Social partners start talks on collective agreement for bus drivers
- Trade union activities
Thousands of signatures were collected in spring 2025 to stop the draft!
The Estonian Trade Union Confederation, together with other trade unions, calls on you to support and sign the petition to suspend the procedure of the draft Act amending the Employment Contracts Act and other Acts (602 SE) in the Riigikogu. We would like to refer the draft back to the ministry that drafted it, so that the Confederation of Estonian Employers and the Confederation of Estonian Trade Unions have the opportunity to negotiate the amendments to the Employment Contracts Act and to remove a number of important shortcomings in the draft that threaten workers' rights and security.
- Unstable work and income for the worker
The draft allows all workers in Estonia to sign employment contracts that guarantee them only 10 hours of work per week. For the rest, the worker's working hours and pay will be at the employer's discretion. This means that the worker's income can be volatile and unpredictable.
- No flexibility for the employee
There is no flexibility for the worker in the draft, as he or she will not be able to unilaterally refuse extra hours after signing the time sheet. However, in the case of cumulative working time, the timetable can be agreed for a period of months, or even up to 12 months in exceptional cases. Therefore, the employee needs the employer's agreement to change the schedule after signing it.
- Shifting business risks onto workers' shoulders
Under the current law, an employer may temporarily reduce pay in times of economic hardship (§ 37). Under the draft, this provision will become meaningless in essence, as the employer can simply give the employee fewer hours of work. The entrepreneurial risk is thus transferred to the worker - without the worker being able to unilaterally terminate the contract and receive unemployment insurance benefits.
- Overtime and possibility of extra pay disappears
Under the draft, a worker cannot work overtime under a flexible working arrangement and will therefore not receive higher pay. Under such an agreement, the employer can agree with the part-time worker to work additional hours up to full time, so that overtime does not formally occur. In practice, this means that in the future, all employment contracts may be based on flexible working hours and the concept of part-time work will lose its current meaning.
Trade unions believe that Estonian workers need flexibility, but not at the expense of their rights. Therefore, the draft amendment to the Employment Contracts Act (602 SE) needs to be thoroughly reviewed to protect people's interests and to ensure a fair and stable employment relationship for workers.
Thank you for continuous support to our campaign to suspend the draft 602 SE in the Riigikogu.
Flexible working arrangements in 2025 I Variable-hour contracts in 2023
2025
The Estonian Confederation of Trade Unions does not support the draft amendment to the Employment Contracts Act because it weakens the protection of workers' rights and ignores the principles of social dialogue. The draft has been submitted to the Government of the Republic and on to the Riigikogu without taking into account the trade unions' proposals.
The draft amendment to the Employment Contracts Act (605 SE) does not take into account the role of collective agreements and does not comply with EU directives on collective bargaining and minimum wages. Trade unions consider this approach unacceptable. The draft needs to be suspended in the Riigikogu and thoroughly reworked in cooperation with the social partners.
The proposed changes will allow for employment contracts of only 10 hours per week, which will mean instability in workload and income for workers. It also restricts the right of workers to refuse extra hours and reduces the rest time of timetabled workers, endangering people's health and worsening family relations.
2024
Variable-hour contracts were transformed during the discussions into flexible working arrangements. In tripartite meetings with employers and officials, the Estonian Trade Union Confederation (EAKL) stressed the need to ensure that workers' rights are protected and that working time arrangements are transparent.
The trade union confederation pointed out that workers' interest in flexible working hours is low and that flexible working does not provide sufficient economic security. The Confederation believes that it was and is important to reduce the share of contractual obligations, to ensure that workers have secure working time and pay, and to make agreements on flexible working hours voluntary. Workers must have the right to refuse additional hours, workloads should be regularly reviewed and, if necessary, the number of guaranteed hours increased.
The EAKL also stressed the importance of clear and comprehensible timesheets, preferably with a one-month reference period. For vulnerable target groups, such as people with reduced working capacity, flexible working time arrangements should have been implemented only through collective agreements. Among the proposed amendments was a proposal to limit the additional hours to 25% to the agreed working time.
2023
There were a number of discussions on the pilot project on variable hour contracts. An initial evaluation showed that the agreements were little used and that staff interest was modest. However, the suitability of these agreements for seasonal work was positively highlighted by employers.
The Estonian Confederation of Trade Unions (EAKL) considered that no changes were needed as the project had not proved itself in practice. At the end of the year, the EAKL proposed to target working time flexibility at specific groups, such as students, and to extend it to different sectors through collective agreements.
Author of cartoons: Urmas Nemvalts