Personnel representatives (HED) roles

A shop steward is elected to a company that is organized in an employer union or has its own collective agreement. The term varies slightly from one collective agreement to another.

In their employment relationship with their employer, shop stewards are in the same position as other employees. A shop steward is obligated to comply with the general terms and conditions of employment, working hours, supervisory orders and workplace regulations. A shop steward’s salary and employee benefits may not be reduced due to a position of trust. In addition, a shop steward’s earnings development must correspond to the company’s general earnings development, and their opportunities to develop and advance in their profession must not be weakened due to the position.

A shop steward has better protection against dismissal than other employees. The employer may only dismiss the employee for a particularly compelling reason in accordance with the grounds and procedures required by law.   The collective agreements generally  contain provisions on the grounds  and procedures for the termination of the employment contract as well as damages. Compensation for unjustified termination of the shop steward’s employment contract is generallyan amount equivalent to 6–36 months’ salary.

YTN, in the private sector, and JUKO, in the public sector, organize training for shop stewards on labor legislation, the interpretation of collective agreements and the handling of negotiation situations, as well as work community development activities.  Personnel representatives of the Association of IT sector Employees may also participate in training organized by YTN. The unions have agreed that  shop stewards may participate in training during working hours. There may be differences in training agreements based on collective agreements, so you should check your own collective agreement.

It is important that the shop steward receives sufficient information from the employer to carry out their duties. Necessary information may include, for example, recordings of working hours and annual holidays and the company’s salary statistics. The collective agreement may include the shop steward’s right to information.

If possible, the employer must arrange a workspace for the shop steward, such as a separate room, in which confidential discussions can be held without disturbance, if necessary. The shop steward must also have access to email and the Internet.

A shop steward is entitled to be released from their duties to carry out their duties of trust. The exemption granted may be specified in the collective agreement or agreed separately.  The personnel  representative is entitled to compensation, the amount of which depends on the number of employees represented.  Compensationis specified in more detail in the collective agreement.

The shop stewards belonging to the Union of Professional Engineers in Finland are always also shop stewards of their negotiating organizations, because the negotiating organizations act as signatories to the collective agreements. In the private sector and in universities of applied sciences, shop stewards are shop stewards of the Federation of Professional and Managerial Staff YTN, and in the public sector, shop stewards are shop stewards of the negotiation organization for Public Sector Professionals JUKO, except for municipalities, wellbeing services counties and employer’s association Avaintyönantajat Avainta ry, where the shop stewards represent the association Tekniikka ja Terveys KTN.

Link to YTN’s website.
Link to JUKO’s website (only in Finnish).

KTN no longer has its own website. If you have any questions, please contact the Union of Professional Engineers in Finland’s Customer Service.

An employee representative may be elected if the group of personnel does not have a shop steward elected on the basis of the collective agreement.

A certain group of personnel of an employer company may not have the opportunity to elect a shop steward in accordance with the collective agreement. This may be due to the fact that the personnel group does not have an applicable collective agreement. In such cases, the said employees may elect an employee representative from among themselves under the Employment Contracts Act.

An employee representative is secondary to a shop steward elected on the basis of the collective agreement and their field of duties is generally narrower. The provisions of the collective agreement concerning shop stewards also do not apply to the employee representative, unless otherwise agreed at the workplace.

In their employment relationship with their employer, the employee representative is in the same position as other employees. The employee representative is obligated to comply with the general terms and conditions of employment, working hours, supervisory regulations and workplace regulations. The employee representative has better protection against dismissal than other employees. The employer may only dismiss the employee for a particularly compelling reason in accordance with the grounds and procedures required by law.

The task of the employee representative is to carry out the duties of the employee representative laid down in labor legislation. In addition, employees may, by a separate majority decision, authorize an employee representative to represent them also in matters concerning employment relationships and working conditions specified in the decision in question. A decision on this can already be made when the employee representative is elected.

The duties of the employee representative do not include monitoring compliance with the collective agreement, nor can an employee representative conclude a local agreement based on a universally binding collective agreement that reduces the benefits of employees arising from mandatory legislation.

In the private sector, YTN offers training specifically aimed at specifically aimed at employee representatives.

If at least 10 employees work regularly at the workplace, they must elect an occupational safety and health representative from among themselves. If a shop steward, according to the collective agreement, or an employee representative, in accordance with the Employment Contracts Act, has been elected for the workplace, the occupational safety and health representative only represents the employees in matters concerning occupational health and safety, unless the same person has been elected to act in both duties.

The occupational safety and health representative is in the same position as the other employees in their employment relationship with their employer. They are obliged to comply with the general terms and conditions of employment, working hours, supervisory regulations and workplace regulations. The employer may not, without a valid reason, refuse to release the occupational safety and health representative from their regular work for such a reasonable time as they need to carry out the duties of the occupational safety and health representative.

The employer must compensate the occupational safety and health representative for the loss of earnings caused by the performance of occupational health and safety duties during working hours. The employer must pay reasonable compensation for necessary tasks concerning occupational health and safety performed outside working hours that the occupational safety and health representative has notified to the employer or its representative.

The employer must ensure that the occupational safety and health representative and deputy representative have the  opportunity to receive appropriate training in matters related to occupational health and safety and instructions as well as other matters related to the management of their tasks. The training may also be specified in more detail in the collective agreement. YTN offers training focused on occupational health and safety activities.

For the performance of their duties, the occupational safety and health representative has the right to obtain from the employer such documents and lists that the employer must keep in accordance with the regulations on occupational health and safety. They also have the right to access statements and research results concerning the health and safety of work and to receive copies of all the documents referred to above. This also applies to the agreement between the employer and the provider of occupational health care services concerning the organization of occupational health care or description prepared by the employer on occupational health care it organizes itself and the operational plan of the occupational health care.

The occupational safety and health representative has the same protection against termination of the employment contract as the shop steward and employee representative.

More information on the duties of the occupational health and safety representative is available on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s website.

If the employer employs at least 150 people, the employees have the right to elect from among themselves a personnel representative in administration or representatives who participate in the processing of important issues concerning the employer’s business, finances and the position of the personnel in the employer’s administrative bodies. The aforementioned administrative body must have effective decision-making powers in the company.

The regulations concerning the personnel representative in administration are part of the Co-operation Act. The key task of the personnel representative in administration is to bring the personnel’s business perspective to the company’s administration. In principle, the personnel representative in administration has the same rights and obligations as the other members of the administrative body. However, the processing of certain matters is excluded from the jurisdiction of the personnel representative in administration. These include the selection and dismissal of the company’s management, the management’s contractual terms, the terms of employment of the personnel and industrial action measures.

The administrative representation of the personnel must primarily be agreed between the employer and the personnel. The agreement must be made in writing and may be valid for a fixed term or indefinitely. If the matter concerns a Group and the parties referred to above in each company agree, the administrative representation of the personnel can be carried out on a group-specific basis.

Personnel representatives have the right to have sufficient exemption from their work duties for performing the representative’s duties and for cooperation training. The employer must compensate for the loss of earnings caused by the exemption from work. The personnel representative in administration has the same dismissal protection as a shop steward or an employee representative.

The European Works Council (EWC) must be established in a company with a total of at least 1,000 employees in the European Economic Area and at least 150 employees in at least two companies. The EWC representative represents the employees in the European Works Council. A separate agreement is usually made on the activities of the European Works Council, according to which its activities are organized.

The duties of the EWC representative include participating in the informing and consultation of employees and providing the employer with a reasoned and joint opinion on matters together with representatives from other countries. In addition, they represent all employees and employee groups in their country. The EWC representative must be familiar with the labor market situation and working conditions in their country in order to carry out their duties. The representative maintains contact with other representatives and provides information on the situation in their own country to others, if necessary.

The EWC representative shall be trained to the extent necessary for the performance of their duties in an international environment. Representatives have the right to receive sufficient release from their work for the performance of their duties and training. The right to training should be agreed in more detail with the employer.

An EWC representative has the same dismissal protection as a shop steward or an employee representative.