Working life country profile for Estonia
This profile describes the key characteristics of working life in Estonia. It aims to provide the relevant background information on the structures, institutions and relevant regulations regarding working life.
This includes indicators, data and regulatory systems on the following aspects: actors and institutions, collective and individual employment relations, health and well-being, pay, working time, skills and training, and equality and non-discrimination at work. The profiles are systematically updated every two years.
Legal aspects
The Collective Labour Dispute Resolution Act regulates types of industrial action and therefore the right of employees, or associations or federations of employees, to organise a strike (streik) and the right of employers, or associations or federations of employers, to lock out (töösulg) employees to resolve a labour dispute. The right to strike or lockout arises only if there is no prohibition of the disruption of work in force, if conciliation procedures prescribed have been conducted but no conciliation has been achieved, if an agreement is not complied with or if a court judgment is not executed. The organiser of a strike or a lockout is required to notify the other party involved, the National Conciliator and the local government of a planned strike or lockout in writing at least two weeks in advance. In addition to strikes or lockouts, employees and their associations or federations have the right to organise warning strikes (hoiatusstreik) lasting up to one hour. In addition, sympathy strikes (toetusstreik) are permitted in support of employees engaging in strikes. The durations of such strikes are decided by the parties, but cannot last longer than three days. An employee representative or an association or a federation of employees is required to notify the employer, association or federation of employers and the local government of a planned warning strike in writing at least three days in advance, and of a planned sympathy strike in writing at least five days in advance.
Industrial action developments, 2012–2019
2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | Source | |
| Working days lost per 1,000 employees | 64 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.8 | 0 | Authors’ calculations |
| Number of strikes | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Authors’ estimates based on Statistics Estonia data on strikes by economic activity (2012, 2018) |
Notes: Strikes are rare in Estonia. The two strikes in 2012 lasted for days or weeks. The table does not contain statistics on warning strikes (which can last up to one hour); there were only a few such strikes during the time frame of the analysis.
Collective dispute resolution mechanisms
If the parties to a dispute cannot reach an agreement through negotiations, they can turn to the National Conciliator, who leads the conciliation process. In the case of a collective labour dispute between an employer and an employee representative, the parties have the right to turn to a federation of employers and a federation of employees, who must then establish a committee for the resolution of the dispute and notify the National Conciliator. The decision of the committee is binding on the parties to the dispute. In cases where there is a dispute arising from the implementation of a collective agreement, the parties have the right of recourse to a labour dispute committee (LDC) or court for the resolution of the dispute.
If, despite these conciliation procedures, the parties still cannot conclude an agreement, strikes and lockouts are permitted.
Individual dispute resolution mechanisms
Individual labour disputes can be resolved by an agreement between the employee and the employer with the mediation of an employee trustee or a trade union. The parties also have the right to turn to a local LDC or to a court.
LDCs are independent, extrajudicial individual labour dispute resolution bodies. They are established within the local branches of the Labour Inspectorate and have three members: the chair of the LDC and representatives of employees and employers who are appointed by EAKL and ETKL. In addition, there is a three-tier court system in Estonia, including county/city courts and administrative courts, circuit courts and the Supreme Court.
The most recent important changes in the system were approved in 2017. These include the possibility of turning to the LDC with monetary claims exceeding €10,000, which were previously accepted only by courts; the possibility of turning to the LDC with issues related to working conditions (for example, health and safety at work) and with issues arising from the implementation of a collective agreement (previously, only issues related to employment contracts were resolved by LDCs); and new resolution mechanisms – i.e. written proceedings, conciliation procedures and agreement procedures.
Use of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms
There are no labour courts in Estonia. The following table includes the total number of applications received by the LDCs from employers and employees per year, and the number of cases regarding labour law brought to courts of first instance.
Use of dispute resolution mechanisms, 2012–2019
| 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | |
| LDCs | 2,983 | 2,965 | 2,364 | 2,691 | 2,671 | 2,605 | 2,716 | 2,942 |
| Courts | 368 | 451 | 375 | 386 | 446 | 356 | 282 | 291 |
Sources: Labour Inspectorate’s labour disputes statistics; Estonian court statistics
