Trade Union JHL

A momentous achievement for JHL: Terms and conditions of employment improve for thousands of personal assistants

Trade Union JHL is the only trade union representing the employees in negotiations about the national collective agreement for personal assistants. This collective agreement has now become generally applicable.

The national collective agreement for personal assistants (Heta-tes) has become generally applicable. This change will bring the pay and terms and conditions of employment that are agreed in the collective agreement to about 7,000 more personal assistants. Until now this group was only guaranteed the minimum standards required by the law, so this is a significant improvement in personal assistants’ situation in the labour market.

The committee for confirming the general applicability of collective agreements decided on the matter on 6 October 2025. The change becomes effective retroactively from the first day of the current collective agreement period, 1 May 2025.

General applicability means that the collective agreement will apply to all personal assistants who work under the employer model of providing personal assistance. The employer model is the model where the person with a disability is the employer of the personal assistant.

Until now, the Heta-tes collective agreement has been normally applicable, which means that it has only applied if the employer of a personal assistant is a member of the employer association Heta – Union of the Employers of Personal Assistants in Finland (Heta Union). The normally applicable collective agreement has applied to employment relationships of about 11,000 employees. The total number of people working in this agreement sector is about 18,000.

Because more than half of the employees working in the agreement sector work for employers who are members of the Heta Union, the agreement meets the conditions for general applicability.

Many years of work bear fruit

This change is important for JHL because it is the only trade union that negotiates about the Heta-tes collective agreement with the employers’ Heta Union. JHL is also involved in negotiating those collective agreements that apply to personal assistants who work under other models of providing personal assistance.

JHL’s many years of work for improving the appreciation, recognition and terms and conditions of employment of this sector now bear fruit.

“This is significant. When both the employers and the employees are organised into their respective unions, progress is made with the terms and conditions of employment in this sector,” says JHL’s Senior Bargaining Specialist Laura Tuominen.

There is still work to do, but over the years JHL has succeeded in improving the pay and other terms and conditions of employment of personal assistants one collective agreement negotiation round at a time.

“General applicability strengthens the position of employees, as well as the position of the trade union in improving personal assistants’ terms and conditions of employment,” Tuominen comments.

There are about 40,000 personal assistants in Finland.

Personal assistance is one of the most important disability services. It is also mentioned in the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities because it is in a key role in securing independent life and autonomy of persons with disabilities.

Do you have questions about the effects of this change for example on your pay or terms and conditions of employment? Ask for more information from your regional JHL office.

Personal assistance is organised in many ways:

  • JHL and the employer association Heta Union have negotiated for over 15 years about national collective agreements for personal assistants who work under the employer model.
  • The objective has been to improve the pay and terms and conditions of employment of personal assistants as well as to meet the needs of the users of assistance.
  • Providing personal assistance is the responsibility of wellbeing services counties.
  • The employer model is the second most common way of providing personal assistance. The total number of personal assistants working under this model is about 18,000.
  • In the employer model either the person with a disability or a person acting on their behalf is the employer of the personal assistant.
  • The other ways how wellbeing service counties may provide personal assistance are outsourced services, service vouchers, and the wellbeing services counties’ own service production, which has rather small volumes so far.
  • The estimated total number of personal assistants working under different models of providing personal assistance is about 40,000.