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Join PAM

PAM is your union if you work in the private service sector as a salesperson, cleaner, waiter, cook, security guard or caretaker, for example. We negotiate the terms and conditions of your job.   

Join PAM – You won’t be alone 

As a member of PAM, you have the right to get services from PAM: employment relationship hotline, training, unemployment benefit, legal aid and legal counselling. There are many other valuable benefits as well. 

You can join PAM when you work in the private service sector, study for such a job, or have your own business.

When you are a PAM member, the worry is taken out of working

We make sure that you are treated fairly, your wages are paid correctly and that the collective agreement is complied with in your job. As a PAM member you can get help if something is unclear or bothering you. You can ask for advice on PAM’s service channels or from your union representative

You don’t pay for the month during which you join PAM

When you join PAM, you don’t have to pay the membership fee for the first month (the calendar month when you join). For example, if you join on 10 September, you will start paying the fee starting from 1 October. This benefit does not apply to people who leave PAM and then join again within 12 months.

Who can join? 

You can join PAM when you work in the private service sector, study for such a job, or have your own business.

You can join if you

You can also transfer to PAM from another union or unemployment fund. Read how to transfer to PAM.

You cannot join when

• you are on parental leave
• you are unemployed or temporarily laid off
• you are on another leave during which you get no wages or salary.

PAM Couriers Finland

Do you work as a food courier? PAM Couriers Finland ry is a nation-wide trade union branch that brings together couriers from different platform companies. The aim is to improve couriers position financially and socially. Members include couriers from Wolt and Foodora.

You should already join PAM when you are a student at a vocational institute or university of applied sciences, studying for work in the service sector. Students don’t have to pay any membership fees.

Read more about student membership

If you work while studying, you should join as a full member and pay membership fees. You will then also have the right to get employment advice and possibly legal counselling. 

Lue lisää varsinaisesta jäsenyydestä 

You should join PAM as a full member when you start a summer job in the service sector or work in the service sector during your studies. You never know what kinds of issues you may face in your workplace, and the union can assist you with questions about matters such as your employment relationship and wages.

Unemployment security

As a full member, you can also accumulate the employment requirement for your earnings-related unemployment allowance. You meet the employment requirement once you have been in salaried work for at least 26 calendar weeks. Each calendar week in which you work for at least 18 hours counts as a week for the employment requirement, as long as you also pay membership fees based on your salary. The employment requirement must be fulfilled during a period of 28 months.

Read more about earnings-related unemployment allowance and the employment requirement on the unemployment fund’s website.

Union membership is a good idea, even if you only work in the service sector for a short while. If you later go on to another field, you can transfer to another union.

If you are an entrepreneur or self-employed, you can join PAM as an entrepreneur member, but you can’t be a member of PAM’s unemployment fund. As an entrepreneur, you pay membership fees based on the earnings that are used to define your pension insurance premium.

You are considered to be an entrepreneur if you pay YEL or MYEL pension premiums or have another statutory pension insurance, or one of the following is true:

  • You work in a leading position in a limited company (osakeyhtiö) in which you own at least 15% of the share capital or have corresponding power
  • You work in a leading position in a limited company in which you, together with your family members, own at least 30% of the share capital or have corresponding power
  • You work in another position in a limited company in which you, alone or together with your family members, own at least 50% of the share capital or the voting power, or have corresponding power
  • You work in another company or organisation in which you, alone or together with your family members, have the kind of power that has been described above.

You are also considered to be an entrepreneur if your family member is an active partner in a limited partnership (kommandiittiyhtiö), or your family member has a business name (toiminimi).

You are considered to be in a leading position if you are the managing director, board member or have similar authority in the business. Family members include spouses, live-in partners and direct descendants and ancestors of the entrepreneur who live in the same household.

If you own a share in your employer company as listed above, you are usually considered to be an entrepreneur when unemployment benefits are considered. You may then not have the right to get daily allowances from a workers’ unemployment fund.

The Entrepreneur Fund offers benefits to entrepreneurs and their family members.

It’s easy to transfer to PAM. Just enter the information about your previous union or unemployment fund in the PAM membership form. 

If you are transferring to PAM from another union or unemployment fund, fill in the information of that union or fund in the membership form. Also remember to select the item that will authorise PAM to manage your move from another organisation. You don’t need to tell your previous union about transferring to PAM; PAM will contact them and manage everything.  

When does my membership begin? 

Your membership begins on the day when the form arrives at PAM’s member register. You don’t have to pay the membership fee for the first month (the month when you join). For example, if you join on 10 September, you will start paying the fee from 1 October. This benefit does not apply to people who leave PAM and then join again within 12 months. 

When I change unions, will my unemployment security continue uninterrupted? 

It is safe to transfer to PAM from another union or unemployment fund. Just make sure there is no break in your memberships. When you transfer, your right to an earnings-related unemployment allowance will continue.  

If you have already left your previous union or unemployment fund, make sure that you join PAM within 30 days. If you do this, you will still meet the employment requirement for the earnings-related unemployment allowance. Make sure that your membership fee for the previous union or unemployment fund has been paid up until the day when you transfer. 

You get extensive services and benefits as a PAM member!

Membership has significant benefits. The union representative at the workplace and PAM’s experts help you with issues regarding your employment relationship. If necessary, you get legal aid for free and other great benefits. As a member of PAM, you get to take part in trainings gratis, get career coaching, and tens of discounts that you can enjoy both in working life and leisure. Join PAM today!

We negotiate the terms of your employment for you

Many rules that are applied to your job, such as minimum wages, holiday bonuses and working hours, are agreed in collective agreements. The law doesn’t have rules about all of them.The most important task of PAM is to negotiate collective agreements for the service industries and to make sure that the agreements are followed.

Help from experts

You can always contact our employment relationship specialists. If things get very bad, and negotiations don’t help, you can also get help from a union lawyer.

If you think that the company may not be doing what the collective agreement says, the wages are too low, or the work if not safe, you can ask us to help.

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Security during unemployment

When you become a member of PAM, you also become a member of the PAM unemployment fund (Unemployment Fund of Service Union United PAM). The unemployment fund will pay you an earnings-related unemployment allowance if you lose your job or are laid off.

Free career services help you find your career

Do you want to study for another job or find the thing that you are really good at? Our career service doesn’t cost you anything. You will get personal coaching and can take various courses and webinars.

Participate in training to learn new skills

PAM offers a large variety of courses. You can choose online training courses or on-site courses where you will also be able to build your networks. You can take all the training courses offered by PAM free of cost.

PAM Magazine

PAM Magazine is delivered to your home six times a year. The magazine provides up-to-date information about service sectors and plenty of other useful information.

You get many valuable benefits

Holidays, cabins, legal services, the thousands of benefits available in the CityShoppari app, and much more! For example, the holiday weeks of HolidayClub will be hundreds of euros cheaper for you.

Online store

PAM’s online store offers high-quality Finnish products and PAM products. The online store is open to everyone. PAM members can purchase products at member prices, and some products such as print-outs of collective agreements are free for members.

Membership card

When you join PAM, you will get a personal membership number and membership card. Your membership number will be sent to you as a text message when your information has been recorded into PAM’s member register.  You will also find your membership number and card in PAM’s e-services.

Jobs in the service sector

PAM’s jobs site makes it easy to apply directly for jobs in your sector. You can refine the search results e.g. based on location,  occupation, type of employment or company. You can set up a Job monitor that e-mails you job vacancies directly.

Daniel’s story: As a member of PAM, you have the right to get services from PAM

Free career services help you find your path

Do you want to study for another job or find the thing that you are really good at? Our career service doesn’t cost you anything. You will get personal coaching and can take various courses and webinars.

Membership fee

The membership fee is 1.5% of your wages before taxes, and it includes the fee for the unemployment fund membership. The membership fee is tax-deductible; this means that you don’t have to pay taxes for this part of your wages. There are two ways to pay the membership fees: You can authorise your employer to take the fee directly out of your wages, or you can pay the fee yourself. Read more about paying membership fees.

Example 1
If your montly wages were EUR 1,000, your membership fee would be EUR 15.

Example 2
If your wages before taxes are EUR 25,000 per year, the average membership fee would be EUR 265 when taking into account the tax deduction.

You don’t pay for the month during which you join PAM. Read more

Calculate your membership fee

Become a member

PAM is your union if you work in the private service sector as a salesperson, cleaner, waiter, cook, security guard or caretaker, for example. We negotiate the terms and conditions of your job.

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