Part II: Working in estonia

The second part of the material dis- cusses mattes related to employment contracts (signing and termination) and remuneration, work time and rest time, and solving labour disputes. The rights and obligations related to holi- days are also explained. Additionally, the material discusses the field of con- cealed employment relations and the employees’ opportunities to belong to unions and the possibilities opening up through that.

Work has a very important role in Estonian culture and the worldview of Estonian people. As the country is small, the work-related structures in Estonia are less hierarchical and more flexible. Hard-working nature is highly valued in Estonian society, so it may be easier to move up on a career lad- der and to achieve self-actualisation in Estonia.

Work-related matters can be agreed in three main types of contracts – an employment contract, a contract for services and an authorisation agreement.

2.1. Employment contract

When starting to work, it is very im- portant to sign a written contract set- ting out the rights and obligations of both the employee and the employer, as well as other significant matters concerning the work. The existence of a contract provides you with certain- ty that agreements are kept and also serves as a clear basis for solving any disputes.

An employment contract may be signed for a fixed term or an indefinite term.

A fixed-term employment contract may be signed only for a justified rea- son and for the time of performing work that has a temporary nature, for example in case of a temporary increase of work volumes, to per- form seasonal works or to substitute for an absent employee. Therefore, it must be known at the time of signing a fixed-term employment contract that the agreed work will end. In the employment contract, the employer must clarify the reasons for signing a fixed-term employment contract so that the employee understands it. A fixed-term employment contract may be signed for up to five years or for the duration of substituting for an absent employee. No more than two fixedterm employment contracts may be signed for work of a similar nature, and a fixed-term employment con- tract may be extended only once in the five-year period. If a third consec- utive contract is signed for work of a similar nature or a contract is extend- ed for the second time then it is con- sidered that the employment contract has an indefinite validity term since its signing. Contracts are consecutive if the time between one contract’s end and the other’s beginning does not exceed two months.

If the employee does not continue working after the term’s end then the employment contract expires upon the term’s end. But if the employee continues working after the term’s end and the employer does not ex- press a wish to the contrary within five days of becoming aware of it then the employment contract is considered to have an indefinite term.

Employment contracts in Estonia are governed by the Employment Contracts Act. The natural person (employee) works for the other per- son (employer) under the employ- ment contract in subordination to the management and supervision of the employer. The employer undertakes to remunerate the employee for such work. Pursuant to the legislation, the employer and the employee conclude a written employment contract (see exceptions below).

The written document of an em- ployment contract must include at least the following data: • Details of both parties (name, per- sonal identification code or regis- tration code, residence or domicile); • Date of conclusion of the employ- ment contract and employee’s starting date; • In the case of a fixed-term employ- ment contract, the duration of the contract and the basis for entry into the fixed-term contract; • Official title if it is supplemented with legal effects; • Job description; • Place or region where the work is to be performed; • Other benefits where applicable; • Working hours during which the employee is to perform the duties agreed upon; • Length of the employee’s leave; • Reference to the term(s) for ad- vance notice concerning termina- tion of employment contract; • Rules of working order established by the employer; • Reference to the collective agree- ment, if a collective agreement ap- plies to the employee; • Wage conditions (the remunera- tion agreed upon (wage), additional remuneration, the basis for calcu- lating the remuneration, the proce- dure for payment and when wages are payable (pay day), the charges and taxes to be paid and withheld by the employer).

NB! Taxes will be withheld from the salary indicated in the contract – that is why the sum that will be transferred to your bank account will be smaller than the one written in the contract!

An employment contract is entered into in duplicate original copies, one of which is retained by the employee and one by the employer.

An oral employment contract may be entered into only for employ- ment lasting less than two weeks.

An employment contract may be amended only by the agreement of the parties. Amendments to the terms of an employment contract are formalised in writing in the em- ployment contract. If a dispute should arise between the employer and the employee, both parties have the right to turn to a labour dispute committee or court.

Work conditions may be agreed not only in the employment contract but also in a collective agreement. Collective agreements are not wide- spread in Estonia but it is still worth finding out whether there is one when starting to work.

Probationary period The goal of a probationary period is to provide the employer and the em- ployee an opportunity to assess the compliance of the employee’s health status, knowledge, skills, abilities and personal characteristics with the lev- el required for the work. During the probationary period, the employer assesses the employee’s suitability for the agreed work and the employ- ee can find out his or her abilities and willingness to work in that position.

The maximum duration of a proba- tionary period is 4 months. With an employment contract, the parties may agree in writing that the probationary period is not applied or is shortened. During or immediately after the pro- bationary period, the employment contract may be terminated. Read more about the termination of an em- ployment contract during the proba- tionary period in the next chapter.

Various bases for termination of employment contracts

By agreement of the parties The employee and the employer may terminate the employment contract at any time if they so agree. To terminate an employment contract by agree- ment, one party must make a rele- vant proposal to the other party and the other party must express his or her unambiguous consent. To avoid later disputes, the termination of the employment contract by agreement should be formalised in writing.

Upon expiry of the term Only a fixed-term employment con- tact can be terminated by expiry of its term. Pursuant to the law, the par- ties do not have to inform each other of the arrival of the term’s expiry but common sense dictates that it is preferable that the employer remind the employee about the nearing of the term’s expiry.

If the employee continues working after the contract’s term expires then the contract is considered to have an indefinite term, except if the employer expresses a wish to the contrary with-

in five days after the employer be- came aware or should have become aware that the employee continues to fulfil the employment contract. To avoid later disputes, the termination of an employment contract by expiry of its term should also be formalised in writing.

By cancellation An employment contract must be cancelled with a cancellation state- ment issued in a format reproducible in writing. Any cancellation ignoring that form requirement is void.

Format reproducible in writing ena- bles sending the cancellation state- ment by e.g. E-mail or fax. This format does not require signing by hand. It is also allowed to present the cancella- tion statement in written format i.e. on paper with signature by hand or by e-mail with digital signature. In case of disputes, the party having presented the cancellation statement must be able to prove its presentation.

The cancellation of an employment contract must not be conditional i.e. the cancellation of an employment contract must not be connected to a circumstance, the arrival of which is not certain. The statement must in- dicate the basis for the cancellation; in case of extraordinary cancellation, the reason must be stated; and the end date of the employment contract must be stated in any case. It is recom- mended to reason in the statement of extraordinary cancellation why the legally required advance notification times were not followed.

During the probationary period The employee and the employer may cancel a fixed-term or an indefinite-term employment contract during the probationary period, informing the other party 15 calendar days in advance. If the employer or the em- ployee informs about the cancellation for a shorter period in advance, the employee or the employer is entitled to compensation in the amount of the employee’s average workday’s remu- neration for each workday that the ad- vance notification period was shorter.

The employer must not cancel the employment contract for a reason contrary to the probationary period’s goal. Therefore, the cancellation’s reasoning must be connected to the probationary period’s goal and it must be stated in a format reproducible in writing. The employee does not have to provide the employer with reasons for the cancellation of an employment contract during the probationary period.

Planned cancellation An employer cannot cancel an em- ployment contract by way of planned cancellation.

Only an employee can cancel an em- ployment contract by way of planned cancellation, informing the employer 30 calendar days in advance. If the employee informs about the employ- ment contract’s cancellation for less than 30 calendar days in advance, the employer has the right to demand that the employee pay compensation for the number of days that the advance notification period was shorter, based on § 100 (5) of the Employment Contracts Act.

The compensation is the employee’s average workday’s remuneration for every workday included in the period by which the advance notification was shorter. An employee may cancel an indefinite-term employment contract, but also a fixed-term employment contract signed for the purpose of substituting for an absent employee. No fixed-term employment contract signed for any other reasons can be cancelled by way of planned cancel- lation. In case of planned cancellation, the employee does not have to pro- vide the employer with reasons for the cancellation.

Extraordinary cancellation Extraordinary cancellation of an em- ployment contract is permitted only with good reasons and respecting the advance notification periods set out in the law. Both parties may cancel an employment contract in extraordi- nary manner for a good reason. Ex- traordinary cancellation of an employ- ment contract must be reasoned by the party presenting the cancellation statement and the reasoning must be stated in a format reproducible in writ-

ing or in written format.

The employer may extraordinarily cancel an employment contract for reasons stemming from the employ- ee or for economic reasons.

Reasons stemming from the employ- ee may be that the employee: • is unable to continue working due to his or her state of health; • cannot cope with work duties due to insufficient knowledge or skills;

• has ignored the employer’s orders; • has been at work in a state of intoxication; • has stolen, defrauded, damaged the employer’s property; • has caused mistrust; • has violated the obligation to keep secrets and confidentiality.

An employer may cancel an employ- ment contract for economic reasons if it becomes impossible to continue the employment relation under the agreed conditions due to reduced

2.2 Remuneration

Remuneration is an obligatory condi- tion to be set out in an employment contract – i.e. the employee and the employer must agree about the re- muneration paid for the work. The employment contract (a written doc- ument) must state: • the remuneration agreed upon signing the employment contract, incl. the pay depending on eco- nomic results and transactions (as gross amount); • the manner of calculating the remuneration (time-based or item-based); • the manner of payment (bank transfers or cash payments); • the pay day (at least once per month); • the taxes and contributions withheld from the remuneration (income tax, social tax, etc. – may be stated as a reference to legislation).

It can be agreed additionally in the employment contract or the collective agreement, what share of the remu- neration is made up by the base sal- ary, additional pays, bonuses, added pays, benefits, etc. If the parties agree that overtime is compensated in money then 1.5 times the remunera- tion must be paid to the employee for every hour of overtime.

For night time work, the employer must pay 1.25 times the remunera- tion. It can be agreed in the employ- ment contract that remuneration also includes the pay for night time work.

All benefits (additional pays) are clear- ly stated parts of the remuneration. The employer is obligated to keep clear and detailed accounts of the remuneration and to present these accounts to the employee upon the work volumes or work reorganisation or other cases of work ending.

The employer must inform the em- ployee about extraordinary cancella- tion for the following number of days; if the employee’s employment rela- tion with that employer has lasted for: • less than 1 work year – at least 15 calendar days; • 1–5 work years – at least 30 cal- endar days; • 5–10 work years – at least 60 cal- endar days; • 10 and more work years – at least 90 calendar days.

latter’s request. If a remuneration agreement cannot be proven then a labour dispute committee or a court considers the remuneration to be equal to the usual remuneration paid for similar work. The employee must prove the remuneration paid to other employees performing similar work in the same company or elsewhere.

If the employer does not pay taxes on the employee’s remuneration and the employee does it instead, the employ- ee has the right to demand that the employer compensate him or her the incurred damage (e.g. the amounts of taxes and contributions paid).

If a pay day is a national holiday or a rest day then the pay day is consid- ered to be the workday preceding it.

The employer must pay the employee: • average remuneration while the employee is in work-related training; • average remuneration while the employer does not provide him or her with work; • remuneration for the time that the employee performs a trustee’s duties; • average remuneration while the employee is unable to work due to personal reasons (being at a physi- cian, in a state authority, at a funer- al, etc.).

Special cases of paying remuneration • If compensating overtime with money, the employer pays the em- ployee 1.5 times the remuneration. • For night time work (from 22:00 to 6:00), the employer pays the

employee 1.25 times the remuner- ation. The parties may agree that the remuneration includes the pay for night time work. If the employ- ee receives a minimum salary then it cannot include the pay for night time work. • If the work time is on a national hol- iday, the employer pays 2 times the remuneration for the work. • Overtime work, night time work and work performed on nation- al holidays may be compensat- ed as rest time if agreed with the employee.

Pay on economic results If the employment contract states that the employee has the right to receive a part of the employer’s profit or turn- over then the employee’s part is cal- culated on the basis of the employer’s approved annual report. The employ- ee’s part must be paid out within 6 months from the approval of the an- nual report.

Pay on transactions If it is agreed that the employee has the right to receive agent’s commis- sions on mediation or preparation of contracts, the employer must pay that in compliance with the Law of Obliga- tions Act.

Pays on economic results and trans- actions are parts of remuneration and are taken into account when calculat- ing the average remuneration and in other cases related to remuneration.

Compensating training expenses The employee and the employer may agree in writing that the employer makes additional expenses for the employee’s training (in addition to the obligatory costs) and the employee works for the employer for a certain time in order to compensate those expenses (a bound period – not more than 3 years). The employee must compensate the employer’s incurred additional costs proportionally to the time left until the end of the bound period if: • the employee cancels the employ- ment contract before the bound period passes (except if the rea- son for cancelling the employment contract is the employer’s violation of the employment contract); • the employer cancels the employ- ment contract before the bound period passes and the reason for the cancelling is the employee’s vi- olation of the employment contract. An agreement with a minor to com- pensate training expenses is void.

Reducing the remuneration The employer has the right to subject the employees to the national min- imum salary for up to 3 months in a year if unforeseen temporary eco- nomic hardship independent from the employer occurs. The rights and obli- gations of the parties in that case: • the employer must inform the em- ployees about the remuneration reduction 14 days in advance and initiate consultations to discuss the subsequent work arrangement; • before reducing the remuneration, the employer must offer another job if possible; • the employee has the right to re- fuse to perform work duties pro- portionally to the reduction of remuneration; • the employee has the right to cancel the employment contract with a 5 day advance notice and to receive re- dundancy compensation (1 month’s average remuneration from the em- ployer, the rest from Töötukassa).

Compensating the employee’s expenses The employer must compensate all reasonable expenses that the employ- ee has incurred when performing work duties. It is forbidden to compensate these expends on account of the em- ployee’s remuneration.

Business trip expenses • Daily allowance must be paid in case of business trips abroad; • In case of business trips within the country, the employee has the right to demand the compensation of expenses (e.g. transport, commu- nication, accommodation, etc.); • the employee has the right to de- mand prepayment and to refuse to go to the business trip if no prepay- ment is made.

Returning the remuneration The employer may demand the return of unjustified remuneration or prepay- ment paid to the employee, doing so within 12 months from the receipt of the remuneration or prepayment. Pre- payment can be withheld from the remuneration without the employee’s consent. To withhold the remunera- tion, the employee’s written consent is required and the consent cannot be given before incurring the right to offset.

In Estonia, labour disputes are settled by the Labour Inspectorate. It is quicker and simpler to solve a labour dispute between an employee and an employer in a labour dispute committee of the Labour Inspectorate than in a court. The procedure is free if charge and the committee usually makes a decision within 30 days.

A labour dispute case is reviewed by the head of the labour dispute committee as the state’s representative, plus a representative of employees and of employers. The three-member committee hears out both parties of the dispute and makes a decision, which is compulsory for the parties. If the parties do not agree with the labour dispute committee’s decision, they can turn to a court. The sessions of labour dispute committees take place in all county centres of Estonia.

Labour Inspectorate can also provide legal counselling in labour matters. The lawyer hotline 640 6000 is open for questions every workday at 9:00–16:30. The hotline is answered by the Labour Inspectorate’s lawyers, advising about employment contracts and collective agreements, work time and rest time, holidays, remuneration and work environment safety. You can also ask a lawyer over e-mail: jurist@ ti.ee.

E-mails are also answered in English if necessary.

The Work Life Portal www.tooelu.ee (in Estonian and Russian) is a thematic joint portal of the Labour Inspectorate, the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Health Board and the National Institute for Health Development, gathering information from authorities regulating work life concerning employment relations, work environment, occupational health and safety, and related topics. Among the rest, the portal offers work environment manuals for various fields of activity, the contact data of providers of occupational health and safety services, and information about the use of holidays, the payment of remuneration, health promotion, and other topics.

The Labour Inspectorate also performs state supervision over compliance with the requirements set out in the legislation. All this has the goal of contributing to the improvement of the quality of work life.

For example, a labour inspector is obligated to: • investigate fatal occupational accidents and if necessary then cases of occupational illnesses and other occupational accidents; • perform supervision over the investigation of occupational accidents and over the implementation of measures to prevent occupational accidents and illnesses; • inspect the compliance of work conditions in a new or reconstructed building with the prescribed requirements; • stop the performance of works hazardous to the life of the worker or other people and prohibit the use of tools hazardous to life.

2.4 Work time and rest time

Duration of work time Full work time is 40 hours per week or 8 hours per day.

The employer and the employee may agree to use part time work i.e. shorter than full work time. For example, the employee will work for 20 hours a week.

Rest time • Daily rest time • The employee must rest for at least 11 consecutive hours per 24 hour period. Thus, a work shift together with overtime must not exceed 13 hours.

• Weekly rest time • The employee must rest for at least 48 consecutive hours per week. In case of summarised work time accounting, the employee must rest for at least 36 consecutive hours per week. • Rest breaks during workday • The employee must get rest breaks during workday. After working for 6 hours, the employee has the right to rest for at least 30 minutes. • Rest breaks during workday are not accounted into work time. Rest breaks during workday can be accounted into work time if What are the advantages of a labour dispute committee over courts?

Read more about the services of Labour Inspectorate on the Inspectorate’s website: www.ti.ee

How long is annual holiday and how is it granted?

When does a holiday claim expire? rest breaks cannot be provided due to the nature of the work. In that case, the employee must be able to rest and dine during the work time. • Shortened work time before national holidays • The workdays preceding the New Year’s Eve, the anniversary of the Republic of Estonia, the Victory Day and the Christmas Eve are shortened by three hours. • The employer must shorten the workday immediately preceding the aforementioned national holidays.

2.5. Holiday

Annual holiday An employee has the right to an annual holiday of 28 calendar days per calendar year. In the first work year, the employee has the right to an annual holiday if he or she has worked for the employer for at least six months. In that case, the holiday is granted for a number of days proportional to the time worked in the calendar year.

Holiday schedule

An employer prepares a holiday schedule for every calendar year, accounting for the employees’ reasonable wishes.

The holiday schedule must be made available to the employees within the first quarter of the calendar year.

The following persons have the right to holiday at the time convenient for them: • women immediately before and after pregnancy and maternity leave or immediately after childcare leave; • men immediately after childcare leave or during their wife’s pregnancy and maternity leave; • a parent raising a child of up to 7 years of age; • a parent raising a child of 7-10 years of age – during the child’s summer holidays; • a minor subject to compulsory school attendance – during the summer holidays. • Annual holiday expires in one year after the end of the holiday year.

Holiday pay An employee must be paid holiday pay in full no later than on the penultimate workday before the start of the holiday.

The parties may agree a different time of paying the holiday pay but it must not be later than the first pay day after the holiday. An employee having worked for at least six months during the first work year has the right to a holiday for a number of days proportional to the number of months worked. It means that half a year after starting to work, the employee may take a holiday for half the prescribed holiday duration. Minor-aged employees, women before or after their pregnancy and maternity leave and employees having partially lost their work capacity after work-related health damage are entitled to full holiday regardless of the time worked.

Upon end of an employment contract, the employer is obligated to compensate any unused unexpired annual holiday vacation to the employee in money.

The time of the annual holiday is set by the employer, accounting for the employee’s wishes if those are compatible with the employer’s interests. The employer prepares a holiday schedule. An annual holiday lasts for at least 28 calendar days. A calendar day means all days from Monday to Sunday.

The annual holiday of minors and persons receiving incapacity for work pension is at least 35 calendar days. The annual holiday of employees in education and research is up to 56 calendar days. An employer has the right to refuse to divide annual holidays into shorter than 7 day periods.

Holidays are granted for a worked calendar year, within the year, and the time being the basis for granting holidays does not include the time spent on childcare leave or holiday without pay.

Holiday without pay If necessary, an employee may apply for a holiday without pay. To do so, an application must be filed with the employer, stating clearly the wish to use holiday without pay and the time of using it. Holiday without pay is nor

mally granted only with an agreement between the employer and the em- ployee. An employer is obligated to grant an employee holiday without pay for taking final exams of upper secondary schools and entrance ex- ams of vocational education institu- tions, professional higher education institutions or universities, if the em- ployee so requests.

Study leave Working people can take a study leave for adult formal education and in-service training under the Adult Ed- ucation Act for 30 calendar days per calendar year, if the provider of the education or training has an activity li- cense or has filed a notice of econom- ic activity. During a study leave grant- ed for work-related self-development, the average remuneration is paid for 20 days.

Study leave is also granted for partic- ipation in adult formal education and in-service training in an equivalent educational institution of a foreign country.

During the study leave, the employee is paid a study leave pay for 20 cal- endar days, based on the employee’s average calendar day’s remuneration.

An additional study leave of 15 calendar days is granted for the completion of adult formal education, and the study leave pay calculated on the basis of the minimum remuneration is paid for this. An employer may refuse to grant a study leave for the completion of adult formal education if the employer has already granted a study leave to the same employee for the completion of the same curriculum.

Other additional forms of holiday Additionally, the following holidays and leaves are available in Estonia:

Pregnancy and maternity leave A woman has the right to a pregnan- cy and maternity leave of 140 calen- dar days, which she may take starting from the 70th calendar day before the estimated date of birth. If a woman starts using a pregnancy and mater- nity leave less than 30 calendar days before the estimated date of birth, the leave is shortened by that duration.

During a pregnancy and maternity leave, the Health Insurance Fund pays maternity benefit for the mother. The amount of maternity benefit is 100% of the employee’s average remunera- tion for one calendar day, calculated on the basis of the calendar year preced- ing the taking of the pregnancy and maternity leave. The benefit is paid out as a lump sum.

Paternity leave A father has the right to receive a total of 10 working days of paternity leave during the two months before the es- timated date of birth determined by a doctor or midwife and during the two months after the birth of the child. The purpose of the paternity leave is to provide fathers with more free time to spend with their child and family.

The use of the paternity leave does not depend on whether or not the child’s mother is using a pregnan- cy and maternity leave. It is also not important for the use of the paterni- ty leave whether the child’s father is married to the child’s mother or not.

Adoptive parent leave An adoptive parent of a child under 10 years of age has the right to adoptive parent leave of 70 calendar days as of the date of entry into force of the court judgement approving the adop- tion, and the leave can be used by one parent at a time. The adoptive parent has the right to 100 percent of the av- erage remuneration per calendar day, calculated on the basis of the calendar year preceding the court judgement approving the adoption.

Child care leave A mother or father has the right to child care leave until his or her child reaches the age of three years. Child care leave may be used by one person at a time, and either as a single full pe- riod or in parts at any time. For exam- ple, the child care leave can be taken by one parent in the beginning, then by the other parent, then by neither of them and later by one of them again. It must be kept in mind when using the leave that in the period after the child’s birth until the child attains 70 days of age, only the mother is eligible for childcare benefit.

Child leave Each calendar year a mother or father has the right to receive child leave for 3 working days if she or he has one or two children under 14 years of age, or for 6 working days if she or he has at least three children under 14 years of age or at least one child under 3 years of age.

Child leave without pay A mother and father who is raising a child of up to 14 years of age or a disa- bled child of up to 18 years of age has the right to child leave without pay of

Estonian Trade Union Confederation

Estonian Transport and Road Workers Trade Union

Estonian Service and Retail industry Trade Union up to ten working days every calendar year. Child leave without pay can be taken by not only a parent but also the child’s guardian or a person with whom a foster parenting agreement has been signed. Read more here: •

2.6. Employee representation and collective relations

A trade union is an organisation founded only at the wish and initiative of employees to improve the working and living conditions in joint action of employees and in collaboration with the employee and to protect the employees’ rights and interests. Trade unions are independent from employers, state authorities and other organisations.

Services provided by trade unions to their members: • Introducing employees to their legal rights; • negotiating with employers for better salaries and work conditions; • protecting employees from the employer’s arbitrary power in employment relations; • protecting employees from discrimination at workplace; • supporting employees in disputes or labour disagreements with the employer;

• ensuring the help of a lawyer in solving disputes; • helping ensure the certainty of job and increase the feeling of security in work life; • creating a feeling of cohesion in the workplace; • participating actively in arranging the work life of employees.

The joining of trade unions is voluntary in Estonia. If you wish to join a trade union, ask for more information from your employer’s human resources department or directly from the trade union.

Major trade union organisations: • Estonian Trade Union Confederation - www.eakl.ee • Estonian Employees’ Unions’ Confederation TALO - www.talo.ee/

2.7 Other employment relationships

The following forms of employment relationships are allowed in Estonia, but only in very specific cases.

2.7.1. Practical training

Pursuant to Estonian law, practical training (apprenticeship) in a company or an authority is possible in only two cases: first, if a school refers a student to practical training of the vocation or profession being learned, and second, if a person has become, is registered as unemployed and Töötukassa offers the labour market service of practical training.

If there are people who wish to learn a new profession by practical training and not in a school or through Töötukassa then for example a twoway contract for practical training is signed with a company. The contract sets out the duties that the trainee will perform. Depending on the trainee’s work results and/or an agreement with the employer, the trainee may also be paid remuneration.

2.7.2. Trial day

An employer cannot demand unpaid performance of work on trial days. The employer is exempt from paying remuneration for a trial day only if the person attended the trial day solely to observe the future workplace and did not perform any work tasks and any real work.

Pursuant to the law, work trial is a service provided by Töötukassa and lasts for one day. Work trial lets the person try working in the offered position and lets the employer obtain certainty that the candidate is suitable for the position before signing the employment contract. The prerequisite for arranging work trial is that the employer is using the services of Töötukassa when looking for a person to fill the vacancy.

2.7.3. Voluntary work

Voluntary work is work performed under free will and without expect-

ing to be paid for it. The website of Töötukassa states that the purpose of voluntary work is to increase a person’s chances of obtaining a job, help prepare the person for work life, provide the person with new experience and knowledge, and help the person acquire or preserve working habits. Voluntary work can include various activities for the benefit of the public and the society. Voluntary work is primarily seen as something done in the field of culture, education, social work, environment protection or other public interest.