Trade Union JHL 2023

Youth and students

JHL is the trade union for young people and students.

Students get JHL’s membership benefits for free

You can join JHL already during your studies, even if you do not work yet. The membership of Trade Union JHL is free for full-time students.

This means that you pay nothing, but you get our extensive membership benefits. Besides security in working life, the membership in JHL offers such benefits as:

Discover all membership benefits!

Our membership and all its benefits are very reasonably priced also for those young people who go to work. JHL’s membership fee for ordinary members is the most affordable in the welfare sectors – only 1% of gross income.

Membership fee calculator

If you are working, the JHL membership fee is only one per cent (1%) of your salary. The fee includes comprehensive protection of interests and unemployment security.

€/month

Your membership fee is per month. Join JHL

Who can join JHL?

We are the most diverse trade union in Finland. Our members have about a thousand different occupations in six occupational sectors. It’s very likely that JHL is the right union for you, too!

Our six large occupational sectors are:

Join JHL!

If you’re unsure whether JHL is the union for you, you can always contact our Membership Service and ask.

You can also use social media to find out about JHL’s activities and events for young people and students. Start following the pages below to get fresh information on your feed!

We organise activities around Finland for our young members. Various regions also have their own social media channels for young people. You should also start following your own region’s page! We’ve listed the pages here:

Facebook

Instagram

Youth activities and advocacy

We organise national and regional activities that are specifically designed for young people and students. Everyone under 35 can join our youth activities. You can learn more about upcoming events in our course and event calendar.

Whether you are a young employee or a full-time student, in the trade union you join a professional community where you can network, get training and make a difference. Many get friends for life in trade union activities, and as a matter of fact, that is one of the best membership benefits that we can offer!

JHL’s Nuorisofoorumi (Youth Forum) is a path for young people to make an impact in the trade union. Any JHL member under 35 can join Nuorisofoorumi. The forum members represent various occupational sectors, educational institutions, genders and localities.

This is what Nuorisofoorumi, NuFo in short, does:

  • acts as a mouthpiece for young people in JHL
  • plans events and activities for young JHL members
  • voices its opinion on working life matters that concern young people
  • makes it clear to the trade union’s decision makers what young people think
  • functions as a link between the young members of the regions
  • examines and further develops the organisation of JHL’s youth activities both regionally and nationally, with special attention being paid to young members’ possibilities of taking action and making a difference

Nuorisofoorumi gets together 6–8 times a year to discuss these themes. As a rule, the meetings take place around Finland on weekends.

How can I become a member of Nuorisofoorumi?

The 20 Nuorisofoorumi members are appointed for two years at a time. The youth section of every region can appoint one representative. The rest of the representatives will be selected based on open-ended applications.

Keep an eye on the Finnish-speaking social media channels of JHL youth and students, Instagram and Facebook for available positions in Nuorisofoorumi! If you’re interested in NuFo membership or you’d like to learn more about it, you can also send a message to nuoret@jhl.fi.

Members of Nuorisofoorumi in 2023–2024

Southern Finland

  • Mohamud Nawal
  • Piitulainen Emma
  • Raunio Atte
  • Kuismanen Lotta
  • Koistinen Samira
  • Mountassir Jasmin
  • Kalpio Säde

Oulu area

  • Körkkö Laura

Lapland

  • Hyytinen Santtu

Eastern Finland

  • Göös Laura
  • Nevalainen Hanna-Mari

Southeast Finland

  • Metsola Elli-Noora
  • Riikonen Riikka

Southwest Finland

  • Lain Päivi

Inner Finland

  • Kuusipalo Saana
  • Puura Joni
  • Suominen Daniela

It’s great that you’re interested in making a difference and getting more involved in your trade union’s activities! We certainly welcome new people. We guarantee you’ll have lots of great experiences and make new friends!

You can become, say, a school agent, solidarity ambassador or an active in your own branch. Perhaps you’d like to join an occupational sector forum of your sector? There you can network with other star professionals of your sector and impact the union’s operations. If you’re under 35, you might be interested in Nuorisofoorumi (see the information below). Here you can check out all the ways in which to participate in JHL’s operations.

P.S. Student member, check with your teacher or another party responsible for your education whether you can earn study points for being a union active.

JHL nuoret oranssit opiskelijahaalarit päällä Stop nyt! -mielenosoituksessa helmikuussa 2024
JHL youth in the Stop Now! demonstration in February 2024

Come join the Star Professional Days in Tampere!

Fabulous evening gala, co-workers representing your sector, great fun!

In October 2024, your trade union JHL is organising a dazzling event in Tampere named Star Professional Days. It gathers together the stars of JHL’s sectors! There will be top speakers, training, first-class performers and a magnificent evening gala at only EUR 50/day! Unfortunately, no programme in English. The event is only meant for JHL members.

Sign up for the Star Professional Days (in Finnish)!

This is why you should be a trade union member

The Trade Union for the Public and Welfare Sectors JHL supports you in working life and is always on your side. Our main task is to improve and defend our members’ terms and conditions of employment. We negotiate your collective agreement. This means that we negotiate with the employer party on such things as how much you get paid.

By being in a trade union, you defend your position in working life. The more members our trade union has, the more power we have to represent all of you in workplaces and collective agreement negotiations. Together we are stronger!

Do you work full time or alongside your studies? Don’t hesitate to contact us if you encounter problems in your workplace or if you’re wondering about some other situation. We are here for you.

We defend uncompromisingly our members’ interests and rights in working life in all of our wide range of occupations. We also seek to change the working life in a positive way and promote equality and non-discrimination in working life.

If you face unemployment, we will support you. As a member of Trade Union JHL, you are insured for unemployment in the JHL Unemployment Fund.

Our membership adapts to all kinds of changes in life. Learn more.

We provide you support and security in working life and, as mentioned above, offer numerous commercial membership benefits, events and courses!

Summer job and trade union membership

Do you have a summer job? Joining the trade union is smart also if you work in the summer. See our information package and tips for a summer job!

Summer worker, join JHL!

Additional information about student membership

You can become JHL’s student member (membership fee €0) if you’re a full-time student. According to our interpretation, a full-time student

  • receives full adult education allowance from Employment Fund OR
  • is primarily at an educational institution during the day
  • is entitled to student financial aid
  • is studying for a degree
  • is not an apprenticeship or multiform-learning student
  • does not have a day job.

Are you an apprenticeship student? Please join as an ordinary member.

Join JHL!

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When you join as our student member, you should also apply for membership in the unemployment fund, even if you’re not working yet. When you start working in addition to studying, or after your studies, your unemployment fund membership will be activated. Please notify our Membership Service when you start working.

Even if you’d forget to notify us about starting work, we can also activate your unemployment fund membership retroactively if you’ve applied for fund membership proactively. When you’ve also joined as an unemployment fund member during your studies, you will automatically become our ordinary member after your studies are over.

If you’re a full-time student, the trade union membership is free of charge for you. When you work and belong to the unemployment fund, you’ll only pay the unemployment fund membership fee, which is 0.30% of your gross income. When you’re no longer a student, you’ll become JHL’s ordinary member. You will then pay a shared fee for union and fund membership, 1% of your gross income.

On this page you can join both the union and unemployment fund. The joining form enables you to choose whether you want to join the union, unemployment fund or both.

Join Trade Union JHL and the JHL Unemployment Fund!

If you’re a student and you only join the trade union but not the unemployment fund, remember to join the unemployment fund separately when you start work. In this case, unemployment fund membership cannot be activated retroactively, so please remember to join the fund as soon as you receive news of your first job!

Why is it important to join the unemployment fund?

As a member of the JHL Unemployment Fund you can get earnings-related daily allowance if you face unemployment. The allowance significantly exceeds Kela’s basic unemployment allowance. One prerequisite for being granted earnings-related daily unemployment allowance is that you’ve been an unemployment fund member for at least 26 weeks. That’s why you should join the fund immediately as you start working!

Learn more: What is the unemployment fund and why should I belong to it?

Please note! You can belong to several trade unions but only to one unemployment fund.

Notify us of your graduation date. After that date, your student membership will be converted into an ordinary membership. If necessary, you can change the date in myJHL or by contacting the Membership Service. After your studies are over, you will be sent a letter containing information about graduation and membership. Act in accordance with the letter’s instructions!

Is your contact information up to date? Update the information in myJHL!

After you’ve graduated, you must take action for your membership to remain valid:

As an ordinary member, you must pay the membership fee or notify of an exemption from paying the fee in order for your membership to remain valid.

And hey! If you’re not yet a member of the unemployment fund, join at the latest when you graduate and start working! At JHL, the shared fee for trade union and unemployment fund membership is 1% of gross income.

Questions?

If there’s anything you’re wondering about, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Questions are answered by union activities specialists Maria Helin and Anni Järvinen.

Would you like us to visit your educational institution and explain more? Read about our working life info sessions here (in Finnish).

  • Southwest Finland: Project Worker Laura Erkkonen, 050 3141 016, laura.erkkonen@jhl.fi
  • Southern Finland: Project Worker Jaana Niare, 050 328 2859, jaana.niare@jhl.fi
  • Inner Finland and Ostrobothnia: Project Worker Kalle Sumelles, 050 4479 806, kalle.sumelles@jhl.fi
  • Eastern and Southeast Finland: Project Worker Niina Ljungkvist, 050 4404 709, niina.ljungkvist@jhl.fi
  • Lapland and Oulu area: Project Worker Mari Ikonen, 050 4482 948, mari.ikonen@jhl.fi