintyokirja.fi/en.

GO ONLINE
Most job advertisements are found online.
Do not hesitate to search for jobs on Finnish
websites. Many Finnish companies post their job
advertisements in English, even if the website itself
is in Finnish. An exhaustive list of recruitment
services and job boards can be found at
www.tek.fi/en/recruitingcompanies.

GET CONNECTED
Start building your Finnish network by getting
to know your fellow students and lecturers! Go
on company excursions and talk with employers
at recruitment fairs. Social media is a powerful
tool for networking and job hunting. Search for
interesting employers, and make sure you have an
up-to-date LinkedIn profile. Read more about social
media in job-hunting at www.teekkarintyokirja.fi/en.
REMEMBER TO
WRITE IT DOWN
Your employment contract is the basic agreement
that defines the terms and conditions of your
employment with your employer. Never work
without a contract signed before you start your job
and never sign anything you do not understand. You
can always send your contract draft to TEK and we
will check it for you. For more information, visit
www.tek.fi/en/legal-consulting.
ATTENTION TO DETAIL
As mentioned earlier, the employment contract
is usually based on the collective agreement,
commonly abbreviated as TES. These terms
in the collective agreement set the minimum
requirements and there is room for personal
negotiation. You should pay attention to what you
are about to sign and pay special attention in case
the collective agreement does not affect your
employment. Teekkarin työkirja has collected
together a list of things the employment contract
should include. Find Teekkarin työkirja online at
www.teekkarintyokirja.fi/en/employment-contract.
WHAT KIND OF SALARY
SHOULD I ASK FOR?
TEK closely follows the salaries of academic
engineers and architects in Finland. The
information collected by yearly surveys form the
basis for TEK’s salary recommendations and salary
guidance that TEK offers.
At www.tek.fi/en/salaries you will find valuable
statistics about salaries and also TEK’s own Salary
Surveyor application. With the help of Salary
Surveyor you can explore TEK’s up-to-date salary
statistics and find the right level for your salary
request in relation to your own background and the
level of the position by yourself.
Every year TEK announces its recommendations
for trainee and thesis salaries as well. At
www.teekkarintyokirja.fi/en you will find the
trainee salary recommendations for this year. The
recommendations are based on a survey among
students and their actual salaries.
ARE YOU SECURE?
Sometimes finding a job is not easy, and you may JOIN ALREADY AS A STUDENT
find yourself unemployed. Finland has a two-tier You can join IAET-kassa while you are a student.
support system that compensates for the loss of By joining as a student you start collecting
earnings due to unemployment. You can receive employment months with your summer jobs or
a basic allowance or labour market support from other employment periods. This means you can
Kela – the Social Insurance Institution of Finland, complete the 26 weeks already during your studies
or an earnings-related unemployment benefit and get the earnings-related unemployment
by belonging to an unemployment fund. The benefit. You have to be employed at the moment you
compensation from the fund is propotional to your join the fund. The fund membership fee is EUR 78
earnings and is therefore usually bigger than the for the whole year  (in 2014) or EUR 6,50 per month.
support received from Kela. To join the fund, find further information at
www.tek.fi/en/unemployment.
IAET-KASSA
IAET-kassa is the unemployment fund for members
of the Confederation of Unions for Academic
Professionals in Finland (Akava). The fund pays its
members statutory (earnings-related) benefits.
IAET-kassa is among the biggest unemployment
funds in Finland. As a member of an unemployment
fund, you are entitled to an earnings-related
allowance if you have been insured continuously
with the unemployment fund for at least 26 weeks
prior to your unemployment and have completed
26 weeks (approximately 6 months) of employment
that fulfils the fund’s employment criteria. These 26
weeks can be completed in several periods during
the last 28 months of membership. Read more
about the IAET-kassa at www.iaet.fi/en.
MEMBERSHIP CAREER SERVICES
WITH BENEFITS TEK’s CV Clinic brings our career professionals to
your campus to personally help you with your CV.
TEK offers a selection of services and benefits to The clinics are usually held during recruitment
its members. These include, for example, a variety fairs. Follow your university’s announcements for
of career services, legal consulting, professional upcoming fairs and check Teekkarin työkirja for CV
magazines and discounts. In the next pages, you and cover letter tips: www.teekkarintyokirja.fi/en.
will find a brief introduction to our services and
benefits. Find more information online at When you are close to graduating or if you have
www.tek.fi/en/services-and-benefits. already graduated, please check what other career
services we have to offer:
www.tek.fi/en/careerservices.
LEGAL CONSULTING
Our work-related legal consulting is a valuable
benefit. Normally, a two-hour consultation with
a private legal specialist can cost more than
EUR 400, but as a member of TEK this service is
included in the membership fee (0 € for students).
Find more information about legal consulting at
www.tek.fi/en/legal-consulting.

As a member you will have legal expenses and

liability insurance for legal proceedings, if you fill
the criteria. In case you would need this insurance,
find our contact information at above-mentioned
website.

TEK’s legal services also offer access to Virtual

Lawyer service, a legal data bank that would
normally cost EUR 240 annually. The service
offers free basic legal knowledge to support daily
business. This is a great service for entrepreneurs.
More information is available at
www.tek.fi/en/virtual-lawyer.
MEMBER DISCOUNTS
TEK offers many member discounts on insurances,
holidays and on numerous other things. Find the
discounts for TEK members at
www.tek.fi/en/member-discounts..

Jäsenedut.fi is a portal with a huge number of

discounts available to members of TEK and other
professional organisations. At the moment, the
portal is only in Finnish. Register yourself at
www.jasenedut.fi.

All members will also receive the TEK magazine

and can order the members’ calendar in Finnish.

HELSINKI TIMES
Get the Helsinki Times, a weekly newspaper in
English, for a free trial period of three months.
Just cross the box on your registration form to
use the offer. This offer is only available for new
international TEK members. After the trial period,
you can choose if you want to continue with the
order for our member price of EUR 49 per year. You
can also find the Helsinki Times online at
www.helsinkitimes.fi.
FIND US ON YOUR CAMPUS CONTACT US
TEK has a strong presence on your campus, too. We are here for you. If you have any work-related
Each campus has its own regional Student Liaison questions do not hesitate to contact us.
by TEK and each guild and student organisation has
its own contact person. These people, who are also teekkari@tek.fi
students themselves, help you with work-related Tel. (09) 2291 2218
issues. Find your campus contact person at
www.tek.fi/en/on-campus. Facebook: Teekkarit
Tekniikan akateemiset TEK
Teekkaris* have rich traditions and unique symbols
to be proud of. Overalls, the teekkari cap, sitsit*, Twitter: @TEK_akateemiset
jäynäs* – all of them make our teekkaris as brilliant
as they are. TEK supports student culture in LinkedIn: Tekniikan akateemiset TEK
cooperation with the local student organisations.
TEK also publishes songbooks and arranges the
annual national jäynä competition. Find out more Please remember to keep your membership
about the student traditions at www.tek.fi/en/ information up-to-date. Go to
students. www.tek.fi/en/membership-information.

*Teekkari = Engineering or architecture student –

the latter also called arkkari
*Jäynä = Prank or practical joke to thrill both the maker and
the target
*Sitsit = Academic table party, full of joy of singing, eating
and drinking together
TEK MAKES AN IMPACT
Finland’s economy leans on technology, innovations
and world-class education. As an expert in
technology, TEK has a strong interest in what kind
of policies and structures we have for innovation,
technology and education.
TEK promotes innovations and technology for
the benefit of people, environment and society.
We believe that world-class education and
competencies of individuals brings prosperity not
only to the individual, but the society in general.
In addition to labour market safeguarding, TEK also
actively participates in the development of higher
education. This is done in close collaboration with
higher education institutions, political authorities,
representatives of working life and other relevant
stakeholders.
One of the practical tools used for monitoring the
quality of engineering education is a graduate
feedback survey on the newly graduated M.Sc.
engineers and architects. TEK and the Finnish
universities of higher engineering education have
conducted a joint feedback survey on a national
scale for graduates since 2011.
TEK also regularly collects data on topics such
as continuing professional development, labour
market status, salary level and unemployment.
This data forms the basis for all lobbying and work
on policy influencing.
 HIGH-FIVE – THE TOP 5
REASONS TO JOIN TEK

Join TEK and

1
IT’S COMPLETELY FREE!
As a student, you use many of our services for free!

become one of us!

2
LEGAL CONSULTING
Our lawyers have got your back! Contact us if you Fill the form with clear capital letters. Your Finnish social security number is needed for tax authorities,
have any concerns about working life. postal address services, TEK’s online services, and to help with identification when logging into TEK’s
services. If you do not have Finnish social security number yet, please contact member@tek.fi as soon as
Yes, I will join TEK as a student member you get one. Social security numbers are collected within the terms of the Finnish Personal Data Act 13 §.

3 CAREER SERVICES Personal identity code Surname First names

CV clinics, career and job seeking events and Street address Telephone
lectures.
Postal code City Email address

4
University Degree program Starting date of studies
WIDE RANGE OF DISCOUNTS
Discounts on insurances, magazines, holidays and
much more. Study / Bachelor Master
You can also join at www.tek.fi/en/join

5
Place and date Signature
NEGOTIATIONS MADE EASY FOR YOU
By being a member of TEK you support the
employee side in the negotiations of collective
agreements and the development of labour
legislation. I want to have Helsinki Times for a trial period starting from the next issue and ending at the end of the year 2014.

Everyone studying for his/her first academic engineering, architecture or equivalent science degree in Finland can join TEK as a student member.
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