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Employees’ Trustee Act¹

Passed 13.12.2006
RT I 2007, 2, 6
Entry into force 01.02.2007

Amended by the following legal instruments (show)

Chapter 1 GENERAL PROVISIONS  

§ 1.  Scope of application of Act

 (1) This Act regulates the activities of an employees’ trustee (hereinafter trustee) in representing the employees and officials (hereinafter employee), who authorised the trustee, in relations with the employer and the employees.
[RT I, 06.07.2012 – entry into force 01.04.2013]

 (2) For the purposes of this Act, an employer in public service is a state or local government authority.

§ 2.  Trustee

 (1) A trustee is an employee of an employer who is elected by the general meeting of the employees of the employer (hereinafter general meeting) as their representative in the performance of the duties arising from the law in relations with the employer.

 (2) A trustee is deemed to be an employees’ representative for the purposes of the Employment Contracts Act of the Republic of Estonia.

§ 3.  Right of representation of trustee

  In case of several trustees, every trustee may represent the employees in the performance of all duties arising from the law, unless the general meeting has decided that the trustees or some of them may represent the employees jointly.

§ 4.  Co-operation between trustee and employer

  A trustee and an employer are to co-operate in the spirit of mutual trust and in good faith, taking into account the rights, obligations and interests of the employees and the employer.

Chapter 2 ELECTION AND AUTHORITY OF TRUSTEE  

§ 5.  Calling of general meeting

 (1) The general meeting may be called by:
 1) a trade union operating at the employer,
 2) the majority of the members of a trade union who are employed with the employer if the trade union has not been founded at the employer, or
 3) at least 10 per cent of the employees of the employer.

 (2) The person who calls the general meeting must notify the employees of the reason for calling and the time of the general meeting at least two weeks in advance.

§ 6.  Quorum of general meeting

  The general meeting has a quorum if at least half of the employees of the employer participate in the meeting.

§ 7.  Election and removal of trustee

 (1) The general meeting decides the conditions and the procedure for the election and removal of a trustee.

 (2) The conditions and the procedure for the election and removal of a trustee must ensure that all employees have the possibility to participate in the election and removal of a trustee.

 (3) The trustee is elected by secret ballot. Candidates for trustee may be presented by all employees and the trade union operating at the employer.

 (4) Upon agreement with the employer, the general meeting may elect several trustees.

 (5) Trustees may elect from among themselves a chief trustee who is to organise the activities of the trustees.

 (6) The general meeting must immediately notify the employer in writing or in a form reproducible in writing of the election of the trustee and the term of their authority and of removal of the trustee.

 (7) The general meeting must notify the employer in writing or in form reproducible in writing of the right of the trustees to represent the employees jointly.

§ 8.  Term of authority of trustee

 (1) The term of authority of a trustee is three years, unless the general meeting has decided otherwise.

 (2) Upon transfer of the enterprise, the authority of a trustee will be in force until the expiry thereof but not for longer than one year after the transfer.

 (3) The restrictions provided in § 181 of the Law of Obligations Act are not applied upon transfer of the authority of a trustee.
[RT I 2009, 5, 35 – entry into force 01.07.2009]

Chapter 3 RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF TRUSTEE  

§ 9.  Rights of trustee

  A trustee has the right to:
 1) freely examine the working conditions, including the work organisation;
 2) receive from the employer information necessary for the performance of their duties and consult the employer on the basis of such information;
 3) [repealed – RT I 2009, 5, 35 – entry into force 01.07.2009];
 4) hold negotiations with the employer for entering into a collective agreement under the conditions and pursuant to the procedure provided in the Collective Agreements Act if there is no trade union at the employer or no employees belonging to the trade union are employed with the employer;
 5) represent employees in the resolution of a collective labour dispute under the conditions and pursuant to the procedure provided in the Collective Labour Dispute Resolution Act if there is no trade union at the employer or no employees belonging to the trade union are employed with the employer;
 6) to notify the interested trade union and federation or confederation of employers and trade unions of violation of working conditions by the employer;
 7) have recourse to a labour dispute resolution body for resolution of a dispute arising from the confidentiality of the information obtained or refusal to provide information;
 8) training for the performance of their duties pursuant to the procedure provided in § 14 of this Act;
 9) involve experts in the performance of their duties;
 10) upon agreement with the employer, use the premises and other resources of the employer necessary for the performance of the duties of a trustee.

§ 10.  Obligations of trustee

  A trustee is required to:
 1) participate in informing and consulting;
 2) communicate information to the employer and to employees;
 3) monitor compliance with working conditions and notify the employer and, where necessary, the labour inspector of the place of business of the employer, of violation;
 4) at the request of an employee, represent the employee in a labour dispute with the employer before having recourse to a labour dispute resolution body;
 5) co-operate in the avoidance of disruption of work if a collective agreement has been entered into by a trustee under the conditions and pursuant to the procedure provided in the Collective Agreements Act;
 6) co-operate with a shop steward, the working environment representative and working environment council.

§ 11.  Obligation of trustee to maintain confidentiality of information

 (1) A trustee must not disclose to third parties, during the term of authority or after the expiry of authority, personal data which has become known to them in the course of performance of their duties or any information provided by the employer expressly in confidence.

 (2) A trustee must not use unlawfully, during the term of authority or after the expiry of authority, personal data which has become known to them in the course of performance of their duties or any information provided by the employer expressly in confidence.

 (3) The obligations specified in subsections 1 and 2 of this section are not applied to the communication between the trustee and another trustee elected at the same employer and an expert involved in consulting.

 (4) A trustee must communicate the information received in confidence to another trustee or to an expert expressly in confidence.

§ 12.  Obligation of expert to maintain confidentiality of information

 (1) The obligations specified in subsections 1 and 2 of § 11 of this Act are binding to an expert involved in consulting.

 (2) The obligations specified in subsections 1 and 2 of § 11 of this Act are not applied to the communication between an expert and another trustee elected at the same employer.

 (3) An expert must communicate the information received in confidence to another trustee expressly in confidence.

§ 13.  Time of performance of duties of trustee

 (1) By agreement with the employer, an employee performs the duties of a trustee during working time or outside of working time.

 (2) The conditions and the procedure for the performance of the duties of a trustee must be agreed upon by the employer and the trustee.

 (3) The employer must guarantee to at least one trustee for the performance of their duties during working time:
[RT I, 12.11.2021, 2 – entry into force 22.11.2021]
 1) in case of representation of 5 to 100 employees, at least 4 hours per working week;
 2) in case of representation of 101 to 300 employees, at least 8 hours per working week;
 3) in case of representation of 301 to 500 employees, at least 16 hours per working week;
 4) in case of representation of over 500 employees, at least 40 hours per working week.

 (4) In the event of two or more trustees, the employer is to guarantee the trustees time for the performance of duties to the extent intended for two trustees. The trustees must agree upon mutual division of said time.
[RT I, 12.11.2021, 2 – entry into force 22.11.2021]

§ 14.  Training of trustee

 (1) The employer must enable a trustee to participate, to a reasonable extent, in the training necessary for the performance of their duties.

 (2) The parties may agree that the expenses relating to training are covered by the employer.

§ 14¹.  Guarantee for time of performance of duties of trustee and for time of training

  A trustee must be retained the average wages for the time of performance of their duties pursuant to subsection 3 of § 13 of this Act and for the time of training.
[RT I 2009, 5, 35 – entry into force 01.07.2009]

Chapter 4 RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF EMPLOYER IN PROVISION OF INFORMATION  

§ 15.  Rights and obligations of employer in provision of confidential information

 (1) Any information which the employer provides to the trustee expressly in confidence is confidential.

 (2) The employer is required to justify the confidentiality of the information if the trustee does not agree with the confidentiality of the information.

§ 15¹.  Rights and obligations of employer in provision of sustainability information

  An employer who is to draw up a sustainability report specified in subsection 2 of § 24 of the Accounting Act must inform the trustee or a representative of the employees who is not a trustee of the contents of the sustainability report and of the process of its creation and means of its verification in the manner provided in § 19, subsection 2 of § 20, and § 21 of this Act and, where necessary, present the employees’ opinion on the sustainability report to the highest supervisory body specified in clause 12 of § 3 of the Accounting Act.
[RT I, 07.01.2025, 1 – entry into force 17.01.2025]

§ 16.  Refusal to provide information

 (1) The employer may refuse to provide information if disclosure of the information seriously harms or may harm the activities of the employer.

 (2) Upon refusal to provide information, the employer must give justification based on objective criteria as to why the disclosure of the information seriously harms or may harm the activities of the employer.

 (3) The employer may not refuse to provide information on the number of employees.

Chapter 5 INFORMING AND CONSULTING  

§ 17.  Application of informing and consulting

 (1) An employer who employs at least 30 employees is required to apply the informing and consulting provided in this Chapter.

 (2) The provisions of this section are not applied to informing and consulting in public service.

§ 18.  Determination of number of employees

 (1) The employer determines the number of employees:
 1) upon approval of annual report;
 2) when the obligation to inform and consult specified in subsection 1 of § 20 of this Act arises.

 (2) Upon determining the number of employees, the employer must take into account the six months’ average number of employees as of the date on which the obligation to inform and consult arises.

§ 19.  Definition of informing and consulting

 (1) Informing means provision of information to a trustee or, in their absence, to the employees on an appropriate level which allows the employees to receive in due course a clear and sufficiently detailed overview of the structure and economic and employment situation of the employer and the possible development thereof and of other circumstances affecting the interests of employees, and also to understand the effects of the situation and other circumstances on the employees.

 (2) Consulting means exchange of views and the establishment of a dialogue between the trustee or, in their absence, the employees and the employer on an appropriate level which allows the trustee or the employees to express opinions and obtain from the employer reasoned responses to the expressed opinions for the purposes of reaching an agreement on the provisions of clauses 2 and 3 of subsection 1 of § 20 of this Act.

§ 20.  Contents of informing and consulting

 (1) An employer informs and consults at least of the following circumstances pertaining to employees:
 1) the structure of the employer, the staff, including the employees performing duties by way of temporary agency work, changes therein and planned decisions which significantly affect the structure of the employer and the staff;
[RT I, 10.02.2012, 1 – entry into force 20.02.2012]
 2) planned decisions which are likely to bring about substantial changes in the work organisation;
 3) planned decisions which are likely to bring about substantial changes in the employment contract relationships of employees, including termination of employment relationships.

 (2) The employer must inform of an annual report prepared pursuant to the Accounting Act no later than within 14 days after the approval of the annual report.

§ 21.  Manner of informing and consulting

 (1) An employer must provide information in a manner which enables to thoroughly examine the information and, where necessary, prepare for consultations with the employer. The employer must provide information in writing or in a form reproducible in writing, unless the parties have agreed otherwise.

 (2) A trustee or, in their absence, the employees have the right to present a written opinion or make a proposal concerning the information received from the employer or notify of the intention to commence consulting within 15 working days as of the receipt of the information. If the employer does not take the proposals into consideration, the reasons therefor must be given at the earliest opportunity in writing or in a form reproducible in writing.

 (3) The employer must commence consulting within seven working days as of the receipt of the request for consulting.

 (4) The employer must explain in consulting the activities planned and the consequences thereof for the employees. The parties must seek to reach an agreement on the planned activity.

 (5) The trustee or, in their absence, the employees may involve experts in the consulting.

Chapter 6 STATE AND ADMINISTRATIVE SUPERVISION  
[RT I, 28.04.2017, 1 - entry into force 08.05.2017]

§ 22.  Exercise of state and administrative supervision

  [RT I, 28.04.2017, 1 – entry into force 08.05.2017]

 (1) State and administrative supervision over compliance with the requirements provided in clauses 1 and 2 of § 9 and subsections 3 and 4 of § 13 of this Act is exercised by the Labour Inspectorate.
[RT I, 12.11.2021, 2 – entry into force 22.11.2021]

 (2) State supervision over the requirements provided in §§ 17, 18 and 20 of this Act is exercised by the Labour Inspectorate.

 (3) In order to exercise the state supervision provided by this Act, the Labour Inspectorate may apply the special measures of state supervision provided in §§ 30–32 and 49–51 of the Law Enforcement Act on the basis and pursuant to the procedure provided in the Law Enforcement Act.
[RT I, 28.04.2017, 1 – entry into force 08.05.2017]

§ 23.  Challenge proceedings concerning precept

  [Repealed – RT I, 28.04.2017, 1 – entry into force 08.05.2017]

Chapter 7 LIABILITY  

§ 24.  Violation of obligation to inform and consult

 (1) Failure to perform the obligation to inform or consult by an employer or an employer’s management board member or another representative to whom the performance of this obligation was delegated is punishable by a fine of up to 300 fine units.
[RT I, 29.12.2020, 2 – entry into force 08.01.2021]

 (2) The same act, if committed by a legal person, is punishable by a fine of up to 32,000 euros.
[RT I, 29.12.2020, 2 – entry into force 08.01.2021]

§ 25.  Violation of obligation to maintain confidentiality of information

  Violation of the obligation to maintain the confidentiality of information by a trustee or an expert involved in consulting is punishable by a fine of up to 300 fine units.
[RT I, 29.12.2020, 2 – entry into force 08.01.2021]

§ 26.  Proceedings

 (1) [Repealed – RT I, 12.07.2014, 1 – entry into force 01.01.2015]

 (2) The out-of-court proceedings authority pertaining to the misdemeanours provided in §§ 24 and 25 of this Act is the Labour Inspectorate.

Chapter 8 IMPLEMENTATION OF ACT  

§ 27.  Term of authority of elected trustees

  The term of authority of elected trustees is in force until the expiry of the term, but not for longer than one year as of the entry into force of this Act.

§ 28. – § 30. [Omitted from this text.]

§ 31.  Repeal of Employees’ Representatives Act

  The Employees’ Representatives Act is repealed.

§ 32.  Entry into force of Act

  This Act enters into force on 1 February 2007.

¹Directive 2002/14/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a general framework for informing and consulting employees in the European Community (OJ L 80, 23.03.2002, pp 29–34); Directive 2013/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on the annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings, amending Directive 2006/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Directives 78/660/EEC and 83/349/EEC (OJ L 182, 29.06.2013, pp 19–76), amended by Directives 2014/95/EU (OJ L 330, 15.11.2014, pp 1–9), (EU) 2022/2464 (OJ L 322, 16.12.2022, pp 15–80) and (EU) 2023/2775 (OJ L 2023/2775, 21.12.2023). [RT I, 07.01.2025, 1 – entry into force 17.01.2025]