Free legal aid brings security in working life – read about victories that JHL has achieved for its members
We support and defend our members also when disagreements cannot be resolved through negotiation. Trade Union JHL has helped its members for example in a case where the court ordered the employer to pay millions of euros of unpaid salaries to employees.
We want to take a good care of our members. We are there at your workplace, and we handle things efficiently. We listen to you and agree with you on how we should proceed in your matter together.
Our free legal aid is an important benefit of JHL’s membership. If a problem arises, the first step is that you bring it to the attention of your supervisor or manager. If the matter is not resolved that way, contact your shop steward.
If an agreement can still not be found, the shop steward can contact your regional office. If the attempts to resolve a disagreement at the workplace fail, your union branch can apply for legal aid. Legal aid is always subject to discretion. The trade union will evaluate whether a case qualifies for legal aid.
Legal action and the union’s strength in representation of interests have brought financially significant victories to our members: up to tens of thousands of euros for individual members, or seven-figure sums in total for a group of employees.
JHL’s legal aid has no upper limit for the costs
If the legal aid is granted to you, it covers the legal costs, and there is no deductible that you need to pay yourself. This means that there is no financial risk for you. JHL’s legal aid also has no upper limit for the costs. This is an exceptionally good membership benefit. We will pursue the case as far as possible if JHL’s experts consider that it’s sensible from the legal point of view.
The costs paid by the trade union vary depending on each case and the type of the case. In practice, even the smallest costs are in the order of 5,000 euros.
If the case is processed first in a district court and then in a court of appeal, the costs can be ten times higher. The biggest legal costs for the union have been well over 100,000 euros when a legal battle has concerned more than one member.
JHL has achieved significant legal victories for its members.
Working time, not stand-by – huge compensations for rescue service employees
In the end of the year 2024, the Labour Court of Finland ordered the city of Kuopio to pay huge compensations in a case that concerned working times of rescue services personnel. The city was ordered to pay more than 4.6 million euros of unpaid salaries to employees of the Rescue Department of North Savo.
No deductible for the member to pay
JHL’s legal aid will cover the member’s legal costs without a deductible and with no upper limit for the costs. JHL will pay the legal fees, the general fee for court proceedings, and the costs of taking of evidence.
If you lose the case, the union will pay the legal costs ordered by the court on your behalf. If the court orders the counterparty to pay the member’s legal costs, the sum will be paid to the union as compensation for its legal aid.
If a case is settled, the costs and compensations will be agreed on in the settlement agreement.
Compensations of 50,000 euros for unlawful termination of a shop steward’s employment
Shop stewards are protected by the law. In spring 2023, the District Court of Ostrobothnia ordered the Swedish-speaking Ostrobothnia district of Red Cross Finland to pay a shop steward about 50,000 euros in compensation plus the legal costs.
We always assess whether or not a case is likely to be successful in the court. We also consider if the case has broader significance for our members beyond the individual case. In such case we may want to set a legal precedent that points the direction of future cases.
If the case is lost in the district court, the union decides whether or not to appeal for a change in a higher court of law. This consideration also applies to potential international legal proceedings.
Violation of the Equality Act resulted into compensations of 45.000 euros to a JHL member
In early 2019, the district court ordered the municipality of Kirkkonummi to pay a maintenance worker a compensation of 35.000 euros for loss of income and a compensation of 10.000 for violation of the Equality Act. The only female maintenance worker of the municipality had not been included in the on-call rotation despite her repeated requests.
Minimum membership requirement prior to the event is six months
A prerequisite for the legal aid is that the individual must have been a member of JHL for at least six months prior to the event for which legal aid is applied. The membership also has to remain valid throughout the processing of the case.
Legal aid can only be applied for an event that takes place during JHL membership. Membership fees have to be paid in full.
JHL’s legal aid provides real security in the storms of working life, and its value in money is quite significant!
A personal assistant received six months’ pay in compensation
A company that provides social and health care sector services terminated the employment of a personal assistant. Trade Union JHL contested the termination. The district court ordered the employer to pay the JHL member six months’ pay for unjustified termination of employment and to pay the member’s legal costs of more than 16.000 euros.
Read about some other victories of JHL:
Refugee counsellor received 5,000 in compensation for unlawful termination of employment
Red Cross Finland offered a JHL member a fixed-term employment contract without terminating the employee’s prior permanent employment contract. The District Court of Ostrobothnia judged that this was unlawful. The court of appeal upheld the decision in 2022.
Catering service employee received 5,700 euros in compensation for discrimination
A town in Central Finland cancelled the permanent employment contract of a JHL member during a probationary period.
The town had made 20 fixed-term employment contracts with this catering service employee before the permanent employment contract. The contract included a probationary period in the beginning of the permanent employment. The court judged that the town’s cancellation of the contract during the probationary period was unjustified and discriminatory.
The pension trust of VR must compensate a previously agreed additional pension benefit to JHL members
JHL members are entitled to additional pension benefits in accordance with the 1994 agreement governing VR’s corporatisation. This means that their overall pension is 60% of the pay from which the pension is calculated until the end of their lives.
Join JHL!
JHL is the most diverse trade union in Finland. Our members work in about one thousand different occupations in welfare and public services. You can be for example a social welfare or health care professional, a youth worker or an early childhood education and care professional, a cleaner, a cook, a secretary, a security guard or a train conductor, and we are your trade union!
