Radio | News week in plain Finnish | Sunday 2.11.2025

Local agreements at workplaces

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Local agreement at workplaces

The topic of the news week is local bargaining in workplaces.

At the beginning of this year, a new way of agreeing on employment terms was introduced in Finland.

Local bargaining gives people the opportunity to agree on working conditions directly at the workplace.

We will now explain what local agreement means and how this possibility has been used in Finland.

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Many work issues can be agreed upon through local agreements. Photo: Esa Syväkuru / Yle

Employers’ Association

Previously, local agreements were only possible in companies that belonged to an employers’ association.

Now, even companies that are not members of an employers’ association can enter into agreements with employee representatives.

The purpose is that the employer and employees can agree together on, for example, working hours, breaks and holidays.

Surprise

In Finland, it was expected that hundreds or even thousands of new contracts would be signed at workplaces after the change.

However, the impact of the change has been limited. So far, only 92 notifications of new local agreements have been made in Finland.

Experts say the small number of contracts is a surprise.

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Local agreements can be made on, for example, days off. Photo: Jarkko Riikonen / Yle

Meal breaks and work shifts

Local agreements have been made, for example, on the length of the meal break, whether the break is working time, the schedule of salary increases, and how working hours are organized.

In some companies, work shifts are now longer than before. This means there are more days off than before.

Workplaces have also agreed on, for example, the postponement of public holidays and the accumulation of holidays.

Kempower

Electrical equipment company Kempower is one of the companies that has used local contracting.

At Kempower’s Lahti factory, employee and employer representatives have negotiated, for example, about the working time bank and holidays.

The employer and employees say that the negotiations have sought solutions that are good for both parties.

Local agreements are not easy in all sectors. Some collective agreements have restrictions on what can be agreed upon in the workplace.

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At the Kempower factory, local agreements have been made on, for example, working time banks and holidays. Photo: Esa Syväkuru / Yle

Trust

Experts say that one reason for the low use of local agreements is that workplaces do not yet know how to agree on things together.

Local agreements require trust and open discussion between employer and employees.

Repetition

The topic of the news week was local bargaining in workplaces.

The new rule gives companies and employees the opportunity to agree on many things directly.

However, few such agreements have been concluded.

This was a news week in plain Finnish. See you again, let’s hear from you!