INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETING THE EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT
A written employment contract is drawn up for all individuals who are to be employed by the University of Helsinki. If an employee is coming to work at the University of Helsinki for the first time, he or she is asked to complete a personal information form as well. Two original copies of the employment contract, signed by both the employer and the employee, are always drawn up. One copy of the employment contract is for the employee and the other for the employer.
The employer’s copy of the employment contract and any personal information form is sent to the human resources secretary at the Service Centre. No other forms are usually needed upon entering into an employment relationship. If information that is mandatory under the Employment Contracts Act or other legislation is missing from the employment contract form, the Service Centre will return the form to the unit for further completion.
Instructions are provided below on what should be entered in which section of the employment contract form. Further information is available from the Human Resources and Legal Affairs and the service centres for personnel matters.
Placement unit
The placement unit refers to the unit in which the individual will work.
Employee
If the name used by the individual is not his or her first name, the name used should be marked with a star.
Position
The job title of the individual is entered in this section. The main content of the position on commencement of the employment is described in brief on the form unless this is adequately described by the job title.
Duration of the employment contract
In this section information is entered on whether the individual's employment contract is valid until further notice (i.e., a permanent contract) or a fixed-term employment relationship.
If the employment contract is a fixed-term contract, the basis for its fixed-term nature must always be given.
1. If the employment is a substitution, the name of the person who is being substituted must be notified. As a general rule, a substitute should be employed for the entire duration of the known absence.
2. If the basis for the fixed-term nature is to temporarily fill a vacant position for the duration of its recruitment process, the position in question and when the recruitment process will start / was started must be recorded on the form. If the recruitment process has not yet been scheduled, this reason cannot be used as the basis for the fixed-term nature. This reason should only be used with extreme consideration and only in situations where it is necessary to find someone at short notice to manage a vacant position for the period until it is possible to employ an individual permanently for the position.
3. If studying is used as the basis for the fixed-term nature (an undergraduate or postgraduate student), the way in which the work relates to the person’s studies must be entered; for example, an undergraduate student working on a thesis as a research assistant. The mere fact that the individual to be employed is a student is not sufficient as a basis for the fixed-term nature; the work must be related to the student's studies.
4. If the employment contract concerns project work, the name or abbreviation of the project and its duration should also be notified. In such circumstances, the employment contract should be concluded for the entire duration of the work. If the employee intends to work for the entire duration of the project, the employment contract is drawn up for the entire project period, e.g., for three years for a three-year project. If the employee only works for part of the project‘s entire duration, an employment contract is drawn up for the duration of the work. If the field does not have enough space for the name and duration of the project or for other information, information can be written in the Additional information field.
5. If there is some other reason for the fixed-term nature of the contract, the reason must be specified in detail (for example, a forthcoming organisational reform).
A trial period can be used if the individual has not been directly employed by the university or is transferring to a new, different position in another unit. The trial period can be a maximum of four months. However, the trial period for a fixed-term employment contract can be a maximum of half of the employment contract’s entire duration.
Working hours
The working hours in accordance with the position for which the individual is being hired should be entered.
For those coming within the scope of total working hours (professors, university lecturers, clinical instructors and university teachers), 1,600 annual working hours are applicable, whereas for those working under job titles in research (research director, university researcher, research coordinator, research doctor, doctoral student) office working hours are applicable until possibly otherwise agreed under the collective labour agreement.
Staff other than teaching and research personnel come within the scope of either office working hours or weekly working hours. More information on office and weekly working hours is available on Alma (Henkilöstö- ja lakiasiat -> Palvelussuhdeasiat -> Työajat).
For part-time working hours, the working hours per week and the percentage of the duties are entered. The salary of a part-time employee must always be entered as a full-time equivalent. The service centre will calculate the salary to be paid for part-time working on the basis of the percentage of the duties or the working hours.
Determination of salary
The applicable evaluation system or information that the position does not come within the scope of the salary system is entered on the employment contract for salary payment. The requirement level for the position is entered in the employment contract and also information on whether the requirement level entered is one confirmed by the employer or a preliminary estimate of the requirement level. If the requirement level has been confirmed, the UPJWeb ID number for the job description form is entered on the form. The performance level estimated by the employer in advance of the commencement of the employment is entered as the performance level. If the individual has an evaluation confirmed by the employer for a current position, only the fact that it has been confirmed is entered on the form, since the performance level is confidential information. The performance level confirmed by the employer is not marked on the form; the service centre receives the information from the UPJWeb.
If the employee is an undergraduate student who does not have a higher university degree required for the position, the amount of his or her position-specific salary portion can be less than 100%, although it must be a minimum of 75% of the salary of the requirement level in question. Any percentage (75–99%) agreed with the employee is marked in the section “Amount of position-specific salary portion for an undergraduate student”.
If the position does not come within the scope of the salary system, the reason (trainee, duration of the employment relationship is 6 months or less, subsidised employment, hourly wages) must always be entered. The salary in euro for individuals not coming with the scope of the salary system must be entered.
If an employee who does not come within the scope of the salary system works part time, his or her monthly salary is specified as a full-time equivalent. The share of the full-time equivalent monthly salary paid to the part-time employee is entered in the Payment percentage section. In these circumstances, the precise amount paid to the employee must be written out in the contract’s additional information field so that the employer does not need to calculate the salary to be paid monthly from the salary for full-time working hours and the payment percentage.
Additional information
Additional information relating to the employment contract can be entered as required in this section.
Signatures
The employee must sign the employment contract personally.
The employment contract is the decision to enter into an employment relationship. The contract is signed on behalf of the employer, as the deciding official, by the person to whom the Rector has delegated the right to enter into an employment relationship. The employment contract is signed, as the presenting official, by the person who is responsible for preparing and proposing personnel matters in the unit in question. The presenting official is responsible for the correctness of the employment contract's content.
The aim is that all the signatures required from the employer (in the order supervisor, presenting official and deciding official) are obtained first and only then does the employee sign the contract. In this way, the employee can be sure that when he or she receives the contract for signature it really is the final and approved version. If the employee signs the employment together with his or her supervisor, he or she will only receive the final contract once the others have signed it. However, changes can be made to this recommendation if considered necessary by the unit.
Information notified by the employer
The employer’s main work location on the commencement of the employment relationship is entered in this section to the level of the street address, for example Yliopistonkatu 4.
Account details for payment of the salary
The account details are entered into the Department code, Budget account, Project code, Itemisation code and Percentage fields for payment of the salary. The Department code refers to the unit paying the salary.