TESsopimus

TESsopimus, short for työehtosopimus, is a collective agreement governing terms and conditions of employment in Finland. It is negotiated between employer associations or individual employers and trade unions representing employees, and it can cover a specific sector, industry, or a single company. The purpose of a TESsopimus is to set agreed standards that regulate pay, working hours, overtime, annual leave, holiday pay, and other core aspects of working life, often supplementing or exceeding statutory requirements.

The contents of a TESsopimus typically include wage scales or minimum pay levels, pay progression rules, working time arrangements (such as shifts and limits on weekly hours), overtime compensation, vacation entitlement and holiday pay, allowances, and terms related to recruitment, job classifications, and promotions. It may also address occupational safety and health provisions, training, apprenticeships, and terms for layoffs or retrenchment. The agreement is designed to provide predictability for both employers and employees and to help maintain industrial peace.

Signatories to a TESsopimus are generally the representative employer organizations and the relevant trade unions. In many cases, the provisions can be extended by government authorities to apply to workers in the sector who are not members of the signatory unions. A TESsopimus is usually valid for a fixed period, after which it is renegotiated, amended, or replaced. It works alongside statutory employment law, which establishes the minimum legal framework, with the TESsopimus providing sector-specific terms that may raise or refine those standards.