Text size:

• Small
• Medium
• Large

Working Conditions of Employees Posted to Estonia Act¹

Passed 17.03.2004
RT I 2004, 19, 134
Entry into force 01.05.2004

Amended by the following legal instruments (show)

§ 1.  Objective of Act

  The objective of this Act is to ensure the protection of the rights of employees from a foreign state who have been posted to Estonia for the provision of services, and fair competition between employers engaged in the provision of services.

§ 2.  Application of Act

 (1) This Act applies in the case an employee posted by his or her employer is working in Estonia in the following cases:
 1) working at the employer’s expense and subject to the employer’s management and supervision, on the basis of a contract concluded between the employer and a contracting entity resident in Estonia;
 2) working in the employer’s branch or in a company that belongs to the same group as the employer;
 3) if the employer is a legal person or sole proprietor that intermediates temporary workforce.

 (2) This Act does not apply to a crewmember on a cargo ship belonging to merchant navy undertakings.

 (3) The provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act apply to administrative proceedings prescribed in this Act, taking account of the specifications provided for in this Act.

§ 3.  Definitions

 (1) For the purposes of this Act, a posted employee is a natural person who usually works in a foreign state on the basis of an employment contract, and whom the employer posts to work in Estonia for a specified period of time for the provision of a service. A contract concluded in a foreign state concerning an employment relationship is considered to be an employment contract for the purposes of this Act if it complies with the provisions of the Employment Contracts Act relating to an employment contract.
[RT I 2009, 5, 35 - entry into force 01.07.2009]

 (2) For the purposes of this Act, an employer is a legal person or sole proprietor registered or established in a foreign state that is not a resident of Estonia and with whom the posted employee has concluded an employment contract.

 (3) [Repealed – RT I 2009, 5, 35 – entry into force 01.07.2009]

§ 4.  Applicable law

 (1) The Private International Law Act shall be applied in the selection of the law to be applied to the employment contract of a posted employee.

 (2) Regardless of the choice of the law to be applied to an employment contract, the application of the working conditions listed in section 5 of this Act in accordance with Estonian law, other legislation and extended collective agreements provided for in subsection 4 (4) of the Collective Agreements Act must be guaranteed for a posted employee.

 (3) If the provisions of the laws of a foreign state that apply to an employment contract are more favourable to a posted employee than the Estonian provisions as to the working conditions provided for in section 5 of this Act, the provision that is more favourable to the employee shall be applied.

§ 5.  Applicable working conditions

 (1) The working conditions established in Estonia that are applicable to a posted employee are the following:
 1) working time;
 2) rest time;
 3) time off for a prenatal examination;
 4) wages and compensation for overtime work;
 5) duration of annual holiday;
 6) equal treatment and equal opportunities.
[RT I 2009, 5, 35 - entry into force 01.07.2009]

 (2) The Occupational Health and Safety Act shall be applied to a posted employee even when it is less favourable to the posted employee than the provisions of a foreign law. The compliance with the requirements specified in this section shall be ensured by the contracting entity or contracting authority in the case of work provided for in clause 2 (1) 1) of this Act, and by the legal person or sole proprietor for whom the posted employee works in Estonia in the case of work provided for in clauses 2 (1) 2) and 3) of this Act.
[RT I 2009, 5, 35 - entry into force 01.07.2009]

 (3) The working conditions provided for in clauses (1) 4) and 5) of this section shall not be applied in the case of an up to eight-day posting if the posted employee is a skilled worker whose duty is the initial assembly or first installation of goods necessary for taking the goods ordered into use, if such work is an integral part of a subscription contract.
[RT I 2009, 5, 35 - entry into force 01.07.2009]

 (4) The periods of time worked by another employee posted to Estonia by the same employer for the performance of the same work in the year leading up to the commencement of the posting shall be taken into consideration in the calculation of the up to eight-day posting period specified in subsection (3) of this section.

 (5) The exception specified in subsection (3) of this section shall not be applied if the work done by the posted employee is connected with construction work involving the construction, renovation, maintenance, alteration or demolition of buildings, including excavation work, earthmoving work, actual construction work, or the assembly and demolition, connection and installation, modification, renovation, repair, disassembly, demolition, maintenance, painting, cleaning or repair of prefabricated components.

 (6) In the application of clause (1) 4) of this section, compensation paid in cash in connection with the posting shall be considered to be part of wages, unless it is paid to cover travel, accommodation or meal expenditures incurred during the course of the posting.
[RT I 2009, 5, 35 - entry into force 01.07.2009]

 (7) [Repealed – RT I 2009, 5, 35 – entry into force 01.07.2009]

§ 6.  Provision of information and co-operation

 (1) The Labour Inspectorate shall make information available and reply to reasoned requests for information concerning Acts, other legislation and extended collective agreements that apply to a posted employee.

 (2) The Labour Inspectorate shall reply to reasoned requests for information concerning sole proprietors and legal persons that serve as employment intermediaries, including concerning instances in which they have violated legislation or engaged in illegal international activities.

 (3) The Labour Inspectorate shall co-operate with the corresponding institutions of the Member States of the European Union and of the Member States of the European Economic Area.

§ 7.  Dispute Resolution

 (1) A posted employee has the right of recourse to a court of the Republic of Estonia for the protection of the rights guaranteed by this Act. This does not limit his or her right to bring his or her claim to a court of a foreign state if such right arises from an international agreement.

 (2) The limitation period for claims arising from this Act is four months, and in the case of wage claims three years, from the day following that on which the posted employee became aware or should have become aware of the violation of his or her rights.

§ 8.  Exercise of state supervision

  State supervision over compliance with the requirements of this Act shall be exercised by the Labour Inspectorate on the conditions and pursuant to the procedure provided for in the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
[RT I 2009, 5, 35 - entry into force 01.07.2009]

§ 9.  Procedure for challenging precept

  The provisions of the Occupational Health and Safety Act apply to the procedure for challenging a precept.
[RT I 2009, 5, 35 - entry into force 01.07.2009]

§ 10.  [Omitted from this text.]

§ 11.  Entry into force of Act

  This Act enters into force on 1 May 2004.

¹European Parliament and EU Council Directive 96/71/EC concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services (EU OJ L 018, 21.01.1997, pp. 1–6).

Lisa Test lisaga