Salary requests, years-of-service supplements and pekkas-days – salaries raise many questions

Article 16.3.2023

Topics

Job seeking
Labour law
Salary

Have you ever needed help with salary issues? You are not alone – a significant number of YTK Worklife members say they have needed salary-related advice at some point, according to our extensive member survey. Deciding on a salary request in a job application can be tricky, and many were left scratching their heads when trying to work out their payslips: am I being paid what I’m due?

Although in simple terms, we are paid for our work, calculating salaries can be more complicated in practice. This was evident from our member survey, to which we received almost 6,000 responses. Well over half of the respondents (about 58%) had needed help with pay issues at some point during their careers. A common stumbling block is the salary request often required in job applications.

Many said that they were not sure if their own salary was in line with the general level of the industry and if they received equal pay for doing similar work to others. Our members also said they needed support when asking for and justifying a pay rise.

Even if your basic salary is in order, sector-specific and changing collective agreements do not make it easy to interpret the payslip. Many of the respondents had needed help in checking that they were receiving the supplements, bonuses and holiday pay that they were entitled to and that they have been paid correctly. Our respondents also mentioned as problem areas the various employee benefits, daily allowances and the working hours accounts,” says Ilona Kangas, Managing Director of YTK Worklife.

In general, the concepts related to salaries seem to make our heads spin and no wonder: days off in lieu of shortened hours, holiday pay, holiday bonus, call-out compensation, on-call compensation, general increase, merit increase… mastering the concepts takes effort even from a seasoned salary expert. To find out more about the various terms and concepts, visit our comprehensive knowledge bank.

Many felt alone with their questions

Many of the respondents had also needed help because the employer had not fulfilled their obligations, and their salary had been paid late or some of the supplements, holiday compensation or bonuses had not been paid and the respondent felt they had been left alone to deal with the issues. “Our Lakikaveri service is there to help precisely in matters such as these,” Ilona Kangas points out.

There seems to be great demand for help in all things related to pay. Some of the respondents said that they had given up trying to solve any inaccuracies about their pay because they feared for their job or because it seemed too complicated to sort out. YTK Worklife is planning to pilot a salary advisory service before the end of this year, as there is clearly a need for such a service,” she adds.

The member survey was carried out 18.–25.1.2023 and 5,664 members of YTK Worklife responded to it. With the survey YTK Worklife examined what type of help it could provide to its members in the future regarding salaries. YTK Workilife is already assisting its members with their employment problems through the Lakikaveri service.