JHL (09.06.2014 - Heikki Jokinen) The Finnish Government issued new guidelines to state offices to avoid such reorganising of work that would lead to more demanding tasks and thus higher salaries. This decision is valid until the end of the year 2018.
The three main public sector collective bargaining unions JHL, Juko and Pardia condemn this in their joint statement. The unions say that the decision goes against the existing collective agreements and it cannot be followed.
According to the state collective agreements salary must rise accordingly when work becomes more demanding and personal competence grows.
It has been specifically agreed in the collective agreement that the budget situation cannot influence evaluation of personal work performance. The State cannot unilaterally freeze this rise in salaries, the unions point out.
The state salary policy is based around the idea of encouraging employees to improve work quality and performance. If they were to follow the Government guide lines, state employers would no longer have permission to reward excellent work.
The goal of encouraging salary policy would be dead and buried. Also the objective of achieving better results and effectiveness would be completely smashed.
The three unions see the decision as wiggly and being without a clear line.