This is the new collective agreement for the private social services sector – JHL’s remaining strikes are cancelled

Trade Union JHL has approved the negotiation result whereby it joins the collective agreement for the private social services sector. The other unions concluded last week a collective agreement for the private social services sector without JHL, and the only option available for JHL was to accept that settlement and enter the collective agreement that the others had made earlier. Negotiating about better pay increases or agreement texts was no longer possible.

Now that JHL has entered the new collective agreement, the union cancels all remaining strikes and industrial actions with immediate effect.

“This negotiation round has been long and hard. The agreement that was now reached is a small step in a better direction. We want to thank each and every one who stood with us and showed that the employees of the private social services sector will not be passed over without a fight. This result is not what we set out to get, but it was the best possible one under these circumstances. We will continue our persistent work to improve our members’ terms and conditions of employment”, states JHL’s Bargaining Specialist Tanja Tuunainen-Vainio.

“Compared to the conciliator's settlement proposals, the levels of scheduled pays are higher, and the role of across-the-board increase is bigger, which means that more people will get more euros in their pay. In this agreement, pay increases are bigger in every pay grade, and that of course has been JHL’s objective. This agreement does not have any locally agreed increase allowance, which was considered very difficult to negotiate on the field in the previous round”, continues JHL’s Bargaining Specialist Siru Heromaa-Karjalainen.

The term of the new collective agreement for the private social services sector is 28 months, from 1 January 2026 to 30 April 2028. The economic situation and outlook of the sector will be reviewed in December 2026, and if needed, the parties can terminate the agreement already on 30 April 2027 by issuing a notice of termination by 31 January 2027.

“It has been clear from the beginning that practical nurses will be allocated higher increases than other groups because they have the biggest pay gap compared to the public sector. However, we wanted also bigger across-the-board increases because through them pay increases are distributed more evenly for JHL’s other member groups as well as practical nurses”, states Tanja Tuunainen-Vainio.

Pay increases in 2026–27

Year 2026

• 1 September 2026: across-the-board and pay schedule increase 2.7%
• 1 September 2026: minimum level and seniority increment allocations, cost impact 0.7%

Pay group A: minimum level increase 0.5%

Pay group B: minimum level increase 0.4%

Pay groups C–F: minimum level increase 0.5%

Year 2027

• 1 September 2027: across-the-board and pay schedule increase 2.7%

This pay increase settlement’s total cumulative pay increase effect for the sector over the 28-month agreement period is 6.2%.

Besides the pay settlement, the approved collective agreement brings mainly entries that clarify the earlier text, for example about the beginning and end of an employment relationship and about protective clothing, as well as recommendations and instructions for instance regarding equality and non-discrimination work.

The collective agreement for the private social services sector has been negotiated since November last year. The National Conciliator began mediating the dispute at the end of January. This collective agreement is applied for example in private assisted living facilities for the elderly and for people with disabilities, nursing homes, mother-and-child homes, shelters, private child welfare institutions, personal assistance, and home help services.

More information:
Bargaining Specialist Tanja Tuunainen-Vainio, 050 463 2243
Bargaining Specialist Siru Heromaa-Karjalainen, 050 472 4270