The new collective agreement for personal assistants improves terms and conditions of employment in many ways
In addition to collective agreement pay increases, personal assistants get many improvements to their terms and conditions of employment.
Personal assistants have a new national collective agreement (Heta-tes) for years 2025–2028.
Both JHL and the Union of the Employers of Personal Assistants in Finland have approved the collective agreement negotiation result that was achieved on Friday 25 April. JHL’s Union Council approved the agreement on Monday 28 April, and the Union of the Employers of Personal Assistants in Finland approved it on Tuesday 29 April.
– We can be satisfied with the pay increases, and we got in improvements that we have wanted. Personal assistants’ position in working life is going to improve, says Laura Tuominen, JHL’s Bargaining Specialist responsible for the agreement.
The new collective agreement covers a period from 1 May 2025 to 30 April 2028. The previous agreement period expired at the end of April.
The agreement can be terminated earlier with a notice of termination in the beginning of the year 2027, in which case the agreement period ends on 30 April 2027. This may be done for example if the inflation rate is different from the expected.
Pay increases every year
The pay scale wages will increase every year.
In 2025 the wage increase will be €0.34–€0.38 per hour, depending on the pay group. The wage increase in 2026 will be €0.34 per hour and the wage increase in 2027 will be €0.33 per hour in all pay groups.
Those personal assistants who earn more than the pay scale wage get an across-the-board increase of €0.27 each year.
For example pay groups have been clarified in the new collective agreement. The previous negotiation round resulted into significant pay system reforms, one of which was increasing the number of pay groups from two to four.
– Now we were able to clarify these groups and supplement them a little so that the pay corresponds the demands of the work better, Tuominen comments.
See the details of the pay settlement at the end of this text.
Many improvements in terms and conditions of employment
The new collective agreement for example strengthens the practice concerning sick leave without a medical certificate.
Another improvement is that the maximum age of a child whose parent can take temporary child-care leave when the child gets ill rises from 10 to 12 years. In future the child-care leave will be paid for three calendar days.
– We are particularly happy for the improvements in practices for absences from work because there has been and still is much need for developing these in Heta-tes, Bargaining Specialist Pinja Lumitsalo sums up.
Other improvements include adding first aid skills, use of assistive devices and improving ergonomics to the list of examples of further vocational training.
A new addition to the collective agreement is application instruction concerning use of a car.
Negotiating will continue during the agreement period
Working groups will continue to develop the Heta-tes agreement further during the agreement period. They continue negotiating for example on overcoming administrative and legal obstacles that limit paid sick leave and on improving the provisions regarding working time and pay.
– We are really happy that a dedicated working group for developing wellbeing at work was entered into the agreement. Wellbeing of employees makes the sector attractive. The working group also investigates the possibility of work counselling for the sector, Lumitsalo says.
The national collective agreement for personal assistants is exceptional because JHL is the only employee organisation negotiating this agreement with the employers.
This collective agreement is normally applicable and concerns the employer model for personal assistance. The collective agreement covers the employment relationships of those personal assistants whose employer is a member of the Union of the Employers of Personal Assistants in Finland. About 10,000 employees in a year work under this collective agreement.
Pay increases in 2025
Increase of pay scale wages on 1 July 2025:
- Pay group A: €0.38
- Pay groups B1, B2 and C: €0.34
Changes to pay groups on 1 July 2025:
- Clarifications to pay group B2 concerning independent dispensation of medication and to pay group C concerning the definition of using demanding communication methods.
- Use of a cough assist device has been added to the set of duties related to assisting with the functionality of respiratory tracts in pay group B2.
Experience increments get divided into three steps on 1 July 2025:
- After one year of work the employee gets an experience increment of 1.25%.
- After five years of work the employee gets an experience increment of 1.7%.
- After 11 years of work the employee gets an experience increment of 2%.
Note! Update to overtime pay in general working time on 1 May 2025:
- Overtime work is compensated regardless of whether it arises from exceeding the maximum working time per day, per week or per adjustment period.
- The wage is increase by 50% for the first three overtime hours. For the subsequent overtime hours, the wage is increased by 100%.
Pay increases in 2026:
Increase of pay scale wages on 1 July 2026:
- €0.34 in all pay groups
Note! Compensation for night work in period-based work on 1 January 2026:
- The compensation for night work in period-based work rises from 30% to 40%.
Pay increases in 2027:
Increase of pay scale wages on 1 July 2027:
- €0.33 in all pay groups
Total increases of pay scale wages by 1 July 2027:
- Pay group A: €1.05
- Pay groups B1, B2 and C: €1.01
- At the end of the agreement period, the lowest pay scale wage without experience increments is going to be €13.56 in pay group A (elsewhere in Finland than the Helsinki Capital Region) and €15.06 in pay group C (elsewhere in Finland than the Helsinki Capital Region).
The new collective agreement, including the wage scales, will be published as soon as possible on the websites of JHL and the Union of the Employers of Personal Assistants in Finland.
Additional information
Laura Tuominen, Senior Bargaining Specialist at JHL, 050 409 2460
Pinja Lumitsalo, Bargaining Specialist at JHL, 046 921 4566
Your trade union JHL negotiates on a number of collective agreements in 2025. Follow the negotiations on our website.
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