Gmoffi Corner - Gmoffi Insight - Starting a new job

Is the job fixed-term, permanent or part-time? The job can be full-time, for example, with a weekly working time of 40 hours (37.5 hours + 30 min lunch breaks). In the gaming industry, an employment contract can often be fixed-term, i.e. project-based, which is tied to a specific phase of the game's development. If the contract states that working hours can be 0-20 hours per week, it means a zero-hour contract. In that case, the employment relationship is valid even if no hours are accrued and no salary is received.

According to the Employment Contracts Act, the duration of the trial period may not exceed 6 months or half of the duration of the fixed-term contract. The trial period begins immediately upon commencement of the employment relationship, but it is not always mandatory. During the trial period, the employment contract can be terminated without notice by both the employee and the employer.

It is important that the contract specifies at least the geographical area where the work will be performed. In addition, if the work can be performed remotely, it is also a good idea to agree on the terms and conditions, perhaps in a separate contract.

The contract must list the employee's main duties and may also often include the words ”other duties specified by the employer”. It is worth discussing this with the employer in advance and trying to define the job duties precisely, because otherwise the employer can change them based on the right to supervise work.

There is no minimum wage set by law in Finland, but salary can usually be hourly or monthly, depending on the contract. In addition, the salary may include a bonus or option program or other additional financial incentive, which is usually also agreed upon in a separate contract.

Is the workplace following a collective agreement? You can read more about collective agreements and their application here.

If the job requires travel, it will be compensated in accordance with the collective agreement, or otherwise the practices must be separately agreed in the employment contract. The Working Time Act does not oblige the employer to pay compensation if an employee travels in his or her free time, even if the travel is work-related.

What benefits are you entitled to? Occupational health care is a statutory requirement, but other benefits such as telephone benefits, lunch benefits, cultural or recreational benefits and home broadband are fairly common. In addition the benefits may include extended occupational health care (including, for example, specialist doctors), additional insurance for the employee's benefit, car benefits, commuting benefits or other special employer practices such as the right to training and education during working hours.

The minimum terms for this are determined either by the Employment Contracts Act or the Collective Agreement. In this context, it can also be determined that the final salary will be paid either on the normal payday after the end of the employment relationship or on the last day of the employment relationship.

Primarily, during the employment relationship, you may not engage in activities that compete with the employer (t is worth checking with the employer for the definition of competitive activities). It is also possible that after the employment relationship, the employee may not transfer to a competing company and the restriction may be for a maximum of 12 months. However, this requires an extremely weighty reason and compensation must be paid for it. If, however, the employment relationship ends, for example during change negotiations due to financial and production reasons, the non-compete agreement is no longer valid. Non-compete agreements are quite rare in the gaming industry, but it is an important thing to be aware of and keep in mind.

A non-disclosure agreement, or NDA, is a legal obligation regarding the employer's confidential information. An employee may not use or disclose the employer's trade secrets to others. An NDA is valid during the employment relationship and the employee may be liable to provide compensation if it is violated. An NDA can also be established during the employment relationship.

Works or other material created during the employment relationship and the rights to them are usually transferred to the employer without a separate agreement. It is a good practice to have this clearly stated in writing in the contract.

This is usually determined in accordance with the Annual Holiday Act, but when starting a new job it is possible to try to agree on, for example, additional paid or unpaid leave. Holiday pay (i.e. 50% extra on the salary for paid holiday time) is not automatically paid, but is determined by the Collective agreement. The employer may nevertheless have a practice of paying holiday pay.

Check and ask if the company has local agreements or other agreements, terms and conditions or practices that should be listed in the employment contract?