With a collective agreement at the workplace you basically only need to agree with the employer on what you will be paid when you accept employment. Other fundamental employment conditions are already included in the collective agreement.
In a workplace, there are many conditions that you might take for granted: the right to yearly wage negotiations, occupational pension, overtime compensation, supplementary insurance, the right to be involved and to exert influence. All this - and much more - is included and regulated in collective agreements, also known as CBA's.
A collective agreement is an agreement between employers and the trade union that organizes employees at your workplace. It regulates conditions and rights at the workplace.
With a collective agreement at work, you as an employee have a set package that secures your work conditions and rights. Unionen has more than 80 collective agreements for various industries with unique and adapted rules that apply in your particular industry.
Thanks to the collective agreement, you and your colleagues get a good basic security, with good employment conditions that cannot be impaired unilaterally by the employer. Here are some examples of the benefits of collective agreements:
Get paid for what you do
Your salary is reviewed regularly according to the agreement. You are also often entitled to a salary negotiation with your manager, during which you talk about your performance at work, and what you can do to improve your salary further.
Extra compensations
If you work overtime, weekends or evenings, or if you are on call or standby or have a lot of travel time, you will be compensated. This is regulated in the collective agreement.
A higher pension
You receive a special type of pension savings through your employment, a so-called occupational pension. Every year, the employer deposits money with an insurance company that manages your occupational pension money at a low fee, which means that there is more left over for your pension.
Extra money in case of parental leave
When you are on parental leave, in addition to parental allowance from Försäkringskassan, you can also receive parental pay from your employer for up to six months, depending on your length of employment.
Insurance in the event of injury and illness
If you, for example, fall ill for a long period of time or if you are injured at work, you will receive financial compensation, thanks to insurance included in the collective agreement.
Personal development
The right to personal development discussions is included in the vast majority of collective agreements. It also emphasizes how important it is with skills development.
Extra support for skills development and job-to-job transition in case of redundancy
Extra favorable financial and practical support for job-to-job transition or skills development - both during employment and when you are out of work due to redundancy, illness or if a fixed term employment has ended (applies to most of Unionen's collective agreements).
More influence in the workplace
The collective agreement gives you the opportunity to get involved in making decisions concerning your workplace. Appoint a workplace representative or form a club, and the employer must inform you and negotiate about major changes in the business.
The power over the conditions
The employers and trade unions agree on the conditions in the respective industry - not the Riksdag or the government. As a member, you have the right to be involved and to exert influence. It's called the Swedish Model.
