Summer job over? Remember these three things as your job ends

Is your summer job coming to an end? Before you move on to your next plans, check out the tips below.

Pick up your certificate of employment

Employees are entitled to get a written certificate of their employment. An employment certificate contains at least the employee’s and the employer’s details, the duration of the employment and what the work was. It can also be more detailed and contain the reason for the job ending and an assessment of the employee’s skills.

If you didn’t get an employment certificate when your job ended, ask your employer for one. An employment certificate is often useful when applying for jobs in the future even if this job was short. It also pays to ask your manager for a reference for your CV so that any future employers can ask them to evaluate you as an employee.

If you forget to ask for an employment certificate straight away, you can ask for one later too. Employers are required to provide an employment certificate within 10 years of a job ending. If your employer doesn’t issue an employment certificate despite you requesting one, contact PAM’s employment helpline.

Check that you have received holiday compensation or take the holiday you are due

Summer employees are also entitled to annual holiday or annual holiday compensation. The main principle is that if you work 35 hours or 14 days a month you accumulate 2 or 2.5 days of holiday a month depending on the length of your employment.

Annual holiday compensation is paid if for some reason you are unable to take your holiday. In summer jobs it is in practice almost always paid as holiday compensation together with the final pay. So, if you haven’t taken holiday days during your summer job, you must be paid holiday compensation together with your final pay. Holiday compensation mustn’t be made part of wages – it must always be specified and appear as a separate line in your payslip.

Check that your final wages have been paid correctly

When your job ends, you are paid your final wages. When that happens, you are paid all outstanding paid amounts from your employment, meaning your wages plus supplements, holiday compensation and any bonuses.

Final pay must be paid to an employee no later than on the last day of employment (even if this isn’t the normal wage payment date) unless the parties have agreed otherwise in the employment contract or in some other way.

You should always check your final pay carefully to make sure you are paid what is due to you for your work. Compare your payslip to the hours you have worked. Be sure to check that you have been correctly paid all the supplements due under your employment contract as well as any overtime payments and holiday compensation (unless you have taken holiday days during your employment).

You can check the minimum wages you are due in the collective agreement for your sector. If you work in the commerce sector or the hospitality sector, you can also use the Tarkistapalkka.fi calculator (in Finnish).

If you suspect that your wages haven’t been paid correctly or there are supplements missing, don’t hesitate to contact your employer and try to sort it out. If your issue is not resolved or you need support, contact the shop steward at your workplace or PAM’s employment helpline.

Also check out the summer job checklist, where you can find important information about employment and working life.