Working time and absences at the university
Working time
University teaching and research staff
According to the General Collective Agreement for universities, the annual working time of university teaching and research staff is 1,612 hours. Employees are responsible for their working time and for using it for the duties detailed in the work plan. If necessary, the supervisor and the employee will review the implementation of the work plan and the results of the work in relation to the total working time during the academic year.
Each employee draws up a work plan annually with their supervisor. When formulating the work plan, the employee’s participation in teaching, research and other duties is taken into consideration. The aim is to coordinate the work plans of a unit so that each employee in turn will have an opportunity for a period of research work free of teaching and administrative duties.
The work plan must take into account any extended absences, such as family leaves, that may be relevant in terms of the plan’s contents. Following an extended period of absence, the plan’s completion prior to the absence is reviewed, and the plan is amended as necessary. If new duties are agreed during the academic year that cannot be considered part of the duties covered in the work plan, the plan must be modified accordingly.
Other expert and support staff
The regular working time is a maximum of 7 hours 15 minutes a day and 36 hours 15 minutes a week on average.
Annual holiday
Other expert and support staff at universities
Annual holiday is determined by the length of the employment as described in the General Collective Agreement for universities (Chapter 2: Regulations on annual holidays).
Persons under the working time regulations of teaching and research staff are subject to the collective agreement’s holiday regulations only in terms of holiday pay. The holiday pay is paid in connection with July’s salary. The pay is determined by the salary of the post in which the employee is in June.
The amount of holiday pay
The holiday pay of a salaried employee is:
- 4 per cent of the salary for the month preceding the month in which the holiday pay is paid, multiplied by the number of full holiday credit months, if the employee has been directly employed by the current employer or another university for less than a year by the end of the holiday credit year
- 5 per cent of the salary for the month preceding the month in which the holiday pay is paid, multiplied by the number of full holiday credit months, if the employee has been directly employed by the same employer, another Finnish university, a research institution comparable to a university or a university hospital for at least a year by the end of the holiday credit year
- 6 per cent of the salary for the month preceding the month in which the holiday pay is paid, multiplied by the number of full holiday credit months, if the employee has been in employment that entitles them to annual holiday for at least fifteen years before the start of the holiday season (by 31 May).
- Holiday pay is paid in July unless otherwise agreed locally, as is the case in Tampere.
The calculation of the 15-year employment period includes full-time employment in the service of:
1. the current employer university
2. another Finnish university
3. the Finnish government, excluding time in military or non-military service, in crisis management and peacekeeping duties, as well as leaves other than sick leave and family leave according to Chapter 4 Section 1 of the Employment Contracts Act
4. another employer in Finland or abroad insofar as it is of significant benefit for performing the employee’s duties.
At the start of the employment, the employee must give an account of the previous work experience they wish to be considered in granting annual holiday benefits.
Change concerning holiday pay in the collective agreement entering into force on 1 August 2022
At the end of the employment relationship, holiday pay is paid for the total amount of holiday time that the employee has earned up until the moment the employment ends and for which the employee has not yet received holiday pay, if the employment ends for reasons unattributable to the employee. At the end of the employment relationship, only half of the holiday pay shall be paid if the employment relationship ends:
- As a result of a trial period terminated on the initiative of the employee
- As a result of the employee giving notice for a reason other than retirement
- As a result of the employment contract being considered as cancelled (Chapter 8, Section 3 of the Employment Contracts Act 55/2001), or
- As a result of the employment contract being terminated or dismissed on grounds related to the employee’s person (Chapter 7, Section 1–2, Chapter 8, Section 1), however not due to the fact that the employee’s working capacity is substantially reduced for such a long term as to render it unreasonable to require that the employer continue the contractual relationship (Chapter 7, Section 2, Paragraph 2, Subsection 1).
Example 1:
The holiday pay is paid in July and the employee gives notice in August. Four months of holiday pay has accrued, the holiday pay will be cut by 50%.
Example 2:
The holiday pay is paid in July and the employee gives notice in June. Eleven months of holiday pay has accrued. The holiday pay will be cut by 50%.
The timing of the employment termination fundamentally affects the amount that the holiday pay is cut.
Please note that if a fixed-term employment ends normally (without dismissal), the holiday pay will not be cut.
Change concerning family leave in the collective agreement entering into force on 1 August 2022
The regulations on family leave that will enter into force on 1 August 2022 are applicable to those employees for whom the changes on family leave to be enforced in the Health Insurance Act (1224/2004) on 1 August 2022 are also applicable. If the provisions on family leave in the Health Insurance Act in force on 31 July 2022 are applicable to the employee, the stipulations in the old collective agreement shall apply to the employment relationship.
One is eligible for the parental allowance in accordance with the new law if the due date is on or after 4 September 2022.
Change in the collective agreement as of 1 August: Pay during a pregnancy and parental leave
An employee who is entitled to a pregnancy allowance in accordance with the Health Insurance Act shall receive pay in accordance with the collective agreement for 40 weekdays from the start of the pregnancy allowance period. Furthermore, an employee who is entitled to parental allowance in accordance with the Health Insurance Act shall receive pay in accordance with the collective agreement for the first 32 weekdays of the parental leave.
In other words, the pregnant parent who is employed by a university can receive a total of 72 days (40+32) of salaried family leave and the other parent employed by a university can receive 32 days of salaried parental leave.
The prerequisite for receiving pay during pregnancy and parental leave is that the employment relationship has continued uninterrupted for at least the three months immediately prior to the start of the pregnancy or parental leave. Employment with an interruption of no longer than 30 calendar days or one calendar month in the service of the same employer university, some other Finnish university, an equivalent research institute or a university hospital shall be deemed continuous.
Sick leave
An employee has the right to be absent from work if they are unable to perform their duties due to a verified illness, handicap or injury. The employer must be notified immediately.
The paid sick leave period is determined as follows:
| Length of employment | Maximum length of paid period |
| under 1 month | 1+9 weekdays, 50% of salary |
| 1 month–under 1 year | 40 calendar days a year and after that 75% of salary for a maximum of 365 calendar days in total |
| 1 year–under 5 years | 50 calendar days a year and after that 75% of salary for a maximum of 365 calendar days in total |
| 5 years– | 60 calendar days a year and after that 75% of salary for a maximum of 365 calendar days in total |
If the employee transfers from one university to another university, a research institution comparable to a university or university hospital, previous work experience will be taken into account in the length of the employment when calculating the period of paid sick leave.
Other absences
Paid days off:
- 50th and 60th birthdays
- own wedding day and the day of registering partnership
- the day of a close relative’s funeral
- a maximum of one day due to a family member’s death
- sickness of a family member other than a child under 10 years old or a disabled child if leave is necessary to arrange or provide care for the sick person
- call-up day