Annotation

This booklet gives an overview of the employment contract and other agreements, documents and conditions that must be taken into consideration. It also provides information on the organisation of training, adjusting the workplace and tools suitable for the newcomer, healthcare, and other necessary aspects.

- Silja Soon, Neenu Pavel

- Introduction

- Analysing the Applicant’s Strengths and Weaknesses

- Which Contract Should Be Concluded for Working?

- Comparison of Contracts Concluded for Working

- Employment Contract Relationships

- Fixed-Term Employment Contract

- Additional Agreements in the Employment Contract

- Contractual Penalties

- Obligation to Keep Secrets

- Restriction of Competition Agreement

- Proprietary Liability Agreement

- Trial Period

- Health Check

- Suitability of the Workplace, Instruments, and Personal Protective Equipment

- New Employee Instruction and Training

- System of New Employee Instruction and Training

- Employee’s Follow-Up Training

- Useful to Know: Working Time Schedule, Vacation Schedule, Business Trips, Salary Slips and Health Insurance

- Working Time Schedule

- Vacation Schedule

- Business Trip

- Salary Slip

- Health Insurance

- New Employee – A Lawful Member of the Collective

- Annex 1. Brainteasers!

- Annex 2. Legal Acts Handling the Creation of a Good Working Environment for a New Employee

Silja Soon, Neenu Pavel

New Employee in a Company

Introduction

The first day at a new job – some have experienced this new beginning and accompanying excitement more, others less. The ordeal of interviews is past, and you are anxious to start working. This booklet aims to explain how to develop from a newbie into an old pro, and remain unscathed in the process. In addition, it gives an overview of the employment contract and other agreements, documents and conditions that must be taken into consideration. It also provides information on the organisation of training, adjusting the workplace and tools suitable for the newcomer, healthcare, and other necessary aspects.

New employees are a risk group: approximately 30 % of severe occupational accidents happen to people employed at the new position for less than a year. The employer is obliged to investigate all occupational accidents that have happened in their company; the Labour Inspectorate also often gives their opinion about the reasons of the accident. According to labour inspectors, over half the cases (56 %) the severe occupational accident was caused by insufficient instructing and training. (Source: Labour Inspectorate’s 2012 analysis on the reasons of severe occupational accidents)

The company’s internal control aims to guarantee safe and healthy working conditions, and to avoid injuries and work-related illnesses. Both employer and employee should feel responsible for setting up and maintaining a safe working environment.

In 2012, the Labour Inspectorate carried out targeted checks to investigate the organisation of internal control. It revealed that 34 % of the checked companies lacked any organisation whatsoever on how to guarantee that the company’s activities complied with occupational health and safety requirements.

A competent working environment specialist and the practical application of their knowledge in the working environment is necessary to create a safe working environment and to maintain the working ability of employees. If the company does not employ a working environment specialist, the new employee might need to learn the ropes alone.

Newbies are more prone to end up in hazardous situations more than people employed for longer. Targeted checks showed that 30 % of the inspected companies did not make any conclusions from the hazard situations (that could have ended in injuries) or apply any measures to prevent such occurrences in the future. There would be a lot to learn from such hazardous situations.

Whether the employee has worked in a company for one day, two months or ten years is actually irrelevant. What is important is that the employee return home well and healthy in the evening, until retirement.

Analysing the Applicant’s Strengths and Weaknesses

One should never jump into unknown waters. An applicant who might become a new employee the next day should first analyse their strengths and weaknesses. Personal ambitions might differ from reality.

What limitations does the employee’s health pose?

The employer’s possibilities to determine the suitability of the employee’s health condition are limited, but some circumstances should still be thought through. An interview with the applicant is certainly of help. The future employer must share all health hazards connected with the job so the applicant is aware of all the risks.

The employer is not entitled to ask about the employee’s health peculiarities, but can explain which illnesses would significantly interfere with the specific work. It is important for the employees’ health to not deteriorate.

The applicant should not only consider the possible salary but also that working in an unsuitable environment might damage their health and they might not be able to fulfil the work or many other tasks in a year. Usually, the body does not adapt to unfavourable conditions and health damage might bring along irreversible consequences.

Example. A nickel allergy and cashier position are incompatible; asthma and some other health disorders rule out work with chemicals. Some chronic illnesses forbid certain occupations: haematogenous illnesses rule out the possibility of becoming a diver, people with certain cardio-vascular diseases may not work as a driver, etc.

What are the personal characteristics required for the job?

Accuracy at fulfilling tasks, speed of understanding instructions, skill to make the right decisions and capability to follow instructions are important characteristics. Their required extent must be thought through to avoid later misunderstandings for both parties of the employment relationship. Stress tolerance might also pose a problem: a situation should not occur in which the employee feels increasingly incapable of doing their job.

For example, a labour inspector started work at the Labour Inspectorate years ago. After a while, they understood that they were not capable of carrying out supervision in companies. The inspector felt they lacked persistence to demand that problematic employers rectify their mistakes. To avoid further frustration, the inspector left work as they felt unsuitable for the job.

A situation where the employee’s health condition prohibits them from fulfiling their work tasks must be ruled out.

Which Contract Should Be Concluded for Working?

The Employment Contracts Act (hereinafter: ECA) presumes that all important conditions are agreed upon and the employment contract concluded in writing BEFORE beginning work. It is wrong to assume that the written employment contract is not mandatory the first two weeks.

According to the ECA, concluding an employment contract in writing is not mandatory if the employment relationship does not exceed two weeks.

Unfortunately, it is not rare that the employee begins to do the indicated work but has not received a written contract. The employer provides cagey answers when asked about signing the contract. In this situation, the employee should send an email to the employer, listing the most significant agreements and demanding the written employment contract. Starting from the receipt of such demand, the employer must inform the employee about the employment contract conditions in writing within two weeks. Sometimes, the employee might discover unfavourable agreements or conditions that were not discussed before.

Example. Marju started working at a small grocery store, feeling glad about the orally agreed conditions, especially the salary. A written employment contract was not concluded at once, and Marju hesitated to ask as she didn’t want to be seen as an untrusting nitpicker. But even before the third salary day, the employer warned that the salary would be smaller this time as sales figures had dropped significantly. When one shop assistant left a new one was not hired, Marju had to do overtime, which was not compensated with extra pay. Her salary decreased even further. After the trial period, Marju asked for a written employment contract but the employer said they didn’t have time for it. Following several demands, a contract was presented to her for signing in a hurry. “You can read it later,” the employer said. When reading the contract later at home Marju discovered that a bonus could be added to the minimum monthly salary only in case of exceptional sales figures and that her working relationship was temporary, lasting until the shop closed the following spring.

Comparison of Contracts Concluded for Working

• Authorisation agreement – governed by the Law of Obligations Act (hereinafter: LOA), especially its § 619–634. Concluded for performances or representations. The aim is the greatest benefit of the mandatory; gives general instructions; in general, temporary.

• Contract for services – governed by the LOA, especially its § 635–657. Concluded for making something, short-term construction or repair work, cleaning. Result-oriented. The employee is rather free in choosing the time and place for fulfilling the order or performing the work; the risk lies with the contractor.

• Employment contract – governed by the ECA and the Occupational Health and Safety Regardless of earlier promises, the contract presented to the employee for signing could bear the name of an authorisation agreement or a contract for services, meaning that the social guarantees provided by the ECA or the OHSA regulations apply and the employer is not obliged to deal with work health care or safety matters – organise instructions, training, health checks, and to issue personal protective equipment. In this case, the employer is also not responsible for accidents that happen while working; these are not occupational accidents. When working under a contract governed by the LOA, the person performing the work is responsible for filling the occupational health care and safety requirements.

The most favourable solution for the employee is working under a written employment contract.

What must an employer do if the employee refuses to sign the employment contract even though they have started working and are fulfilling work tasks? If the employee is working under an employment contract that they have not signed, the employee is treated as consenting with the employment contract conditions (LOA § 20).

Employment Contract Relationships

Based on an employment contract, a natural person (employee) performs work for another person (employer), being subordinate to their guidance and control, and receives agreed remuneration for it. If the person performs work for another person that is usually done only for a fee but no written contract exists, it is presumed to be an employment contract relationship.

According to § 5 of the Employment Contracts Act, a correct employment contract must contain the following information:

1) Employee and employer’s name, personal identification or registry code, place of residence or location. Contact phone and email address are also recommended to be added;

2) Time of concluding the employment contract and time of beginning work. The latter is usually used for calculating the employment at the company;

3) Description of work tasks. Can be provided in a separate job description, but is an inseparable part of the contract;

4) Name of the position, if a legal consequence concurs. It is relevant for early retirement, if such is provided for working a certain number of years in a certain position;

5) Other benefits, if these have been agreed upon. If benefits were promised to the employee during the work interview (car compensation, regular sun trips, compensating for using the gym, etc.), these must also be fixed in writing;

6) Working hours (and whether a summed working time calculation is applied);

7) Location for performing the work (at least the local unit level);

8) Duration of the annual vacation (annual vacation is 28 calendar days; vacation for employees with partial or total incapacity for work is 35 calendar days; vacation for educational staff is up to 56 calendar days);

9) Employment contract termination deadlines or reference to it. Deadlines are provided in ECA § 37 (section 5), 96, 97, 98 and 103;

10) Reference to the employer’s administrative rules;

11) Reference to the collective agreement, if applicable for the employee;

12) Salary paid for the work that the parties have agreed upon.

Related to the salary, the employee is entitled to know:

• Monetary salary per time unit; including remuneration paid on economic results and transactions;

• Salary calculation methodology (time pay, piecework pay);

• Payment order (with transaction, in cash);

• Time when obligation falls due (salary day);

• Taxes and payments made and withheld by the employer.

ECA § 6 lists the special working conditions that the employee must separately be notified about; otherwise it is assumed that such agreements have not been concluded or obligations determined.

Special cases of working conditions:

• Applying a shorter probation period than prescribed by law;

• Duration of and reason for concluding a terminal contract;

• Restriction on competition or obligation to keep commercial secrets;

• Executing work tasks remotely;

• Executing work tasks as a rented worker at the hiring company.

An agreement deviating from legislation and not in the employee’s favour is, in general, invalid. When working under an employment contract and full-time, the employee must be remunerated according to the minimum rate enforced by the Government of the Republic of Estonia. In 2017, the minimum wage is 2.78 euros per hour and 470 euros per month.

Example. Rauno signed an employment contract where the salary agreement was phrased as follows: “The employee’s salary is 4.80 euros per hour. If the employer can temporarily not give work to the employee, the standby hours shall be remunerated for with 2.78 euros.”

Rauno later heard that according to the ECA § 35, the employer is also obliged to remunerate employees in the standby mode with the average salary if the employee did not work because work had not been given to them. Rauno was afraid that by signing a less favourable salary agreement than that provided by legislation, he had lost the possibility to demand an average salary for the standby hours and must be satisfied with the minimum hourly wage. But he turned to the Labour Dispute Committee and won.

Fixed-Term Employment Contract

It is presumed that the employment relationship is unlimited. ECA § 9 and 10 regulate the conclusion of the fixed-term employment contract, connecting it mostly with seasonal work or temporarily increased work volume. The reason must be specified in the contract. A fixed-term employment contract may be concluded for up to five years, the deadline determined either with a date or a certain event.

With a special act, circumstances independent of the work volume may be foreseen, in which case the employer is obliged to conclude a fixed-term employment contract.

Example. If a suitable candidate with required qualifications is not found for fulfilling a vacant teacher’s position, the principle could conclude a fixed-term employment contract for up to one year with a person who has at least secondary education, and organise a new public competition after one year.

A fixed-term employment contract may also be concluded for replacing an employee who is temporarily away, until their return. For instance, for replacing an employee on maternity leave, or in case of a long-term illness.

Year in and year out, the activities of labour force mediation companies are expanding. Employees wish to know whether being hired as rented personnel is sufficient grounds for concluding a fixed-term contract. Actually, concluding a fixed-term employment contract with a rented employee is legal only if the job in the lending company is temporary in nature.

Additional Agreements in the Employment Contract

As inseparable parts of the employment contract, parties may conclude separate agreements to guarantee the proper fulfilment of contractual obligations and to prevent any infringements.

Contractual Penalties

In employment relationships, the employer is not entitled to freely apply penalties. The Employment Contracts Act provides only the four cases listed below to add the contractual penalty agreement to the employment contract:

• Infringing the obligation to keep commercial and manufacturing secrets (ECA § 22);

• Infringing the restriction of a competition agreement (ECA § 26);

• Refusal to start working;

• Leaving work with the aim of ending the occupational relationship as misconduct by the employee (ECA § 77).

Obligation to Keep Secrets

A commercial secret is knowledge that the employer wants, with a justified reason, to keep secret, but which must be shared with the employee while working. The employer specifies what information related to their activities needs protection and informs the employee accordingly, listing the secrets either in the employment contract, rules of work organisation, or some other special document. Usually, the obligation to keep a secret is related to some work process, product development, price formation, salary policy or customer base. Not every detail related to an employment relationship can be declared a secret. For example, it cannot be demanded that the employee keep the size of their salary secret even from their family members.

After the end of the employment contract, the employee is still responsible for keeping the secret to an extent necessary to protect the employer’s rights. There is no need to pay the former employee any additional remuneration, but the secret-keeping obligation may not, differently from the competition restriction agreement, limit the choice of the employee’s new workplace or decrease their possibilities to get income.

Restriction of Competition Agreement

According to this agreement, the employee may not start working for the employer’s competitors or act in the same field of activity as the employer. An agreement that considerably limits the employee’s free self-assertion and possibility to earn higher income is justified if:

• the limitation is required to protect the special economic interests of the employer as the employee’s knowledge gathered during employment could considerably harm the employer;

• the limitation is determined spatially, timely and objectively to a reasonable extent;

• the employee understands the essence of the limitation and has been informed about it in writing.

Usually, the competition limitation is valid only during the employment relationship and the employer is not obliged to pay extra remuneration for it. But some competition-sensitive fields of activity do exist where keeping the production or commercial secrets and customer base in secret is essential for the employer to protect its commercial interests.

In this case and emanating from the ECA § 24, a written competition limitation agreement is concluded, the duration of which does not exceed 12 months from the end of the employment relationship. To adhere to this agreement, the (former) employer must pay reasonable monthly compensation to the (former) employee after the end of the employment contract.

Unfortunately, it is quite common that employment contracts contain agreements like: the employee receives a salary of 900 euros per month, which includes 200 euros of compensation for avoiding competition for two years after the end of the employment contract.

The remuneration may not be paid to the employee in advance during the employment relation, and the parties may not agree on a longer timely limitation. According to the ECA § 2, the deviation from legislation that disfavours the employee is invalid. Furthermore, salary is for completing work tasks, not remuneration for additional responsibilities.

Even though the competition limitation agreement for a certain period after the end of the employment contract may also be concluded at the end phase of the occupational relationship, the employer should consider that the employee must also agree with it. The employee, especially a top specialist, may state that the employer has acted in mala fide and refuse to sign the agreement. The employee may also state that if they had known that their freedom to choose the next position would later be limited, they would not have taken up the position to begin with.

Disagreements may also arise from the amount of remuneration paid. How big is reasonable remuneration? Legislation does not knowingly state any percentages as remuneration is case-based and depends on several circumstances.

Example. If a yearly competition limitation agreement is concluded with an accountant of a software development company, the accountant still has a wide choice of new specialist positions and reasonable remuneration should not be very high. But if an ingenious programmer of the same company, for whom their work is a captivating hobby, signs the competition limitation agreement, there might not be any attractive offers left on the market and the reasonable remuneration for a yearly break from work might be greater than the former salary. Everything depends on the demands, offers and possessed information.

The space limitation should also be realistic. For example, one top technology enterprise in one Estonian science park has set a yearly competition limitation across the globe for its employees, but this is a very exceptional case.

Proprietary Liability Agreement

Several employers firmly stick to old, outdated regulations and, taking advantage of the new employee’s ignorance, conclude a collective proprietary liability agreement. This agreement deviates from the general principle of the law of obligations as the ECA § 72 states that an employee’s liability emerges if the employee has infringed an obligation in their contract of employment. Being jointly responsible for something vague does not enable determination of who infringed their work obligations. For example, warehouse keepers are not solely responsible for stock deficiencies if customers and owners also have access to the warehouse.

According to the LOA, everyone is only responsible for their own infringements. If the employer certifies a causal relationship between the employee’s infringement and the resulting property damage, they have a right to demand remuneration. But the ECA § 75 provides the employer with the possibility to conclude only a property liability agreement with the employee to guarantee that the property provided to the employee for fulfilling their work tasks remains unharmed.

A property liability agreement is only valid if:

• It has been concluded in writing;

• It is limited by space, time and objects, in a reasonable way that is understandable to the employee;

• Only the employee or a determined number of employees have access to property provided to the employee;

• The upper monetary liability level has been agreed upon;

• The employer pays reasonable remuneration to the employee, taking into account the monetary liability level.

If an agreement has been concluded that corresponds to the listed conditions, the employee’s guilt is irrelevant when compensating for the damage. The employee is freed from the liability if they can prove their innocence. It should also be remembered that the monetary upper limit and remuneration paid to the employee must be reasonably balanced. In the case of an agreement that is clearly out of proportion, the employee has a right to determine decreasing the compensation amount.

Example. According to the agreement concluded with the salesperson of a jeweller, the property liability upper limit was 75,000 euros and the employer agreed to pay 100 euros in each December to the employee for it. This is clearly out of balance and an unreasonable agreement.

Trial Period

During the trial period, the employer evaluates whether the employee’s health, knowledge, skills, capabilities and personal characteristics are suitable for performing the agreed work. The employer is responsible for instructing and guiding the employee during the trial period. And the employee will get an understanding of whether the job is suitable for them.

After a certain time period, it is wise to make a written interim report about the achieved level and to point out any deficiencies. The employee must also be active during the trial period, ask for clarification and extra guidance in tasks that have not been mastered yet.

The employee must have a mentor assigned who monitors the new employee’s blending in and supports the newcomer. For example, if an experienced tailor moves from one clothing factory to another, they must still learn new machines and technology and adapt to the new working rhythm.

Some fields of activity, especially trade and services, use so-called trial periods before concluding an employment contract. ECA § 4 section 2 states that all who are allowed to work are to be treated as working under an employment contract, even those without one.

According to the Labour Market Services and Benefits Act, only a person officially registered as unemployed can be allowed to have a trial day, lasting up to one day. Even during the trial day, the employer is obliged to follow the Occupational Health and Safety Act requirements. The employer can verify the trial day by presenting the Töötukassa agreement to the inspector. No employment contract is concluded or remuneration paid for such trial periods.

No other trial periods are allowed. The employee can be “tested” during the trial period, which is no specific period but the first stage of an employment relationship. The employer can apply the trial period only when beginning employment. Later modification of the employment contract, for example when changing positions within the company, does not justify a new trial period. The employer does offer a new position and new tasks to such employee that they believe can handle them.

Duration of the trial period:

• Trial period usually lasts 4 months;

• If the employment contract has been concluded for 8 months or less, the trial period may last up to half of the contract duration;

• If parties agree on a shorter trial period or no trial period at all, it must be fixed in writing in the contract.

Even if the employee has been on sick leave several times during the trial period, it does not give the employer reason to believe that the employee’s state of health is unsuitable for the job, nor should the occupational relationship be ended. The ECA § 92 section 1 point 3 states that the contract of employment may not be terminated if the employee is temporarily incapable of fulfilling their tasks due to health issues. The employer must understand that illnesses do not follow a fixed pattern – people are different and some do fall ill more frequently than others. If necessary and reasonable, the trial period may be extended by the number of days when the employee was unable to work due to illness, vacation, or other reasons. In the case of disagreements, the employer must verify the need to extend the trial period.

During the trial period, both the employee and the employer can terminate both the fixed-term and the unlimited employment contract, making it in a written and reproducible form (ECA § 86). When terminating the employment relationship, both the employee and the employer must follow the legal notification period, which is at least 15 calendar days during the trial period (ECA § 96). Even though the law states “at least”, this indication should not be abused.

Example. A few days before the end of the trial period, the employer presented a declaration of cancellation to the employee with several reasons why the employee was unsuitable, and fixed the end of the employment relationship for six weeks. In the Labour Dispute Committee, the employee was able to prove that the employer was interested in ending a certain order and did not have any more work to give the employee.

If the employer finds, when assessing the trial period results, that the employee is not suitable for the job, the declaration of cancellation must list the shortcomings. For example, a salesperson has much theoretical knowledge and skills, a heap of diplomas and certificates, but is so cowardly that they escape from customers and cannot cope with aggressive sales tactics.

The parties of the employment relationship can also terminate the employment contract during the trial period for extraordinary circumstances that are not related to the goal of the trial period or presuppose a 15-day notification period. For instance, the employee steals, breaches their work assignments regardless of repeated warnings; or the employee feels that their life and health are in real danger as the employer does not enable the use of necessary protective gear for roof work, forces them to descend into septic manholes without protection, etc.

Health Check

The employer must send each new employee to the occupational health doctor’s check-up who might be influenced by some occupational environment hazard factor or the type of the work. The health check finds possible contraindications early on that might hinder the new employee’s further working or which require adjusting the working environment. This helps to avoid damaging the employee’s health even further.

For some tasks, the health check must be carried out before beginning to work: for example, in the case of night shifts or when handling lead and its ionic compounds in the working environment. In other cases, it is sufficient if the health is checked during the first month of employment.

It should never occur that a new employee must wait for years for a health check, until the health of all employees is checked. Companies apply this practice rather often, even though it contradicts legal requirements.

The employer must adhere to the decision by the occupational health doctor, for instance, that the employee may not work in a noisy environment. In addition, the occupational health doctor might give recommendations, e.g. suggest that the employee have two massage therapies a year. If possible, these should also be fulfilled at once, not wait until the employee becomes more experienced. If the employee has been sent to have their health checked because they work at a display for over half of their working time and the doctor discovers that the employee’s eyesight has decreased and the employee needs glasses to work at the computer, the employer is obliged to buy or compensate for the glasses or other visual acuity correction means. It is irrelevant whether the employee’s eyesight decreased during the present employment – the obligation can emerge after the initial health check. Paying for the glasses is not an extra benefit that the employee gets – the glasses are work instruments and the employee cannot work without them. The compensation order is specified by the employer with an internal document, stating the maximum compensation for glasses (whether the total sum; glasses and frames separately; or other options).

Employees’ health checks must be at the cost of the employer and must take place during working hours. The employee is not obliged to visit the occupational health doctor on their day off work.

Unfortunately, cases have occurred where the employer has discounted the cost of the occupational health check from the employee’s salary or had them pay for it themselves. Also, some employers completely ignore the health check organisation obligation, excusing themselves with complicated economic circumstances and a “hard life”. But there is no excuse for breaking the law.

If the work characteristics prohibit a health check during the workday, the health check could take place outside the regular working hours – on the condition that it is calculated as working time and remunerated as overtime. For example, a health care provider drives a medical bus to a company where people work in shifts. Employees currently at work have their health checked during working hours, but people currently off work must also attend, during their free time.

If the employee is unsuitable for the position due to their health condition and the employer cannot change the working conditions or offer another, more suitable work (or if the employee does not agree with the offered work), the employer can terminate the employment contract during the trial period.

Example. An accountant employed with a timber company was placed in the sanding plant, in a corner exposed from the top. It was secluded from the manufacturing on two sides, but the noise and sawdust did find their way over the walls. The employee fell ill on the third week – allergies. Healed, worked some days, and fell ill again. This happened several times.

The risk assessment ordered by the employer did mention tension for eyes and shoulders due to working at a computer, but not more. The employer sent the accountant to the occupational health doctor and as the latter had visited the company earlier, they knew to investigate the employee’s tolerance to deciduous sawdust as an allergen. Visiting the general practitioner might not have helped the employee as they had no idea of the working conditions. The accountant’s health did not prohibit the work tasks from being fulfilled, but working in the specific room was ruled out.

The employer considered the possibility to redesign the workplace, but finally, the parties agreed on remote work – the accountant worked remotely from home thereafter.

Suitability of the Workplace, Instruments, and Personal Protective Equipment

The arrival of the new employee might be connected with some other employee leaving, but merely giving all the equipment and workplace of the previous employee to the new one is not sufficient. Each person is different.

1. The workplace must be shaped as suitable for the new employee, taking into account their height, whether they are left or right-handed, the necessity to adjust the seat, etc. The individual suitability of the workplace is crucial. It must be stressed to the employee that only he himself can shape the most suitable workplace – but it must first be taught to the employee, of course. As an alternative option, the best solution could be found in cooperation with the mentor, working environment specialist or representative.

2. When choosing instruments, the characteristics of the new employee must be taken into consideration and fine-tuned to fit the needs. If the instrument has work modes of different speeds, the slower version should be applied at first. The employer’s support is crucial here to stress that quality and learning the correct work methods is more important than quantity. When work is clear, the speed can be increased.

3. Working clothes must fit perfectly: too large or tight clothes could trigger an occupational accident. Also, it is insulting to the employee if you give them someone’s old and dirty clothes to wear.

4. Personal protective equipment must be suitable for the specific employee. The fact that something fitted the previous employee is irrelevant. The newcomer must not adapt to unsuitable equipment.

If used personal protective equipment is provided to the newcomer, it must be checked, maintained and it must be clean. From the employee’s perspective it would be best to get brand new personal protective equipment.

When issuing the personal protective equipment, it must be verified that it is suitable for the user and the specific working conditions, corresponds fully to the protective need, does not pose extra stress, hinder the effects of eye or hearing protection, complies with ergonomic requirements and is suitable for the employee’s health condition.

New Employee Instruction and Training

The new employee is a lawful member of the collective like all others, starting from day one, but with one exception – they need a lot more counselling.

Example. The occupational health doctor marked in their notice that the milker’s occupational disease was caused by the following hazard factors: repetitive movements, forced positions of hands, and lifting weights. The labour inspector examining the occupational disease visited the company and discovered that the introductory safety guidelines had been introduced to the employee. During the initial instruction, the employee was informed about the risk assessment results, the milker’s safety instructions and guidelines for preventing overload injuries and for lifting weights manually. The instructions and being allowed to do independent work were registered according to requirements in § 8 sections 1 and 2 of regulation No. 80 “The order of occupational health care and occupational safety training and refresher courses” issued by the Minister of Social Affairs on December 14th, 2000. However, the explanation letter of the milker who fell ill showed that they were not aware of the ergonomically correct working positions and tricks.

The example describes a rather typical situation where the company does have instructions that are introduced to the employees, and employees sign to testify that they have been instructed accordingly – but the employees are still unaware of the actual content. Leaving aside the cynical suggestion that the employee only says what is favourable to them, the emphasis should currently rather be put on the quality of instruction and training.

Was the employee trained on safe (incl. ergonomic) work techniques? What does the person say who carried out the instructions? If the employee claims to be unaware, they have probably worked in the wrong position and used the incorrect work techniques all the time. Did someone monitor how they worked? Here, we reach the organisation of internal control: if the employee’s activities and work techniques were monitored, was the employee’s attention drawn to the incorrect positions and burdening techniques?

In the end, we reach the principal question: what was the quality of the employee’s training and instruction, if the employee was unaware of the manual content?

To avoid the contradiction where one party of the employment relationship finds that the instruction was sufficient, yet the other party has not acquired all required activities, the training should be objectively reviewed.

What is the new employee’s instruction and training system like? Often it is considered as sufficient if the employee is given a heap of manuals and asked to read them all, then directed to the workplace and actual work can begin. If the company uses standard instructions that the employer has printed out and confirmed, and which do not reflect the working environment or instruments of the specific company, the instruction is completely formal and the new employee does not get any actual knowledge on how to work in this company. Using standard manuals is nothing bad, but they should be reviewed and adapted to the company’s working environment and used instruments prior to use.

When investigating an accident or occupational disease it can often be concluded that despite well-written manuals, the employees know practically nothing about the content. Thus, it is important that after reading the manuals, the new employee is questioned to make sure they have understood everything. The complete system of training and instructing a new employee consists of introductory introduction, primary instruction and training.

System of New Employee Instruction and Training

1. Introductory instruction. According to the regulation “The order of occupational health care and occupational safety training and refresher courses”, the instruction of an employee begins with introductory instruction, carried out by the working environment specialist. During the process, the new employee must be informed about company work organisation rules, legislation governing occupational health care and safety, measures applied at the company for guaranteeing occupational health care and safety, guidelines for acting in the case of emergency or industrial accident, practices to avoid environmental pollution, and the rights and responsibilities of the employee according to legislation. The employee must also be notified about the contact data of the local Labour Inspectorate office and who are the first aid provider, working environment specialist and representatives.

The working environment representative has a great role in that the new employee will get to know the company’s working environment and has a contact to turn to with any questions concerning the working environment. One of the representative’s responsibilities is to monitor that employees are equipped with proper personal protection equipment and receive knowledge, instructions and training on occupational health care and safety. The working environment representative is the one who must notify the employees about the working environment hazards, risk assessment results and measures to apply in order to avoid health damage.

People tend to forget that employees have responsibilities too, emanating from the Occupational Health and Safety Act. One of the first states that employee must cooperate with the employer to create a safe working environment!

2. Primary instruction. The employer must appoint a competent person to carry out the instruction at the workplace of the future employee. During the primary instruction, safety guidelines necessary for their tasks are introduced to the employee; these may concern either tasks or used instruments. In addition to safety instructions, the new employee must also be notified about the working environment factors that could harm them. If the workplace requires the use of personal protective equipment, their use must also be explained.

To avoid health damage, ergonomically correct working positions and techniques, and the employee’s work organisation, must be introduced. The latter does not only concern the working hours and lunch break duration, but also states when employees can take breaks if these are necessary for avoiding mental or physical overload. Small breaks enable the body to recover and maintain the ability to work throughout the day.

Last but not least, the employee is also informed about fire and electricity measures, safety signs used at the workplace, the location of the emergency phone, first aid kit, evacuation routes and emergency exits.

3. Training. During the training, the new employee must learn safe working techniques. In addition, the proper use of personal protection equipment must also be taught. Incorrectly used personal protection equipment, regardless of its quality or price, does not protect the employee from health damages alone. The instructor could be a specialist appointed by the employer or some experienced employee. Thus, learning the basic practical skills is carried out under the supervision by an experienced mentor. The duration of the training depends on the position specifics, work complexity and hazardousness.

The employee may be allowed to do independent work if the mentor is certain that the employee has acquired all safe working skills. Thus, the mentor should consider what criteria shows that the new employee has acquired safe working techniques. Recognising work-related hazards is a part of their successful prevention.

When training the new employee, the mentor must keep the following in mind:

• The new employee may not be taught the easiest way, but the correct way, so the employee’s activities avoid possible occupational accidents or work-related illnesses;

• A personal example is important for the new employee to learn work safety, to use required personal protective equipment, etc.;

• Safety culture is an inseparable part of daily activities;

• The mentor should give feedback to the trained employee about their work;

• The employee must be notified about which possible hazard signals must be paid attention to while working, how to react, which hazards may be eliminated by the employee and which certainly require calling for help;

• The employee must be informed about what the possible emergency situations and rules for registering them are.

At the end of the training the employee should be notified of which colleague to turn to in the case of further questions. Whether it will be the mentor or someone else is a matter of consideration.

During the training or trial period, the new employee’s activities might show hazard signs. The employer should certainly pay attention to such hazard signs and discuss with the appointed mentor whether to give new possibilities to the new employee and for how long.

Hazard signs in the behaviour of the new employee:

• The employee does not follow the safe working requirements and remarks do not have the desired effect;

• The employee is “scared” of working, which also hinders the work of the colleagues, and results in the decrease in productivity and work safety;

• The employee thinks they are smarter than the old colleagues (“Nothing will happen to me”) and does not think mentoring is necessary;

• The employee does not master safe working techniques during the training period and poses a danger to himself and colleagues.

The employer’s right to not provide the occupational health care and safety training for the new employee should be treated with caution. Does the company have specific criteria based on which this is decided? Is it always a valid argument that the employee has been employed in a similar company before? How can you be absolutely certain that the employee has mastered safe work techniques? The worst is if the training is not organised because it is inconvenient.

Did the employee’s previous workplace have exactly the same devices and environment? For example, the employee could have had the same lathe, but did not have any forklifts driving by, the employee did not have to lift weights up high, handle a certain chemical, etc. Considering all these additional conditions, can the employee remain as careful and precise while working as required?

Can you answer all these questions with a definite yes? You may only then begin to think that organising the instruction might not be necessary.

Employee’s Follow-Up Training

The follow-up training supports the continuous development of the employee as a specialist. The ECA § 28 section 2 subsection 5 states that the employer is obliged to provide professional training for the employee to increase their knowledge and skills in relation to the company’s activities, bear the training costs and pay average salary during training. The employee is obliged to participate. The employer cannot demand that the employee take academic leave for the work-related training. For instance, if the employer wants a salesperson to improve their skills, they can send the employee to attend corresponding follow-up training.

The training time is treated as working time, and must fall within the marginal rate of work and resting time. But some employers tend to forget this.

Example. Following a regular five-day workweek, the employees had to attend training on Saturday and Sunday, and return to work the next Monday morning without having any weekly rest. This is illegal. The employer should have distributed the training over several weekends and given Monday off work as compensation.

In addition to reasonable expenses made for training the employee, the employer sometimes bears even greater expenses. By investing in the employee’s knowledge, the employer wants the additional skills to bring additional profit to the company during a certain time period, and that competitors cannot allure the specialist over by offering a greater salary.

As a guarantee, the parties may conclude a written training costs’ remuneration agreement with a term of up to three years (ECA § 34). If the employee wishes to leave the company prior to the end of the agreed term, the employee must pay compensation to the employer that is in proportion with the time left until the end of the term.

If the employer sends the working environment representative to the 24-hour training and concludes the training cost remuneration agreement, and if the employee wishes to leave the company before three years have passed, this agreement is null and void. It is legally stipulated that the employer must bear the costs related to the legally mandatory training.

Useful to Know: Working Time Schedule, Vacation Schedule, Business Trips, Salary Slips and Health Insurance

Several rights and responsibilities accompany the employment contract that the new employee must be informed about.

Working Time Schedule

When concluding the employment contract, the employer and the employee agree on the working hours. It is legally stipulated that during a 7-day time period, a full-time employee is occupied for 40 hours and the length of the workday is 8 hours. If this is deviated from or the working time does not distribute evenly during the calculation period, the parties agree to apply a summed working time calculation instead, and agree on the length of the calculation period. In the case of summed up working time, the employer must notify the employee in writing when the work schedule for the following calculation period will be disclosed (ECA § 6 section 6).

Usually, all details about the working time management and schedule compilation are included in the company’s administrative rules.

Example. The employee started working as a waiter in a restaurant. July was very busy and as monthly working time totalled nearly 200 hours, the employee assumed it to be overtime and expected a greater salary than usual. The employer refused to compensate for the overtime as the employment contract contained an agreement that the working time was summed up and that the calculation period was four months. The company’s calculation period ended with August. The employer explained that when summing up working time it might happen that some months have more and others fewer working hours. What is important is that work is guaranteed for the employee during the entire calculation period. If it turns out at the end of the calculation period that the employee did earn overtime, the employer shall compensate for it either with paid time off, or with 1.5 times the regular salary for the overtime. The employee understood that they might not have any overtime at the end of August. Both parties also realised that important aspects had not been understood in a similar way and pre-contractual discussions could have been more thorough.

What the employee must know about the working time schedule:

• How long it is compiled for (for instance, the calculation period may be a quarter, but the working schedule is compiled for one month at a time);

• How many days before the beginning of the calculation period (or month) it is prepared;

• How it is disclosed (for example, attached on the notice board by the 25th date of the preceding month).

The employee has a right to familiarise themselves with the work schedule for a reasonable time period before the start of the new work period; learn when their working and free days are to be able to plan their personal lives. The time schedule must contain the beginning and ending times of the specific shifts, break for eating and other breaks within the workday.

Changing the already approved schedule during the month must be previously discussed and agreed with the employee. If the employer unilaterally changed the schedule during the active time period, without the employee’s consent, and forced the employee to come to work, it would make the compilation of the schedule quite pointless.

When changing the work schedule with mutual agreement, the employer must consider the resting time limitations and guarantee a daily, uninterrupted, 11-hour break between shifts and a 48-hour break each week.

Vacation Schedule

The employer must compile and disclose the vacation schedule for the current year by the end of March (ECA § 69). The employer determines the time of the annual vacation, taking into account the employee’s wishes, if at all compatible with the company’s interests. For example, the employer must not grant a vacation to the employee during the busiest months of the year.

However, the employer must consider that the ECA § 69 section 7 lists people who must be able to have a vacation at the requested time due to family reasons or special cases.

The employer must grant a vacation at the times requested by the employee in the following cases:

• to a woman directly before or after maternity leave, or after parental leave;

• to a man during their partner’s maternity leave, or after parental leave;

• to a parent raising a child younger than 7;

• to a parent on the child’s school holiday, if the child is 7 to 10 years old;

• to a minor, compulsory to attend school, on the school holiday.

The work organisation rules should state when and how employees must notify the employer about their vacation wishes. If the employer has not disclosed the schedule by the specified time or if the employee wishes to have an additional vacation, the employer must be notified at least 14 calendar days in advance.

The vacation schedule must be compiled by the end of March, each calendar year. If the employee wishes to use the vacation during a period when the schedule has not been disclosed yet, the employee must come to an agreement with the employer.

ECA § 68 section 5 states that annual vacation can be divided into parts, if the parties agree. This means that if the employee or the employer wants a part of the vacation to be shorter than 28 calendar days (exceptions regarding the vacation length provided in ECA § 56-58), it can be agreed upon in the vacation schedule.

In the first calendar year, the new employee is entitled to a vacation after working 6 months. The length of the vacation must correlate with the length of employment.

Business Trip

A person connected with family responsibilities wants to know during the job interview if and how often business trips are planned to avoid later quarrels. The ECA § 21 also gives the employer the right to send the employee to fulfil their work tasks elsewhere than the location specified in the employment contract, but, without a separate agreement, not for more than 30 consecutive days.

An employee who is pregnant, or a parent of a kid younger than 3 or with a disability may be sent on a business trip only if the employee consents.

The employee is entitled to ask for compensation for the costs related to the business travel. The exact procedure is provided in procedure No. 110, “Procedure for the payment of compensation for the expenses related to business trips and the minimum daily allowance rate, payment conditions and order for assignments abroad” by the Government of the Republic (June 25th, 2009).

Daily allowance is paid only for assignments abroad. The minimum daily allowance is 22.37 euros. The tax-free allowance limit of the first 15 calendar days is up to 50 euros and up to 32 euros on the following days. The employer may pay a higher daily allowance, but in this case, the employer must also pay the special concession tax. The employer can decrease the daily allowance by up to 70 percent, if the employee is guaranteed free meals.

Prior to the business trip, the employee is entitled to ask for an advance payment to cover possible expenses and if the employer has not made the payment, can refuse the business trip.

It must be noted that if the employee cannot verify that they agreed a higher amount with the employer than the minimum daily allowance, all disputes are solved emanating from the minimum rate. All receipts verifying the founded expenses made during the business trip must be kept and presented to the employer for reimbursement.

Even an army marches on its stomach. Must the employer reimburse the employee’s expenses on lunch and dinner made during the business trip? If the parties have agreed on it, then why not. But it is a special concession and the employer must pay the corresponding tax.

Salary Slip

The ECA § 28 section 2 point 12 states that if the employee expresses the corresponding wish, the employer is obliged to disclose information about calculated and paid monthly salary, additional fees, bonuses, average salary calculation, etc., or other notices connected with the employment relationship. The parties agree on how the slip is disclosed – whether on paper or via email.

If the employer does not present the slip regardless of the oral demand, the employee should repeat the request via email, that could later be used as written evidence.

When the employment contract is terminated, the employee is entitled to request the form “Employer’s certificate to the insured”, which is required when they turn to the Unemployment Office to register themselves as unemployed, and for applying for the unemployment insurance benefit or support.

Health Insurance

In a few weeks after beginning working, it would be wise for the employee to check if they have been registered as a medically insured person in the Health Insurance Fund. The employee’s medical insurance arises after a 14-day waiting period starting from the date of employment. Cases have occurred when the employee presumes that they are medically insured, fall ill and find out that the Health Insurance Fund does not pay any compensation as the employer has not registered the employee.

Health insurance validity can always be checked in the state portal www.eesti.ee or Health Insurance Fund infoline (+372) 669 6630.

New Employee – A Lawful Member of the Collective

The new employee should belong to the collective starting from day one. But how can this be achieved? It is suggested that after the official and administrative rules have been introduced, some time is provided to settle in from the personal communication level perspective. People settle in differently – some are extroverts that connect with others fast, but more reserved people need more time to bond.

Techniques for blending in:

• Each collective usually has a more sociable employee who could be asked to help the new employee with settling in. Choosing such an employee is a bit risky though: a friendly colleague should not create a distorted opinion about the employer, the safety culture, other employees or all other important and less important aspects.

• The new employee must understand that the rules of their previous workplace cannot and may not be brought along to the new collective that likely has its own rule set. But if the newcomer spots something worth a change in the rules, they could later give their opinion about what should be different at the workplace and offer a more suitable solution. Each change has its own time and place, but a new look could spot some outdated circumstances that older employees have grown so used to they barely even see it.

The new employee may certainly not be harnessed at the shifts that nobody else wants to do. When preparing the schedules, the new employee must be taken into account as a lawful member of the collective with a personal life and individual preferences.

Each place has its own customs – it is not wise to criticise the ways and means of the new collective on your very first day.

Annex 1. Brainteasers!

Put the terms, that a new employee should pay attention by signing a work contract, in the grid. One extra phrase reveals the solution.

AGREEMENT

BUSINESS SECRET

CONTRACTOR

EMPLOYEE

EMPLOYER

GUARANTEE

INSTRUCTIONS

LUNCH BREAK

OBLIGATIONS

OVERTIME WORK

PAYMENT

REST

SIGNED

SKILLS

TAXES LIABILITY

TEAMWORK

TERMS

Annex 2. Legal Acts Handling the Creation of a Good Working Environment for a New Employee

Individual Labour Dispute Resolution Act

Employment Contracts Act

Occupational Health and Safety Act

Law of Obligations Act

General Occupational Health and Safety Requirements for Work with Display Screen Equipment

Occupational Health and Safety Requirements for Handling Lead and Its Ionic Compounds

Occupational Health and Safety Requirements on the Workplace

Occupational Health and Safety Requirements on Using Instruments

Order for Choosing and Using Personal Protective Equipment

Conditions and Order for Paying Average Salary

Order for Employees’ Health Check

Order for Occupational Health and Safety Instructions and Supplementary Training

Correct Answear: Agreement

Table of Contents

Silja Soon, Neenu Pavel New Employee in a Company

Introduction

Analysing the Applicant’s Strengths and Weaknesses

Which Contract Should Be Concluded for Working?

Comparison of Contracts Concluded for Working

Employment Contract Relationships

Fixed-Term Employment Contract

Additional Agreements in the Employment Contract

Contractual Penalties

Obligation to Keep Secrets

Restriction of Competition Agreement

Proprietary Liability Agreement

Trial Period

Health Check

Suitability of the Workplace, Instruments, and Personal Protective Equipment

New Employee Instruction and Training

System of New Employee Instruction and Training

Employee’s Follow-Up Training

Useful to Know: Working Time Schedule, Vacation Schedule, Business Trips, Salary Slips and Health Insurance

Working Time Schedule

Vacation Schedule

Business Trip

Salary Slip

Health Insurance

New Employee – A Lawful Member of the Collective

Annex 1. Brainteasers!

Annex 2. Legal Acts Handling the Creation of a Good Working Environment for a New Employee