National collective agreement for personal assistants

The collective agreement lays down the minimum conditions observed in the employment of disabled persons’ personal assistants when the employer is the disabled person him-/herself.

JHL negotiates the collective agreement for personal assistants so that the appreciation for this socially important job is reflected in the assistants’ pay and well-being at work. Belonging to a union gives you protection of interests, support, and security.

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Scope of the collective agreement

The national collective agreement for personal assistants mainly applies to the employer model of personal assistance, which as a rule refers to situations where the disabled person him-/herself or their representative acts as the personal assistant’s employer. The collective agreement applies when the employer has organised themselves in Heta – Union of the Employers of Personal Assistants in Finland.

The collective agreement can also be applied to personal assistants when

the employer is some other person than the disabled person him-/herself, and the disabled person has been granted compensation for hiring a personal assistant based on some other act than the Act on Services and Assistance for the Disabled (3.4.1987/380)
the employer, a disabled person or some other person, bears the costs incurred for hiring a personal assistant.

The collective agreement does not apply to

assistants who work for service housing units or similar organisations that produce service housing, or to
assistants who are employed by municipalities
the employment relationships subject to the collective agreement for the private social services sector, the collective agreement of the employers’ association Avaintyönantajat AVAINTA ry or the general collective agreement for municipal personnel.