Estonia: Working life country profile

This profile describes the key characteristics of working life in Estonia. It aims to complement other Eurofound research by providing the relevant background information on 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 updated annually.

Key figures

Comparative figures on working life in Estonia                                         

Source: Eurostat - Unemployment rate by sex and age - annual average,  % [une_rt_a]; Purchasing power parities (PPPs), price level indices and real expenditures for ESA 2010 aggregates [prc_ppp_ind]).

Background

Economic and labour market context

Between 2010 and 2015, Estonia’s GDP had a very substantial increase of 32.9%, well above the EU average for the same period (13%). During this time, total unemployment decreased from 16.7% to 6.2% (a drop of 10.5 percentage points). The largest decrease was in youth unemployment (-19.8 percentage points), followed by male unemployment (-13.1 percentage points) and female unemployment (-8 percentage points). Employment figures for all categories increased since 2010 and were above the EU average for 2015.

More information on:

• living and working in Estonia from the European Commission Job Mobility Portal EURES;
• the extent of undeclared work in the EU and Norway, as well as a database on measures to prevent and combat it can be found on Eurofound’s website.

Legal context

The Employment Contracts Act (Töölepinguseadus) regulates employment relations in the private sector and the Civil Service Act (Avaliku teenistuse seadus) governs the public sector. In 2009 the new Employment Contracts Act and in 2013 the new Civil Service Act came into effect.

In 2014, changes to the Taxation Act were made, which established an employment register to address undeclared work and envelope wages, and to increase tax revenue. All forms of employment must now be registered by employers.

Industrial relations are regulated by the Trade Unions Act (Ametiühingute seadus), the Employees’ Trustee Act (Töötajate usaldusisiku seadus), the Collective Labour Dispute Resolution Act (Kollektiivse töötüli lahendamise seadus) and the Collective Agreements Act (Kollektiivlepingu seadus).

Industrial relations context

During the Soviet era, most workers in Estonia were union members. However, at the time there was no system of collective bargaining as there is today, hence Estonia’s modern industrial relations system had to be built from scratch at the beginning of 1990s. Although much has changed over the decades, only a few amendments have been made to the legislation on collective bargaining and collective dispute resolution. For example, since 2007, Estonia has had a dual channel of employee representation. Since 2013, government and social partners have been discussing new legislation on collective bargaining and collective dispute resolution.

In Estonia, collective bargaining has always been decentralised, as the collective bargaining mostly takes place at company level. At sectoral level, there are only two agreements: in transport and in healthcare. At national level, national minimum wages are negotiated annually between the Estonian Trade Union Confederation (EAKL) and the Estonian Employers’ Association (ETTK) and cultural workers minimum wage is negotiated between Estonian Employees’ Unions’ Confederation (TALO) and Ministry of Culture (Kultuuriministeerium). The latter covers all cultural employees with higher education, who are working in public authorities, state-owned private foundations and public law agencies in a position of their specialty requiring higher education.

Today, the trade union membership level in Estonia is one of the lowest in the EU.

Actors and institutions

Trade unions, employers’ organisations and public institutions play a key role in the governance of the employment relationship, working conditions and industrial relations structures. They are interlocking parts in a multilevel system of governance that includes the European, national, sectoral, regional (provincial or local) and company levels. This section looks into the main actors and institutions and their role in Estonia.

Public authorities involved in regulating working life

The Ministry of Social Affairs (Sotsiaalministeerium) deals with social dialogue and working conditions in general by preparing legislation and cooperating with social partners. The Ministry also developed and maintains a database of collective agreements.

The main institution ensuring the enforcement of employees’ rights is the Labour Inspectorate (Tööinspektsioon), whose role is to supervise compliance with the requirements of legislation regulating labour relations. The Labour Inspectorate informs employees and employers, investigates serious occupational accidents and analyses their causes, and exercises supervision. Within the local inspectorates, there are labour dispute committees which resolve individual labour disputes. Employees have also the right to turn to court when their rights have been violated. The Labour Inspectorate also exercises supervision over the occupational health and safety, and it puts effort in prevention.

In case of collective industrial dispute, if the parties cannot reach an agreement by negotiation, they can turn to the National Conciliator (Riiklik Lepitaja).

Representativeness

There are no specific rules regarding representativeness of social partner organisations at national level. According to the Trade Unions Act, a trade union may be founded by at least five employees and a federation of trade unions may be founded by at least five trade unions. There are no criteria for employers’ associations. Collective agreements can be extended in respect of wage, working time and rest time conditions if the agreement is concluded between an association or a federation of employers and an association or a federation of employees or a confederation of employers and a confederation of employees.

More information on representativeness of the main social partner organisations can be found in Eurofound’s representativeness study of the cross-industry social partners or in Eurofound’s sectoral representativeness studies.

Trade unions

About trade union representation

Trade unions operate under the Trade Unions Act and the Collective Agreements Act. The first Act provides for the general rights of and bases for the activities of trade unions, and their relations with state and local government authorities and employers, while the latter determines the legal base of concluding and performing the collective agreements.

People have the right to freely found, join or not to join trade unions, except members of the Defence Forces (Kaitsevägi) who are in active service.

Both trade union membership and density have been decreasing over the last 10 years.

Trade union membership and trade union density

Main trade union confederations and federations

EAKL is the largest trade union in Estonia and the main national level trade union, also the partner in national minimum wage negotiations.

The second largest trade union organisation is Estonian Employees’ Unions’ Confederation (TALO), which mostly represents cultural workers and public servants.

Main trade union confederations and federations

There have not been any major developments in the past three years, but in 2013, a few new trade unions were created in companies (mainly in commerce and industry, but also in hotels) and also the first trade union was established in the financial sector (the Union of Estonian Financial Sector Employees, EFL).

Employers’ organisations

About employers’ representation

The rights and obligations to establish or join employers’ associations are not specifically regulated in legislation. However, the Constitution (Põhiseadus) stipulates the right to freely join the associations.

In recent years, there have not been any significant changes or developments on the employers’ side and employers’ organisations density has remained stable.

Employers’ organisations - membership and density

Percentage of employees working in an establishment which is member of any employer organisation that is involved in collective bargaining.

Main employers’ organisations

The only employer organisation recognised as a national-level social partner is ETTK, which overall represents around 25% of all employees in Estonia. Its members are associations as well as enterprises.

The biggest employer association in Estonia is the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Eesti Kaubandus-Tööstuskoda), but it does not take part in collective bargaining, and concentrates on developing entrepreneurship.

Main employers’ organisations and confederations

Tripartite and bipartite bodies and concertation

The system of tripartite concertation is not well institutionalised in Estonia. Social partners take part in the consultation phase of drafting legislation. In addition to that, the social partners are members of the supervisory boards of the Estonian Health Insurance Fund (EHIF), the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund (EUIF) and the Estonian Qualification Authority (EQA), which is responsible for developing the professional qualifications system in Estonia. In the EUIF, for example, they make proposals about the rate of unemployment insurance premium and approve temporary employment programmes.

The aim of tripartite concertation is to come to an agreement that satisfies all parties. Still, in recent years social partners have quite often expressed their dissatisfaction as they are not included in the political decision-making process as often as they would like, or they are included only in later stages of the process. There have also been cases where a tripartite agreement was reached but later changed unilaterally by the state, regardless of the social partners’ opinions (see recent examples: ‘Parliament ditches changes to unemployment benefit rules’ and  ‘Government refuses to reduce unemployment insurance premiums’).

Main tripartite and bipartite bodies

Workplace-level employee representation

Since 2007, Estonia has had a dual channel of employee representation – employees can be represented by a trade union and/or employee trustee. Employee representation is regulated with the Trade Unions Act and the Employees’ Trustee Act. Trade union representatives are elected from among the trade union members, and employee trustees are elected by the employees at a general meeting in the company. Both may be present in a given company at the same time; however, the trade union has the prior right to take part in collective bargaining and collective dispute resolution. If no trade union exists in the company, the trustee has the right to conclude agreements or represent employees in collective dispute resolution. Employee trustees mainly operate in the area of information and consultation procedures. Trade union representatives are also allowed to participate in this process, regardless of the presence of a general representative.

The national data and ECS data on the employee representation at establishment level differs significantly because in ECS 2013, establishments with more than 10 employees were taken into account, while in the Estonian Work Life Survey (2009) organisations with more than five employees were studied. In Estonia, the employee representatives are mostly present in companies with more employees. Hence, when taking account the smaller companies with no employee representatives, the share of those who have representatives is smaller.

Regulation, composition and competences of the bodies

Employee representation at establishment level

Source: ECS 2013. Private sector establishments with more than 10 employees. Work Life Survey 2009. Organisations with more than 5 employees.

Collective employment relations

The central concern of employment relations is the collective governance of work and employment. This section looks into collective bargaining and industrial action and dispute resolution in Estonia.

Collective bargaining

Bargaining system

Collective bargaining in Estonia is very decentralised and the dominant level of collective bargaining in Estonia has been and is the enterprise level. After signing, the collective agreement becomes legally binding and is valid for one year. The only public source of official information on enterprise-level collective agreements is the collective agreements register organised by the Ministry of Social Affairs (Sotsiaalministeerium). However, the register does not include comprehensive data on all concluded collective agreements and not all collective agreements have been registered. The reason for this is that no surveillance system has been implemented and no penalties for violations of agreements are issued. Thus, exact information on the number of company-level agreements is not collected. In some sectors, sectoral-level collective agreement has been achieved, but this does not happen very often. There are only two sectoral-level collective agreements currently concluded in Estonia – one in transport and the other in health care (see 3.3.1). At national level only minimum wages are negotiated. Since 1992, the national minimum wage has been agreed between social partners – bipartite meetings between Estonian Trade Union Confederation (EAKL) and Estonian Employers’ Confederation (ETTK) – and thereafter determined by government decree. Usually social partners bargain annually. Since 1999, the national monthly minimum wage has increased from €79.90 in 1999 to €390 in 2015. In addition, since 2001, there has been a national minimum wage agreement for cultural workers.

Wage bargaining coverage

Wages are usually determined in bipartite negotiations between the employer and the individual employee. According to collective agreements database analysis, collective agreements in Estonia are mostly used to determine wage conditions (93%) (Põldis and Proos, 2013).

Collective wage bargaining coverage of employees at different levels

Sources: Eurofound, European Company Survey 2013 (ECS), private sector companies with establishments >10 employees (NACE B-S) – multiple answers possible; Eurostat, Structure of Earnings survey, companies >10 employees (NACE B-S), single answer: more than 50% of employees covered by such an agreement. More information on methodology, see here.

In general, there have been no major changes in collective bargaining coverage. Collective bargaining coverage remains very low. According to the 2009 Work Life Survey, 32.7% of employees were covered by a collective agreement, while 5.4% said they did not know whether they were covered by a collective agreement or not. The survey also indicated that about 6% of companies had concluded a collective agreement. The difference in statistics (see table above) might be explained by the fact that during the economic crisis, many companies did not renew their collective agreements. Also, in 2012 an amendment in the collective agreement act allowed the unilateral ending of collective agreements. Looking at the collective agreement register data, the number of collective agreements was 64 in 2008 and decreased steadily to 29 in 2013. However, the register does not include data on all collective agreements.

Collective bargaining coverage – national data

* sectoral collective agreement between ETTA and AL regulating passenger transport (covers 14,000 employees) was valid from 1.02.2012-31.12.2012 and freight transport (covers 3,500 employees) from 01.01.2013-31.12.2013. Collective agreement in health care is valid till 31.12.2016 covering 25000 employees.

** The statutory minimum wage applies to all employees with employment contract.

Despite the fact that the collective agreement between ETTA and AL expired, this does not mean that employees are automatically not covered by collective agreement. Employers and employees are required by law to comply with the conditions of the open-ended collective agreement until they have reached a new agreement or until it is cancelled by one of the parties. According to available information, none of the parties have unilaterally terminated the agreement.

Bargaining levels

The dominant level of collective bargaining for setting pay, working time or any other issues in Estonia is the enterprise level. There are only a few sectoral and national level collective agreements.

Levels of collective bargaining – 2014

Articulation

National level collective agreement (minimum wage agreement) applies to all employees; sectoral level agreements are independent (two sectoral level agreements) and apply to all employees working in these sectors, company level agreement apply to employees of the company. Thus, the company might be covered by a sectoral level agreement, but it can still have its own collective agreement as well.  

Timing of the bargaining rounds

There is no specific pattern in relation to bargaining at the sectoral and workplace level.

Coordination

There are no specific coordination mechanisms.

Extension mechanisms

It is possible to conclude extended collective agreements which extend to the other parties who are not a signatory to the collective agreement (the scope of the enlargement is determined by a collective agreement). Such extended contracts may be the subject of pay, work and vacation conditions, and concluded by the association or federation of employers’ and workers’ union or federation, or employers’ and workers’ confederation. In practice, extended contracts are very uncommon in Estonia. Currently there are two extended sectoral collective agreements (transport and health care), but only one is a private sector collective agreement. Several problems have emerged on the issues of extending collective agreements, including the lack of employers’ and employees’ associations, representativeness criteria and control mechanisms.

Derogation mechanisms

It is not possible to derogate from collective wage agreements. However, it is possible that employers and employees agree to differentiate wages or pay rates according to group characteristics. There is no information to assess any derogation from collective agreements.

Expiry of collective agreements

As of 1 May 2012, the Estonian Parliament passed amendments to the Collective Agreement Act, establishing the right of a party to a collective agreement to unilaterally terminate it once it had expired. Previously, the agreement would automatically remain in place until a new deal was signed.

Other aspects of working life addressed in collective agreements

According to available information, 95% of the agreements in force at the end of the 2011 covered working conditions such as pay, annual leave, working time and skill development, and 84% covered occupational health and safety issues such as occupational health services in the company (Põldis and Proos 2012). Based on the social partners’ assessment, skill developments have been recently or are about to become the crucial topic covered in social dialogue and collective agreements. This was explained in the context of demand for skilled labour and demographic trends.

Industrial action and disputes

Legal aspects

Collective Labour Dispute Resolution Act (Kollektiivse töötüli lahendamise seadus) regulates industrial action types and therefore the rights of employees or associations or federations of employees to organise a strike and the right of employers or associations or federations of employers to lock out employees to resolve a labour dispute. The right to strike or lockout arises only if there is no prohibition against 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. In addition to strikes or lock outs, employees and their associations or federations have the right to organise warning strikes of up to one hour. Also, sympathy strikes are permitted in support of employees engaging in a strike. The duration of such strikes are decided by the parties, but may not last longer than three days. The representative, 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 or sympathy strike in writing at least three days in advance.

Incidence of different forms of Industrial action, 2010–2013

Percentage of private sector establishments reporting any form of Industrial action during the indicated period. Source: European Company Survey

Industrial action developments 2012–2014

Dispute resolution mechanisms

Collective dispute resolution mechanisms

If the parties to a dispute cannot reach an agreement by negotiations, they can turn to the National Conciliator (Riiklik Lepitaja), who leads the conciliation process. If the parties still cannot conclude an agreement, strikes and lock-outs are permitted. The parties also have the right of recourse to a labour dispute committee or the court for the resolution of the dispute.

Individual dispute resolution mechanisms

Individual labour disputes can be resolved by an agreement between the employee and the employer through the mediation of an employees’ trustee or a trade union. The parties have also the right to turn to local labour dispute committee or to court.

LDCs are independent, extra-judicial individual labour dispute resolution bodies and their introduction was motivated by the slow handling of cases in courts. Labour dispute committees are established within the local branches of the Labour Inspectorate (Tööinspektsioon) and have three members – the chair of the labour dispute committee and representatives of employees and employers who are appointed by the Estonian Trade Union Confederation (Eesti Ametiühingute Keskliit, EAKL) and the Estonian Employers' Confederation (Eesti Tööandjate Keskliit, ETTK). Also, there is a three-tier court system in Estonia with county/city courts and administrative courts, circuit courts, and the Supreme Court.

Individual employment relations

Individual employment relations are the relationship between the individual worker and their employer. This relationship is shaped by legal regulation and by the outcomes of social partner negotiations over the terms and conditions governing the employment relationship. This section looks into the start and termination of the employment relationship and entitlements and obligations in Estonia.

Start and termination of the employment relationship

Requirements regarding an employment contract

The Employment Contracts act (Töölepinguseadus, Article 7) stipulates that as a rule an employer shall not enter into an employment contract with a minor under 15 years of age or a minor subject to the obligation to attend school, or allow such a minor to work. However, exceptionally, an employer may enter into an employment contract with a minor of 13–14 years of age or a minor of 15–16 years of age subject to the obligation to attend school and allow him or her to work if the duties are simple and do not require any major physical or mental effort (light work). Minors of 7–12 years of age are allowed to do light work in the field of culture, art, sports or advertising.

The employment contract act (Article 4) stipulates that an employment contract shall be entered into in writing. An employment contract shall also be deemed entered into if an employee commences work which, under the circumstances, can be expected to be done only for remuneration.

Since 1 July 2014, all people who are employed or who are working on voluntary basis in Estonia must be registered in the new employment register by their employers (Taxation Act).The employment must be registered by the time the employee starts working.

Dismissal and termination procedures

Dismissal and termination procedures are described in the Employment Contracts Act. According to the Act, parties to the contract may terminate an employment contract at any time by agreement. However, the employee must notify the employer at least 30 days in advance, while the employer must notify the employee at least 15–90 days in advance (depending on length of service).

Contracts can also be terminated extraordinarily under certain circumstances. An employee can extraordinarily terminate a contract if they are unable to perform their duties or if the employer has committed a fundamental breach of obligation to the employee. The employer can terminate the contract if there are good reasons arising from a worker’s long-term inability to perform duties or for economic reasons such as decrease in work volume, reorganisation of work or bankruptcy.

In case of collective dismissal, the employer must inform and consult with employee representative or with the employees, if they do not have a representative, and notify the EUIF.

Entitlements and obligations

Parental, maternity and paternity leave

This section looks into parental, maternity and paternity leave terms and conditions.

Statutory leave arrangements

Sick leave

In case of sickness, the employee has the right to receive sickness benefit from the fourth day of illness. The first five days are paid by the employer; and from the ninth day by the EHIF. The amount of the benefit is 70% of the person’s average wage. The benefit is paid for a maximum of 182 consecutive calendar days, and for a total of maximum 250 calendar days per calendar year.

The employment contract act (Article 88) states that an employer may extraordinarily cancel an employment contract if the employee has for a long time (four months) been unable to perform his or her duties due to his or her state of health. Before cancellation of an employment contract the employer shall offer other work to the employee, accommodate his or her work, and provide training where possible.

Retirement age

According to State Pension Insurance Act (Article 7), as a rule, the  minimum formal retirement age is 63. At present, however, it varies for women depending on when they were born. As of 2016, the retirement age for both men and women will be 63 and it will be gradually increased to 65 by 2026 (read more about it here).

Pay

Minimum wages

The national minimum wage was first agreed in 1992 in a tripartite agreement. Since 2002 it is negotiated annually between EAKL and ETTK and then brought into effect by government decree (see link here). According to the latest agreement, in 2014 minimum wage is €355 and in 2015 it will be €390 per month (see link here).

For more information regarding the level and development of minimum wages, please see Eurofound’s annual update on developments in collectively agreed pay or visit Eurostat.

Collectively agreed pay outcomes

For more detailed information on the most recent outcomes in terms of collectively agreed pay, please consult Eurofound’s collectively wage bargaining portal or Eurofound’s most recent annual update on developments in collectively agreed pay.

Working time

Working time: ‘Any period during which the worker is working, at the employer’s disposal and carrying out his activities or duties, in accordance with national laws and/or practice’ (Directive 2003/88/EC). This section briefly summarises regulation and issues regarding working time, overtime, part-time work as well as working time flexibility in Estonia.

Working time regulation

The statutory working time regulation, including maximum working day and working week, are stipulated in the Employment Contracts Act. The statutory weekly working time in Estonia is 40 hours a week.

For more detailed information on working time (including annual leave, statutory and collectively agreed working time), please consult Eurofound’s most recent annual update on working time.

Overtime regulation

Overtime work is regulated by Employment Contracts act (Article 44). The regulation stipulates that an employer and employee may agree that the employee undertakes to do work over the agreed working time (overtime work). In general, overtime work shall be agreed between the parties in line with the principle of good faith. An employer may demand that an employee work overtime due to unforeseen circumstances pertaining to the enterprise or activity of the employer, in particular for prevention of damage. Also, the legislation excludes overtime work where it might be harmful for employee health.

An employer shall compensate for overtime work by time off equal to the overtime, unless it has been agreed that overtime is compensated for in money, in which case the employer should pay 1.5 times the normal hourly wage for each hour of overtime.

Part-time work

The Employment Contracts Act (Article 43) concludes that employer and employee can also agree on a shorter working time or part-time work. The exact working time is determined by individual or collective agreement. According to Eurostat LFS, the share of part-time workers in Estonia has stayed at around10%, around 10 percentage points lower than the EU28 average, over the last decade. Although the share increased very slightly during the end of the last decade, it is more likely due to the economic recession than other factors.

It should be noted that the formal definition and statistical definition do not match: different groups of people – employed persons compared to employees; different specifications  – fewer than 35 hours compared to fewer than 40 hours.

Working time flexibility

In principle, an employer and employee may agree the working hours and work schedule that best suits their interest, and the legislation only limits working time and places some restrictions on night work. However, the legislation favours employers’ discretion by stipulating that the employer has the right to establish the rules of work organisation; and that an employer may unilaterally change the organisation of working time, provided the changes arise from the needs of the employer’s enterprise and are reasonable, considering mutual interests ( Article 47).

The statistics indicate that 33% of employees have at least some discretion over their working time (EWCS 2010) and in 25% of establishments more than 80% of employees may adapt the start and end of their working day to their personal needs.

Proportion of establishments reporting what proportion of employees may adapt the start and end of their working day to their personal needs

Source: European Company Survey 2013

Health and well-being

Maintaining health and well-being should be a high-priority for workers and employers alike. Health is an asset closely associated with a person’s quality of life and longevity, as well as their ability to work. A healthy economy depends on a healthy workforce; organisations lose productivity through ill-health of their workers. This section looks into psychosocial risks and health and safety in Estonia.

Psychosocial risks

The foundation of occupational health and safety policy is the Occupational_Health_And_Safety_Act that entered into force in 1999. The act stipulates that, among other things, the purpose of the act is to guarantee the psychological and social well-being of an employee. The act defines psychological hazards (Article 9) as monotonous work or work not corresponding to the abilities of an employee, poor work organisation, working alone for an extended period of time, and other similar factors that may gradually cause changes in the mental state of an employee. In order to prevent mental stress, the employer shall adapt the work to suit the employee as much as possible (for instance, allow for breaks within the working time).

It has been argued that the safety legislation covers the areas of risk factors and measures in a general way, and does not address social and subjective factors, nor the dimension of communication in the organisation (European Commission 2011, p. 7)

Compared to the EU27 average, in Estonia the share of employees working to tight deadlines, working long hours, and having been subjected to discrimination is rather comparable (taking into account the margin of error of the sample). The share of employees working more than 10 hours a day once or more in a month has decreased, although this might be due to the economic turbulence during the second half of the last decade.

Selected working conditions indicators affecting psychosocial risks

Source: Eurofound’s European Working Conditions Survey

More detailed figures are available from Eurofound’s European Working conditions survey

Health and safety at work

The number of accidents at work decreased during the economic recession at the end of the last decade, and has increased during the economic recovery. Compared to EU28/EU27, the number of working days lost per 1,000 employees is somewhat lower in Estonia. However, it has been argued that workplace accidents are underreported in Estonia and also that the administrative system encourages the rule of staying-at-work or a quick return to work, after a work accident occurred.

Accidents at work, with four days’ absence or more – working days lost

Source: Eurostat, [hsw_mi01] and [lfsa_eegaed]

Skills, learning and employability

Skills are the passport to employment; the better skilled an individual, the more employable they are. Good skills also tend to secure better-quality jobs and better earnings. This section briefly summarises the Estonian system for ensuring skills and employability and looks into the extent of training.

National system for ensuring skills and employability

The institution that involves the social partners in skills and employability measures is the Estonian Qualifications Authority (Kutsekoda). The authority is developing a support structure for an occupational qualifications system to increase the competitiveness of Estonian employees and to promote the development, assessment, recognition and comparison of their occupational competence. The authority was established by the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, ETTK, the Ministry of Social Affairs, TALO, EAKL. In addition to the founders of the Authority, the Supervisory Board of the Authority includes a representative of the Ministry of Education and Research.

In 2012, a Task Force was established at the Government Office of Estonia to address and better manage the situation concerning skill needs and labour market imbalances. It was composed of officials from the Ministry of Education and Research, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of the Interior and the Foundation Innove, The Estonian Qualifications Authority, Enterprise Estonia, the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund, the Association of Municipalities of Estonia, and the Association of Estonian Cities.

The OECD recommended the establishment of this type of task force in its 2011 governance report. The Task Force concluded its activities in the summer of 2014. Under the leadership of the Task Force, the coordination system of the surveillance and forecasting of the labour market and the development of skills (the OSKA system) was created.

In the near future, the OSKA system should create a regular cooperation platform in order to plan the structure, volume, and the content of educational services between employers and parties offering educational services. It also combines and analyses information on the trends of the labour market and economy and forecasts labour needs. It ensures relevant regular outreach activities and supports the education system in planning the training places to take into account the professional and occupational needs in a better way.

As a result of the Task Force’s efforts to match skills to  labour market changes, every person in Estonia will soon be able to evaluate their own skills using a self-assessment online platform and find out what additional skills or knowledge they need to help them in their search for work. In addition, the changes taking place in the labour market will in the near future be documented through an annually updated database

The Minister of Education and Research will be responsible for implementing the system and the activity will be organised by the Estonian Qualifications Authority.

Training

The mission of the Ministry of Education and Research (Haridus-ja teadusministeerium) is to coordinate the education policy developments and create the conditions and prerequisites in order to ensure the lifelong learning possibilities for every Estonian citizen in an innovative and growth-oriented society.

EUIF is a quasi-governmental organisation, and a legal person in public law. The legal basis of the activities of EUIF is found in two acts: the Unemployment Insurance Act which describes the unemployment insurance system and the organisation of EUIF, and the Labour Market Services and Benefits Act, which contains the provisions concerning job mediation and related services, including labour market training, vocational training.

Proportion of employees receiving paid time off for training

Source: European Company Survey 2013

Work organisation

Work organisation underpins economic and business development and has important consequences for productivity, innovation and working conditions. Eurofound research finds that some types of work organisation are associated with a better quality of work and employment. Therefore, developing or introducing different forms of work organisation are of particular interest because of the expected effect on productivity, efficiency and competitiveness of companies, as well as on workers’ working conditions. Ongoing research by Eurofound, based on EurWORK, the European Working Conditions Survey and the European Company Survey , monitors developments in work organisation,

For Estonia the European Company Survey 2013 shows that between 2010 and 2013, 44.2% of establishments with 10 or more employees reported changes in the use of technology, 39.9% introduced changes in ways to coordinate and allocate the work to workers and 23.6% saw changes in their working time arrangements.

Equality and non-discrimination at work

The Estonian constitution stipulates that everyone is equal before the law and no one shall be discriminated against on the basis of nationality, race, colour, sex, language, origin, religion, political or other opinion, property or social status, or on other grounds. On 11 December 2008, the parliament approved the Equal Treatment Act that took effect from 1 January 2009 and that ensures the protection of persons against discrimination on grounds of nationality (ethnic origin), race, colour, religion or other beliefs, age, disability or sexual orientation. The Act regulates the principles of equal treatment; the duties upon implementation and promotion of the principle of equal treatment; and resolution of discrimination disputes. According to the law, the Gender Equality and Equal Treatment Commissioner position was created, an independent and impartial expert who acts independently, monitors compliance with the requirements of this Act and the Gender Equality Act and performs other functions imposed by law

Equal pay and gender pay gap

The Equal Treatment Act ensures the protection of persons against discrimination on grounds of nationality (ethnic origin), race, colour, religion or other beliefs, age, disability or sexual orientation. There is no other specific law ensuring equal pay for equal work. Information on gender pay gap has been available since 2006. The unadjusted gender pay gap has remained much the same at around 29–30% from 2006–2012, with a slight decline to 26.6 in 2009. According to Statistics Estonia, which started to measure the GPG as of 2011, it was 22.9% in 2011, 24.6% in 2012 and 24.8% in 2013. The difference between Eurostat and national statistics is likely caused by different data (Estonian Enterprise Register data) and by the fact that Statistics Estonia includes small enterprises (below 10 people) and all fields of activities excluded by Eurostat such as public administration, agriculture, forestry and fishing.

The first comprehensive study on the gender pay gap was conducted in 2009–2010. It analysed the unadjusted and adjusted gender pay gap in Estonia and gave policy recommendations to reduce it. In 2014, another study on the gender wage gap was conducted.

There are no legislative support measures for addressing the gender pay gap. However, in 2012, action to reduce gender pay gap was approved by the government in five areas:

• improving the implementation of the existing gender equality act, for instance, through improvement of the collection of statistics and awareness raising;
• improving family, work and private life reconciliation by working with employers;
• gender mainstreaming, especially in the fields of education and employment policies;
• reducing gender segregation in the labour market and education;
• analysing organisational practices and pay systems, and improving the situation where necessary.

There are no reoccurring social partner initiatives regarding gender pay gap.

Quota regulations

There are no provisions for quotas in Estonia.

Bibliography

European Commission (2011), Report on the implementation of the European social partners’ framework agreement on work-related stress, Commission staff working paper, COM(2011) 241 final, Brussels.

Põldis, E. and Proos, M. (2013), Kollektiivlepingud Eestis, Teemaleht Sotsiaalministeeriumi Toimetised 1/2013, Sotsiaalministeerium, Tallinn.

Sotsiaalministeerium (2010), Eesti tööelu-uuring 2009 [Estonian Work Life Survey 2009], Sotsiaalministeeriumi toimetused nr 3/2011, Tallinn.