Your rights as an employee in Estonia do not depend on your passport. The Employment Contracts Act (töölepingu seadus) applies to every employment contract performed here, it is written so that most of its protections cannot be contracted out of, and the body that enforces it — the Labour Inspectorate's labour dispute committee — charges nothing, sits within 45 calendar days, and can be used without a lawyer.
The numbers a foreign employee most often needs are these. Probation is at most 4 months. Full time is 40 hours a week, and overtime — which needs your agreement each time — is capped at an average of 48 hours a week over 4 months. Annual leave is 28 calendar days. Sick leave is unpaid for 3 days, paid by the employer at 70% from day 4 to day 8, and by Tervisekassa at 70% from day 9. The minimum wage is €946 a month from 1 April 2026. And a dismissal you think is unlawful has to be contested within 30 calendar days — the one deadline on this page that ends the conversation if it is missed.
Table of Contents
- What the contract must say in writing
- Probation
- Working time, overtime and rest
- Wages, payday and the 2026 minimum
- Annual leave: 28 days, and how they accrue
- Sick pay: who pays which days
- Notice periods and the grounds for dismissal
- Severance, and what Töötukassa adds
- Contesting a dismissal at the labour dispute committee
- Where to complain
- Common mistakes
- If you want a lawyer
- Frequently asked questions
What The Contract Must Say In Writing
Section 4 of the Act requires an employment contract to be in writing, signed by hand or digitally, and it removes the requirement only for a relationship lasting no more than 2 weeks. The consequence of an employer skipping it is not that you have no contract — an employment relationship arises the moment you start work — but that the terms the employer never wrote down are presumed never to have been agreed, which cuts both ways and mostly against the employer.
Section 5 then lists what you must be told in writing, and since the 1 August 2022 amendments the list is long. Tööinspektsioon's own summary of it:
Who the parties are, and when it starts
The name, personal identification code or registry code, and place of residence or seat of both employer and employee; the date the contract was entered into; the date work begins.What the job is, where, and for how many hours
A description of the duties, the place of performance of work, and the working time. The official title goes in as well.What you are paid, when, and what comes out of it
The wages and the payday; the taxes and payments the employer pays and withholds, and the institution that receives them. Estonian contracts state gross figures — the salary calculator turns them into net.Leave, overtime and probation
The length of the annual holiday, a reference to other compensated leave, a reference to how overtime is performed and compensated, and the duration of the probationary period — which, since 2022, the employee must always be told.How it ends
A reference to the requirement that a cancellation be in a format which can be reproduced in writing, to the obligation to give reasons, and to the notice periods; a reference to the employer’s rules of work organisation and to any collective agreement.Training and benefits, if agreed
The training the employer provides and any other benefits agreed on.
The information is normally given before work starts. Where it was not, the Act gives the employer 7 calendar days from the day the employee starts to provide it. A contract in a language you cannot read is a contract you have signed nonetheless; the Act does not require a translation, and the sensible order is to read a translation before signing rather than to seek one afterwards.
The employment register
Every employment relationship is entered by the employer in the Tax and Customs Board’s employment register (töötamise register), and the entry is what gives you health insurance through Tervisekassa. Ask for confirmation that the entry exists in your first week. When the contract ends the employer has 10 days to record that too.
Probation
Section 6 of the Act sets the probationary period at the first 4 months from the day the employee actually takes up their duties, and makes it the default: a contract that says nothing about probation has a four-month one. In a fixed-term contract of up to 8 months, probation may not exceed half the contract's length. Time when you could not work — sick leave, holiday — is not counted, so the period runs longer than four calendar months if you were off during it, unless the contract says otherwise.
What probation changes
Two things, and only two:
- Either side may cancel with 15 calendar days’ notice under § 96, against the employer’s ordinary 15 and the employee’s 30
- The employer’s ground is that the employee’s abilities, knowledge or suitability did not meet the purpose of the probation — and it still has to be stated in writing
What it does not change
Everything else applies from day one:
- Wages at least the minimum, paid at least monthly
- Working time and overtime limits
- Holiday accrues from the first day, even if it cannot be taken until month 6
- Sick pay on the same day-split as everyone else
- A cancellation you consider unlawful can still be contested within 30 days
Probation is not renewed when a fixed-term contract is extended or a consecutive one is signed for the same work; the Act treats that as the same employment.
Working Time, Overtime And Rest
Section 43 of the Act presumes full-time work of 40 hours over a seven-day period, 8 hours a day. Part-time is whatever shorter figure the contract states. Under summarised working time, hours may be distributed unevenly across a calculation period of up to 4 months, as long as the average comes out at the agreed figure — the arrangement behind most shift schedules.
Overtime under § 44 is work beyond the agreed hours, and it needs the parties' agreement each time — an employer may require it without agreement only in the narrow case of unforeseen circumstances, and then only what is temporarily necessary. With it, the total including overtime may not exceed an average of 48 hours per seven days over a 4-month calculation period; with a separate written agreement, 52, and even then not where it would harm the employee's health. It is compensated in time off equal to the overtime, or, by agreement, in money at 1.5 times the wage. Minors, pregnant employees and employees exposed to risk factors may not work overtime at all.
| Rest, under §§ 51–52 | Minimum |
|---|---|
| Daily rest | 11 consecutive hours in every 24 |
| Weekly rest | 48 consecutive hours in every 7 days |
| Weekly rest under summarised working time | 36 consecutive hours |
| Working day before four named holidays | Shortened by three hours — New Year, Independence Day, Victory Day, Christmas Eve |
Time in training the employer sends you on counts as working time and is paid at average wages. A night worker — someone doing at least three hours of the daily working time, or a third of the annual working time, at night — may not average more than eight hours in 24 over a seven-day period.
Wages, Payday And The 2026 Minimum
Section 29 of the Act forbids paying less than the minimum wage set by the Government of the Republic, and § 33 requires wages to be paid at least once a month on the agreed day, in money, as a net amount, to the account you name. Deductions from wages need your consent in writing or in a format that can be reproduced in writing; the employer cannot make them unilaterally, apart from recovering an advance or unearned holiday pay when the contract ends.
| Minimum wage | Monthly, full time | Hourly |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January – 31 March 2026 | €886 | €5.31 |
| From 1 April 2026 | €946 | €5.67 |
The 2026 rise is unusual in landing in April rather than January. The Ministry of Economic Affairs' announcement records that the trade union and employers' confederations agreed the figure on 17 February 2026 and the government confirmed it on 19 March, so the first quarter runs on the 2025 rate. Anyone quoting a single 2026 minimum without a date is wrong for a quarter of the year. The hourly wage calculator uses the current one.
Late wages carry statutory interest
Where the employer is late, the employee may claim interest on the net amount owed at the European Central Bank’s main refinancing rate plus eight points — 10.4% a year from 1 July 2026, on Tööinspektsioon’s figure. A wage claim itself expires 3 years after the payday it fell due on, which makes it the longest-lived claim on this page.
Annual Leave: 28 Days, And How They Accrue
Section 55 of the Act sets annual holiday at 28 calendar days a year — calendar days, so a fortnight off is 14 of them, weekend included. Minors and employees with partial or no work ability get 35, and teaching and research staff more again under a government regulation. Parties may agree a longer holiday and never a shorter one.
It accrues from day one and is earned per calendar year
Holiday is calculated for the calendar year, pro rata to time worked. Someone who starts in July has earned half a year’s worth by December.It can be taken after 6 months
Under § 68 the right to take holiday arises once the employee has worked at least six months, unless the parties agree otherwise. The days accrued before that are not lost — they are taken afterwards.At least one block of 14 consecutive days
The holiday can be split by agreement, but one part has to be at least 14 calendar days long. The employer sets the holiday schedule for the year and announces it by 31 March; holiday outside the schedule is by agreement.Unused days expire 1 year after the year they were earned in
The claim expires within one year of the end of the calendar year for which it was calculated — suspended during maternity, paternity and parental leave and military service. Unused holiday is paid out in money only when the contract ends.Holiday pay under § 70 is the average wage of the last six months and is paid no later than the penultimate working day before the holiday starts, unless the parties agree a later date, which can be no later than the payday following the start of the holiday. Public holidays that fall inside the holiday are not counted as holiday days.
Leave for parents is a separate chapter
Maternity, paternity and parental leave, the 60 days both parents may take together, and the ten days a year of child leave sit outside the 28 and are covered on the parental benefits page.
Read the parental benefits guide →Sick Pay: Who Pays Which Days
Sick pay in Estonia is split between three parties by day number, and the split is the most-asked question on this page. A doctor opens an electronic certificate of incapacity (haigusleht); it can be opened retroactively for the previous working day if you contact the doctor on the working day that follows. From there:
Nobody pays
Tervisekassa’s wording: no benefit is paid for the first three days of sickness. The contract may be more generous; the law is not.
The employer pays 70%
Under § 12² of the Occupational Health and Safety Act the employer pays sickness benefit for the fourth to eighth calendar day at 70% of the employee’s average wage, calculated over the previous six months. It is due on payday and no later than 30 calendar days after the doctor closes the certificate.
Tervisekassa pays 70%
Of the average income taxed with social tax in the previous calendar year, from Tax and Customs Board data — so a new arrival with no Estonian income last year gets little or nothing from the Fund in their first year. Paid within a few working days of the data arriving.
The certificate runs out
Up to 182 consecutive calendar days per illness, 240 for tuberculosis. From 1 January 2026 the Fund’s benefit is also capped at €126.87 a calendar day, twice the previous year’s average social-taxed income divided by thirty; the cap does not restrict what the employer pays.
Two related rules. After 4 months of continuous sick leave the Act presumes, under § 88, that the employee has for a long time been unable to perform their duties because of their state of health, which is a ground for the employer to cancel the contract — with notice and with the written reasons every cancellation needs. And from day 31 an employee may, by written agreement with the employer and on the doctor's certificate, work under adapted conditions, with the employer paying at least half the previous wage and the Fund topping up the rest.
Notice Periods And The Grounds For Dismissal
The asymmetry of the Act is in this section, and it favours the employee. An employee may cancel an open-ended contract at any time, for any reason or none, on 30 calendar days' notice under § 98. An employer has no ordinary right of cancellation at all: it may end the contract only extraordinarily, for a good reason, and only on the grounds the Act lists.
Reasons related to the employee — § 88
Long-term inability to work through ill health (presumed after 4 months), inadequate performance, breach of duties, intoxication at work, theft or fraud, breach of confidentiality, damage to the employer’s property. Before cancelling for a breach or for performance the employer must first warn the employee, unless the breach is so serious that a warning cannot reasonably be expected.Economic reasons — lay-off, § 89
Continuing the relationship on the agreed conditions has become impossible because the volume of work has fallen, work is reorganised, or the employer ceases operations. Before laying off, the employer must offer any other suitable work it has. This is the ground that carries severance.Grounds that are never allowed — § 92
Pregnancy or the right to maternity leave, raising a child under three, performing family obligations, military service, being an employee representative, or asking for flexible working. A cancellation on any of these is void.Every cancellation, by either side, must be in a format which can be reproduced in writing — an e-mail suffices — and the employer's must state the reasons (§ 95). The employer's notice period under § 97 depends only on length of service:
| Length of service | Employer's notice, § 97 | Employee's notice, § 98 |
|---|---|---|
| During probation | 15 calendar days (§ 96) | 15 calendar days |
| Under 1 year | 15 calendar days | 30 calendar days |
| 1 to 5 years | 30 calendar days | 30 calendar days |
| 5 to 10 years | 60 calendar days | 30 calendar days |
| 10 years or more | 90 calendar days | 30 calendar days |
Where an employer gives less notice than the Act requires, it owes the employee the average daily wage for each working day of the shortfall. And on the last day the final settlement is due: all wages earned, compensation for unused holiday, and anything else outstanding — with the 10.4% interest running from the day after.
Termination by agreement is not neutral
An employer that wants to avoid a lay-off will often propose ending the contract by agreement. It is the tidier conversation and it is the more expensive one for you: no severance under § 100, no lay-off benefit from Töötukassa, and — as the unemployment benefits page sets out — the base-rate unemployment benefit rather than the income-based one. Where the real reason is that the role is going, the Act calls that a lay-off, and it is worth insisting on the word.
Severance, And What Töötukassa Adds
Estonia pays severance only on a lay-off, and it pays it from two purses.
| Length of service | From the employer, § 100 | From Töötukassa, Unemployment Insurance Act | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 5 years | 1 month's average wage | Nothing | 1 month |
| 5 to 10 years | 1 month's average wage | 1 month's average wage | 2 months |
| 10 years or more | 1 month's average wage | 2 months' average wage | 3 months |
The employer's month is calculated on the previous six months' wages and is paid with the final settlement. The Fund's share is the insurance benefit upon lay-off under the Unemployment Insurance Act, separate from and in addition to the unemployment insurance benefit, and it is paid whether or not you find another job the next day. An employee on a fixed-term contract who is laid off before it expires is owed the wages they would have earned to the end of the term.
Register with Töötukassa the day after
Nothing is backdated:
- The unemployment insurance benefit runs from registration, not from the last day of work
- Health insurance continues for 2 months after the contract ends, and registration keeps it going beyond that
- A lay-off is an ending through no choice of yours, which is what qualifies you for the income-based benefit
What severance does not cover
Three cases with no § 100 payment:
- Cancellation for reasons related to the employee under § 88
- Termination by agreement, or by the employee’s own notice
- The ordinary expiry of a fixed-term contract
What Töötukassa pays after that
The income-based benefit at a percentage of your previous wage, the base-rate benefit for those who resigned, the registration obligations, and the run-off of health insurance.
Read the unemployment benefits guide →Contesting A Dismissal At The Labour Dispute Committee
A cancellation that breaks the Act — no written reasons, a forbidden ground, no warning, no notice — is not automatically void. It becomes void only if a labour dispute committee or a court says so, and under § 105 the application to say so must be filed within 30 calendar days of receiving the cancellation. Tööinspektsioon describes that as a procedural time limit the committee applies of its own motion. Miss it and the cancellation stands, whatever was wrong with it.
File a petition with the labour dispute committee within 30 days
The committee (töövaidluskomisjon) sits within the Labour Inspectorate and is independent of it. Recourse to it is exempt from state fees; each side bears its own costs. The petition goes by e-mail or post to the committee for the employer’s location, in Estonian — evidence in another language needs an Estonian translation, and the committee’s proceedings are in Estonian, with an interpreter at your own cost if you need one.State the claim, the amount and the facts
The Labour Dispute Resolution Act lists what the petition contains: the parties and their codes and addresses, a clearly expressed claim with its amount if monetary, the facts relied on, the evidence, and whether you agree to written proceedings. A deficient petition gets up to 15 calendar days to be corrected.A decision within 45 calendar days
Tööinspektsioon’s stated timetable is that a petition is reviewed within 45 calendar days of receipt, extendable for objective reasons, and that the parties are notified of the decision within 10 working days of the session. Hearings can be attended virtually on request; a petitioner who fails to appear without good reason has the proceedings terminated.30 days to take it to court, then it is enforceable
Either party may take the dispute to the county court within 30 calendar days of receiving the decision. If neither does, the decision enters into force and can go to a bailiff for enforcement like a judgment.
What the committee can award is set by the Act. Where a cancellation is declared void, the employment relationship in principle continues; where either side asks for it to end instead — which is the usual outcome — the committee or court ends it and, under § 109, awards the employee compensation of 3 months' average wages, which it may adjust to the circumstances. That sits on top of any wages, holiday compensation and severance owed, and each of those is a claim in its own right with its own deadline.
The deadlines, side by side
Contesting a cancellation: 30 calendar days from receiving it. Unpaid wages, overtime, night and holiday pay: 3 years from the payday. Holiday compensation, lay-off compensation and most other claims arising from the contract: 4 months from the breach or from the end of the contract. The committee cannot hear a claim for damage from an occupational accident or disease; that goes to the county court directly.
Where To Complain
Four bodies, and they do different things. Sending a dispute to the wrong one costs time that the 30-day deadline does not give back.
| Body | What it does | What it does not do |
|---|---|---|
| Labour dispute committee (töövaidluskomisjon) | Decides individual disputes between you and your employer: unpaid wages, void cancellation, compensation. Free, binding, enforceable. | Occupational accident and disease claims; disputes with someone who is not your employer |
| Tööinspektsioon — the Labour Inspectorate | Supervises employers' compliance with working time, safety and health rules; runs a helpline; publishes the English guidance this page draws on. | Does not award you money or decide your dispute — that is the committee's job |
| County court (maakohus) | Hears any employment dispute directly, and appeals from the committee within the 30 days. | Charges a state fee, and the losing side normally bears costs |
| Tervisekassa | Pays the Fund's share of sick pay from day 9 and the care benefit; answers questions about the certificate. | Does not pay the employer's days 4 to 8 for it — that is a claim against the employer |
For a residence permit holder, one more body matters. Where the permit was issued for employment with a named employer, the end of that employment is a change in the basis of the permit, and the residence permit page sets out what the Police and Border Guard Board publishes about that. An employment dispute and an immigration deadline running at the same time is the case that most clearly warrants professional help — see below.
Common Mistakes
The most expensive mistake is letting the 30 days run. A dismissal with no written reasons, or on a forbidden ground, is still a valid dismissal on day 31, because § 105 makes the cancellation stand unless it is contested in time; the committee applies the deadline whether or not the employer raises it. Diarise it on the day the e-mail arrives.
Two are about the ending. Agreeing to leave by agreement when the job is being cut forfeits the employer's month under § 100, the Fund's one or two months on top, and the income-based unemployment benefit. Treating the final settlement as something that arrives later misreads the Act: everything is due on the last day, unused holiday included, and interest at 10.4% runs from the day after.
Two are about hours and money. Working overtime you never agreed to, and never claiming it — overtime needs agreement each time, is capped at 48 hours a week on average, and is paid at 1.5 times or taken as time off; the claim lasts 3 years. Assuming a single 2026 minimum wage is wrong for the first quarter: €886 until 31 March, €946 from 1 April.
Two are about sick leave. Expecting to be paid from the first day — the first 3 are unpaid by law, and only a generous contract changes that. Expecting Tervisekassa's share in the first year — the Fund pays 70% of last year's Estonian social-taxed income, and a newcomer who had none gets nothing from day 9 until a calendar year of Estonian earnings is behind them.
And one is about the venue. Writing to the Labour Inspectorate to get your wages back sends the claim to the supervisor rather than the adjudicator. The Inspectorate inspects; the labour dispute committee decides, for free, in Estonian, within 45 days.
If You Want A Lawyer
Most employment questions are answered by the Act and by the labour dispute committee, which is free and does not require representation. The cases where an hour of professional time pays for itself are narrower: a dismissal with a 30-day clock already running, a claim that needs drafting in Estonian, a lay-off the employer is calling something else, or an employment dispute and a residence permit deadline running at the same time.
Who receives this form, and what happens to it
The form below is sent to howtoestonia.com — the publisher of this site — at hello@howtoestonia.com, and every enquiry is read here. Where a match is possible, your details go to an independent Estonian employment and immigration lawyer who works in English and Russian; they contract with you directly and set their own fee. This site is not a law firm, gives no legal advice, and acts for nobody. Matching is free to you and carries no obligation. Nothing on this page is a paid placement, and any advocate you are introduced to can be checked in the Estonian Bar Association’s public register before you agree to anything.
Get matched with an employment and immigration lawyer
Choose 'Other' as the case type unless the question is your residence permit, and say in the box what happened and on what date you received the cancellation — the 30-day deadline runs from that day, and it is the first thing a lawyer will ask.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Estonian employment law protect me if I am a foreigner?
Yes, identically. The Employment Contracts Act applies to every employment contract performed in Estonia regardless of the employee's nationality, most of its protections cannot be contracted out of to the employee's detriment, and the labour dispute committee is open to anyone employed by an employer registered in Estonia and to employees posted here. The only practical difference is language: the committee's proceedings and petitions are in Estonian, evidence in another language needs a translation, and an interpreter is at your own cost.
What must be in my employment contract?
Section 5 of the Act lists it: the parties' names, personal or registry codes and addresses; the date of the contract and the date work begins; a description of the duties and the place of work; the wages, the payday, and the taxes and payments the employer pays and withholds; the working time; the length of annual holiday; a reference to the overtime procedure and compensation; the duration of the probationary period; a reference to the written form, the duty to give reasons and the notice periods on termination; references to the work rules and any collective agreement; and any training or benefits agreed. It must be given in writing before work starts or within 7 calendar days after. A term the employer never wrote down is presumed never to have been agreed.
How long can probation last, and can I be dismissed during it?
At most the first 4 months from the day you actually start work, under § 6, and at most half the contract's length in a fixed-term contract of up to 8 months. Time you were off sick or on holiday is not counted, so the period can run longer than four calendar months. During it either side may cancel on 15 calendar days' notice under § 96; the employer's ground has to be that your abilities, knowledge or suitability did not meet the purpose of the probation, and it still has to be given in writing. A probation cancellation can be contested at the labour dispute committee within 30 days like any other.
How many hours can I be made to work?
Full time is 40 hours a week and 8 a day under § 43, averaged over a calculation period of up to 4 months where summarised working time applies. Overtime needs your agreement each time — the employer may require it without agreement only for unforeseen circumstances and only temporarily — and the total including overtime may not exceed an average of 48 hours per seven days over the four months, or 52 with a separate written overtime agreement. Overtime is compensated in equal time off or, by agreement, at 1.5 times the wage. You are entitled to 11 consecutive hours of rest in every 24 and 48 in every seven days, 36 under summarised working time.
What is the minimum wage in 2026?
Two figures, because the rise landed in April. From 1 January to 31 March 2026 the minimum was €886 a month, €5.31 an hour; from 1 April 2026 it is €946 a month and €5.67 an hour, gross, for full-time work, as agreed by the trade union and employers' confederations on 17 February 2026 and confirmed by the government on 19 March. Section 29 of the Act forbids paying less. Wages are paid at least once a month on the agreed day under § 33, and a claim for unpaid wages lasts 3 years from the payday.
How much annual leave do I get, and when can I take it?
28 calendar days a year under § 55, 35 for minors and employees with reduced work ability, and more for teaching and research staff. It accrues per calendar year in proportion to time worked, and the right to take it arises after 6 months of employment unless agreed otherwise. It can be split by agreement as long as one part is at least 14 consecutive days; the employer publishes the year's holiday schedule by 31 March. Holiday pay is the six-month average wage, paid by the penultimate working day before the holiday. Unused days expire 1 year after the end of the year they were earned in, and are paid out in money only when the contract ends.
Who pays me when I am off sick?
Nobody for the first 3 days. From day 4 to day 8 the employer pays 70% of your average wage over the previous six months, under § 12² of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, due on payday and no later than 30 calendar days after the certificate is closed. From day 9 Tervisekassa pays 70% of your average income taxed with social tax in the previous calendar year, up to 182 consecutive days per illness and, from 1 January 2026, up to €126.87 a calendar day. A newcomer with no Estonian income last year receives correspondingly little from the Fund. After 4 months of continuous sick leave the Act presumes long-term incapacity, which is a ground for the employer to cancel the contract with notice.
How much notice must my employer give me?
It depends only on length of service, under § 97: 15 calendar days in the first year, 30 from one to five years, 60 from five to ten, and 90 from ten years on; 15 during probation under § 96. Your own notice is 30 calendar days under § 98 whatever your service, and 15 during probation. Notice runs from a cancellation in a format that can be reproduced in writing — an e-mail counts — and the employer's must state its reasons. Short notice is compensated at the average daily wage for each working day missing.
On what grounds can I be dismissed?
Only extraordinarily, for a good reason the Act names. Section 88 covers reasons related to you: long-term ill health, inadequate performance, breach of duties, intoxication, theft or fraud, breach of confidentiality, damage to property — with a prior warning required for performance and ordinary breaches. Section 89 covers lay-off for economic reasons, after other suitable work has been offered. Section 92 forbids cancellation for pregnancy, raising a child under three, family obligations, military service, employee representation or asking for flexible working. An employer has no ordinary right to end an open-ended contract for no reason; that right belongs to the employee alone.
What severance am I owed if I am made redundant?
One month's average wage from the employer under § 100, paid with the final settlement, whatever your length of service. On top of that, the Unemployment Insurance Act pays an insurance benefit upon lay-off through Töötukassa: one further month's average wage after 5 to 10 years' service, and two months' after 10 or more, whether or not you find work immediately. A fixed-term employee laid off early is owed the wages to the end of the term. None of this is paid on a termination by agreement, a cancellation for reasons related to you, or your own resignation — which is why the label on the cancellation matters.
I think my dismissal was unlawful. What do I do?
File a petition with the labour dispute committee within 30 calendar days of receiving the cancellation, under § 105 — the committee applies that limit of its own motion, and after it the cancellation stands whatever was wrong with it. Recourse to the committee is exempt from state fees, no lawyer is required, the petition and proceedings are in Estonian, and the committee reviews a petition within 45 calendar days and notifies its decision within 10 working days of the session. Where the cancellation is declared void and the relationship is ended instead, § 109 awards compensation of 3 months' average wages, adjustable to the circumstances. Either side has 30 days to take the decision to the county court; otherwise it enters into force and is enforceable by a bailiff.
Where do I complain about my employer?
For money or a dismissal, the labour dispute committee — free, binding, 45 days. For unsafe conditions, working-time breaches or a general question, Tööinspektsioon, the Labour Inspectorate, which supervises employers but does not decide your claim. For a dispute you would rather take straight to a judge, or an occupational accident claim which the committee cannot hear, the county court, with a state fee. For the Fund's share of sick pay, Tervisekassa. Claims for wages last 3 years, most other claims from the contract 4 months, and a challenge to a cancellation 30 days.