Membership fee discounts in different life situations

Membership fee discount terms and conditions

Your membership fee discount is calendar month-specific. The discount can be granted for full calendar months when the member does not receive any salary income, entrepreneurial income or comparable income or for some other reason has a very low income. Residence abroad, full-time studies, military service or civilian service and family leave, job alternation leave and official leave also make you eligible for the discount. A member is not entitled to a discount over the averaging period of any severance package. If the end date is not known, by default, the discount can be granted for six calendar months, but no longer than until the end of the year.

The membership fee discount is granted for each year only if the membership fees for previous years have been paid.
You do not need to provide the required certificates as an attachment to the application, but the documents must be presented separately upon request.
Before processing, the member may be requested to send additional information regarding the application.
The discount is granted for full calendar months. If the end date for the grounds for discount is not known, by default, the discount can be granted for six calendar months, but no longer than until the end of the year.
After processing, the discount decision will be sent to the applicant via mail. A potential corrected membership fee invoice will also be delivered with the discount decision.
All changes related to the membership payment discount must be immediately reported to the Union’s Customer Service.
The amount of the discount is EUR 20 for family leave and EUR 14 for other grounds of discount.
The discounted membership fee for Tietoala ry members is EUR 12 per month for family leave and EUR 18 per month for other grounds of discount(including the unemployment fund’s membership fee if the member is a member of the unemployment fund through the Union of Professional Engineers in Finland).
The membership fee discount must always be applied for by December 31 of the year in question.

Members are always personally responsible for paying their reduced membership fee. If your employer is in charge of collecting your membership fee at the time of your discount application, the collection is terminated by notifying the department of salary calculation and the Union of Professional Engineers in Finland. You can check the final day of collection from your salary receipts.

Member pages

Grounds for discount

Full-time studies

You can apply for a membership fee discount when you start your studies.

Required certificate:

For the application, you must have a certificate stating the duration of your studies. For example, a copy of the educational institution’s attendance certificate or a photo of it is sufficient proof. The proof does not need to be submitted as an attachment to the application, but it may be requested separately.

Unemployment and lay-offs

You can apply for a membership fee discount if you find yourself unemployed or are laid off full-time for at least one calendar month. If you have received redundancy compensation or other compensation related to the termination of the employment relationship, you are not entitled to a discount for the averaging period.

For the application, you need to have a certificate verifying the validity of the unemployment or temporary lay-off period. The Union of Professional Engineers in Finland does not receive the relevant information from, for example, your unemployment fund or the Job board. The certificate can be one of the following:

A certificate of the validity of your job search from the Job board services.
A copy of the last daily allowance payment notification.

Taking family leave

You can apply for a union membership fee discount on the grounds of family leave after receiving a daily allowance decision for the duration of the family leave from Kela. Paid family leave or partial child-care leave does not entitle you to a discount.

Required certificate:

You must take a copy or screenshot of Kela’s daily allowance decision for the application. The proof does not need to be submitted as an attachment to the application, but it can be requested separately if necessary

Staying abroad

You can apply for a membership fee discount if you travel abroad.

Required certificate:

If you have a foreign address in the membership information of the Union of Professional Engineers in Finland, a separate certificate will not be required. If not, a certificate verifying your stay abroad is required for the discount. The proof does not need to be submitted as an attachment to the application; we will request it separately if necessary. The following are accepted as proof:

A copy, photo or screenshot of the assignment agreement
Copy, photo or screenshot of the moving notification
Other similar certificate

Job alternation leave

You can apply for a membership fee discount when you have made an alternation agreement with your employer.

Required certificate:

For the application, you must have a copy of the alternation agreement, stating the duration of the job alternation leave. The proof does not need to be submitted as an attachment to the application; we will request it separately if necessary.

A picture or screenshot of the proof is also sufficient.

Very low income

You can apply for a membership fee discount if your total income is less than half of the median salary of engineers as a whole. In 2025, monthly income under EUR 2,297 is considered very low income. The income limit accounts for all gross income, such as salary income, income from business activities and benefits.

Required certificate:

A certificate verifying that your income is very low must be delivered for the application. The proof does not need to be submitted as an attachment to the application; we will request it separately if necessary:

Payslip/salary certificate
Other similar income certificate

A picture or screenshot of the proof is also sufficient.

Long-term illness

You can apply for a membership fee discount after starting your unpaid sick leave. You are not entitled to a discount for the duration of a paid sick leave.

Required certificate:

For the application, you must have a certificate stating the duration of your sick leave. It could be.

A copy or picture of Kela’s daily allowance payment notification
A copy or picture of your doctor’s certificate

Military service/civilian service

You can apply for a membership fee discount for the duration of military and civilian service.

Required certificate:

For the application, you must have a certificate stating the duration of the service. The proof does not need to be submitted as an attachment to the application; we will request it separately if necessary.

The central organization’s membership fee can be exempted for military or civilian service if the service starts during the staggered discount granted on the basis of graduation. The exemption can be granted up to the maximum duration of the staggered discount. The exemption does not apply to membership fees of membership organizations or unemployment funds.

Pensioner membership

You can become a pensioner member when you retire permanently. Pensioner membership can also be granted on the basis of temporary pension, but part-time pension does not make you eligible for a discount. The pensioner membership covers all the benefits and services of the Union of Professional Engineers in Finland. The validity of insurances is discontinued at the end of the year in which the member turns 90.