= Mandatory field

All paid employees working in private service sectors, including those in managerial positions, can apply for membership of Service Union United PAM. Self-employed professionals and entrepreneurs who have no additional employees can also join the Union. In addition, students studying for a service sector occupation are also welcome to join.

You can join PAM if you are currently in paid employment. Unemployed people or those currently on an unpaid period cannot join the Union or the Unemployment Fund. Unpaid periods include unpaid maternity, paternity and parental leave, sickness benefits and unemployment allowance paid by the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela), national military service, or full-time studies (in this case, however, you can join as a student member), etc.

Your PAM membership fee is 1.5% of your gross pay – in other words, your earnings before tax – including the fee for the Unemployment Fund (for example, the membership fee is 15 euros for monthly pay of €1,000). The amount of membership fee is confirmed by the PAM Council on an annual basis. The fee covers all services and member benefits offered by PAM and the Unemployment Fund.

You will pay membership fees to the Union and the Unemployment Fund for all taxable earnings, benefits and bonuses paid by your employer. If you have several employment relationships, you should pay membership fees for each of your employment relationships. Membership fees are also payable for part-time work and work done while receiving adjusted unemployment benefits. The Unemployment Fund will deduct membership fees from the benefits paid to you. You are also required to pay membership fees for any paid work done while studying.

Personal Information

Membership and personal details are mandatory information in PAM’s membership register and are required to identify and verify membership. Contact details facilitate membership administration and communications. Mobile phone numbers are used to identify members when they use our phone services. When you give your phone number when you join, you will get a text message with your membership number from PAM once your membership details have been entered in the membership register. You can find your membership card in the PAM e-service. Log into the e-service to access your card and check that your membership information is correct. Log into the e-service at asiointi.pam.fi. Use your online banking codes or mobile ID to log in. Everyone who joins gets a 'Member’s welcome' letter by post.
Your membership number will be sent to the mobile phone number you give.
The admission process code will be sent to the email address that you give.

PAM shares membership details for direct marketing purposes with insurance companies providing member benefits. PAM does not share membership details with other third parties.

Membership

According to the Rules of the PAM Unemployment Fund, your membership will start on the date when your membership fee is paid, however, at the earliest on the date when your written application form arrives with the Union and the Unemployment Fund. If you change workplaces or jobs, remember to always let PAM know about your new workplace in the PAM e-service. Also let us know if you are working for several employers at once. Use your online banking codes or mobile ID to log in. Also remember to inform PAM via the e-service of any possible unpaid periods (such as unpaid maternity, paternity and parental leave, sickness benefits and unemployment allowance paid by the Social Insurance Institution of Finland Kela, national military service, or full-time studies), because you don’t need to pay membership fees for such periods. You will avoid any unnecessary reminders and collection letters due to overdue membership fees by informing PAM of any changes in time.
Earliest this date or the start date of employment, if in the future.

Becoming a member

As a member of the unemployment fund, you would also have the right to apply for earnings-related unemployment allowance in the event of unemployment

If you wish to authorise PAM to terminate your membership in your previous fund, first tick the 'I’m transferring’ option and then the ‘I hereby authorise’ option in the Membership section. This means that you don’t have to inform your previous fund of your transfer to PAM, as the unemployment funds can deal with the transfer on your behalf. You must transfer from your previous unemployment fund to the PAM Unemployment Fund within one month, in order to retain your accrued qualifying period for earnings-related unemployment allowance. According to the Act on Unemployment Funds, an individual may only be a member of one unemployment fund at a time.

The service sector unemployment fund cannot submit a resignation authorization to a foreign unemployment fund. The member must always submit the notice of resignation to the foreign unemployment fund themself.

If you wish to authorise PAM to terminate your membership in your previous union, first tick the 'I’m transferring’ option and then the ‘I hereby authorise’ option in the Membership section. This means that you don’t have to inform your previous union of your transfer to PAM, as the unions can deal with the transfer on your behalf. Before you transfer to PAM, ensure that membership fees paid to your previous union have been settled right up until the date of transfer, so that there is no interruption of your membership.

PAM rewards members Introducing new members. Enter the name of the person who recommended membership and his or her membership number or date of birth. This is very important because missing recommendation details cannot be sorted out later. The person recommending membership must be a PAM member.

Entrepreneurship

A person is considered to be an entrepreneur if he or she
  • is obliged to take out insurance under the Self-Employed Persons’ Pension Act (YEL, 1272/2006) or the Farmers’ Pension Act (MYEL, 1280/2006);
  • or is covered by another statutory pension scheme; and
    • works in a leading position in a company where he or she owns at least 15% or his or her family members or he or she together with the family members own at least 30% of the share capital (voting rights),
    • or works in a non-leadership position in a limited liability company where he or she or his or her family members or he or she together with the family members own at least 50% of the share capital or the voting rights carried by the shares, or has otherwise obtained equivalent control of the company.

      Family members of an active partner in a limited partnership (Finnish ‘ky’) working for the company, as well as family members of a sole proprietor, are also considered to be entrepreneurs.

      ‘Leading position’ is taken to mean managing directors, board members or similar. ‘Family member’ is taken to mean married spouses or common-law partners as well as the entrepreneur’s direct descendant or ascendant relatives (children, parents) living in the same household.

Employment

You can join PAM if you are currently in paid employment. Unemployed people or those currently on an unpaid period cannot join the Union or the Unemployment Fund. Unpaid periods include unpaid maternity, paternity and parental leave, sickness benefits and unemployment allowance paid by the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela), national military service, or full-time studies (in this case, however, you can join as a student member), etc.

You will pay membership fee to the Union for all taxable earnings, benefits and bonuses paid by your employer. The membership fee also includes the Unemployment Fund's membership fee. If you have several employment relationships, you should pay membership fees for each of your employment relationships. Membership fees are also payable for part-time work and work done while receiving adjusted unemployment benefits. The Unemployment Fund will deduct membership fees from the benefits paid to you. You are also required to pay membership fees for any paid work done while studying.

Update your employment details using PAM’s e-service. You can log in to the e-service using your membership number. If you change job and your current employer automatically collects your membership fees from your pay, you’ll also need to sign a new collection agreement with your new employer to continue automatic collection of membership fees.

Job and job title information is used for membership administration and communications purposes. If your job is temporary, you can enter the end date of your employment on PAM’s e-services once you have been registered as a PAM member and you have received your membership number.
The company’s official name and company ID are normally given on your payslip or the company’s till receipt.

PAM membership fee is 1.5% of your gross pay. The easiest way is to authorise your employer to deduct the membership fees direct from your pay and transfer it to PAM. Therefore, you don’t need monthly to calculate yourself the amount of the membership fee, which is 1,5% of your gross pay. Instead, your employer can take care of this for you.<br /><br />If you choose the option ‘Employer deducts membership fees’, PAM will send a collection agreement to your employer/payroll administrator to start collection of your membership fees. If you become a member mid-month, the calendar month you join is free. This benefit does not apply to members that have left PAM in the last 12 months and re-join. Remember to check your payslip to make sure the employer collection has begun, and that the membership fee has been deducted from your wages. If your employment ends, but you after a short time are employed again by the same employer, you need to check with the payroll accountant that the collection continues. If you study and work on the side, you pay the membership fee as usual based on your pay.<br /><br />If you choose to pay membership fees yourself, choose the option ‘I will pay the membership fees myself’. The easiest way to pay membership fees yourself is to use e-invoicing, which you can activate through your online banking service. Once you do so, PAM will automatically send a monthly e-invoice to your online banking service with the correct reference number. The amount payable on each invoice is always the same as the amount of membership fee that you paid the previous month. You can change the amount before confirming the invoice using your online banking service, if your pay for the month in question was different from the previous month. If you are not able or willing to use e-invoicing, PAM will send you a list of reference numbers for each month. You can also pay the membership fee yourself through PAM's e-service.

MAX_EMPLOYMENTS If you have more than one job, please remember that under the rules membership fees must be paid for all your jobs, in order for unemployment security to apply to them all. Membership fees are also paid on part-time work and work that you do to while receiving adjusted unemployment allowances.
Membership fees are paid normally for wages earned while studying.

Authorisation to collect membership fees during possible period of unemployment

By filling in this form, you authorise the union to collect the union membership fee, which includes the Unemployment Fund's membership fee during your membership, from the unemployment allowance or any other taxable benefits paid to you by the unemployment fund.

Sending

You can read Service Union United's Privacy Policy (in Finnish) here.
You can read Unemployment Fund of Service Union United's privacy statement (in Finnish) here

Date 28.03.2025