Employee Representative

Are you currently in the role of a Employee representative or would you like to be in the role? Please report it through the form on the "Personnel representatives"-page and we will be in touch with you.

Duties of the Employee Representative

The employee representative acts as the representative of employees in relation to the employer. The role is very similar in practice to that of a shop steward, but it is based on legislation. The employee representative has enhanced protection against dismissal, making their position clearly more secure than that of an ordinary employee. The employee representative is allowed to use working time to carry out their duties.

Key responsibilities

1. Represent employees

• Acts as the voice of employees towards the employer

• Brings forward employees’ views, concerns, and initiatives

2. Negotiate with the employer

• Participates in discussions and negotiations on employment matters

• May agree on matters with the authorization of the employees

3. Support individual employees

• Provides support in problem situations (e.g. salary, employment terms, treatment)

• Acts as a facilitator between the employee and employer when needed

4. Participate in co-operation procedures (YT)

• Represents employees in co-operation or change negotiations

• Can address issues such as changes, layoffs, or organizational development

5. Communicate information

• Collects employees’ views

• Communicates employer messages to employees

6. Develop the workplace

• Participates in developing the working community

• Can raise improvement suggestions and highlight issues

7. Safeguard employees’ interests

• Ensures employees are treated appropriately

• Promotes fairness and equality in the workplace

Election of an Employee Representative (Step by Step)

The election of an employee representative (luottamusvaltuutettu) is based on the Employment Contracts Act, not on trade union membership. However, we recommend that the representative is a union member, as this provides access to advice and training from their own union. Within the game industry your own union is Game Makers of Finland.

1. Ensure that an employee representative can be elected

• There is no collective agreement in the game industry, so in practice an employee representative can be elected at any workplace in the game industry.

2. Ensure who can be elected

• Only an employee of the workplace can be elected as an employee representative.

• The person must not be in an employer position or represent the employer in personnel-related matters.

3. Appoint organizers

• One or a few employees (e.g. 2–3 people) take responsibility for the practical arrangements.

• They take care of the invitation and organizing the meeting.

4. Organize an electronic vote

• An invitation is sent to all employees entitled to participate well in advance (recommendation: at least 14 days before the meeting).

• The invitation should include:

  • that an employee representative will be elected

  • how the electronic voting will be conducted (link to instructions, e.g. YTN guidelines) Luottamusvaltuutettu - Ylemmät Toimihenkilöt YTN 

5. Nominate candidates

• In the electronic election, candidates can announce themselves to the election organizers.

6. Conduct the election using electronic voting

• If there are candidates:

  • one candidate → elected directly

  • more than one candidate → voting is organized

• A deputy employee representative is usually also elected.

7. Ensure participation

• All eligible employees must have the opportunity to participate and vote.

• The election must be organized so that no one is excluded (e.g. by giving notice in time).

8. Record the election

• It is recommended to prepare official minutes including:

  • participants

  • candidates

  • election result

9. Notify the employer

• The elected employee representative must be formally notified to the employer.

10. Agree on practical arrangements

• The role of the employee representative should be agreed with the employer (e.g. use of working time, access to information).

• It is recommended to make a written agreement regarding the role and to agree on compensation for carrying out the duties. (A model can be found in the IT Service Sector collective agreement.) https://tietoala.fi/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/TES_englanti_2025_web.pdf

• The term of office should also be defined; the recommendation is two or three years.