Estonia
Employment contracts – Flexible working time agreements
Impact date: Not yet known. The proposal is currently being discussed in Parliament. The deadline for submitting suggestions to the draft Act was 30 June 2025. Parliament will resume the adoption process in autumn. The Estonian Government introduced Draft Act 602 SE to amend the Employment Contracts Act. The proposed changes aim to allow employers and employees to enter into flexible working time agreements. These agreements would let employees work additional hours beyond their agreed schedule up to the full-time limit, under certain conditions (e.g., written form, minimum hourly wage of 1.2 times the statutory minimum, and at least ten hours of work over a seven day period).
The purpose of the amendment is to give both parties more flexibility when workload and staffing needs fluctuate and when an employee’s availability varies, while discouraging the use of civil-law contracts in favor of an employment contract.
Employer implications/action needed N/A
Employer risk N/A
Link Draft Act 602 SE (in Estonian)
Minimum requirements for weekly and daily rest periods
Impact date: Not yet known. The proposal is currently being discussed in Parliament. The deadline for submitting suggestions to the draft Act was 30 June 2025. Parliament will resume the adoption process in autumn. The Draft Act 602 SE regulates consecutive rest periods of employees. Pursuant to European Court of Justice ruling C-477/21, employees must be guaranteed consecutive rest periods of 48 hours in the case of normal working time (Monday to Friday) and 36 hours in the case of summarized working time. Although this has been long-standing practice in Estonia, the Draft’s amendment ensures legal clarity in this regard.
Employer implications/action needed N/A
Employer risk N/A
Link Draft Act 602 SE (in Estonian)
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