Annotation

This publication gives some pointers and suggestions on how to achieve a good working environment and how to organize employment relationships.

- The ABCs for a Starting Entrepreneur

- Introduction

- What Does the Labour Inspectorate Do?

- AWARENESS-RAISING BY THE LABOUR INSPECTORATE

- Counselling

- Consultations

- Information Days and Training Activities

- Electronic Channels

- Collecting and Sharing Best Practices

- EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIPS

- Hiring an Employee

- Which Contract to Conclude

- Contract of Employment

- How to Agree on the Remuneration

- How to Organize Working and Rest Time

- How to Grant Vacations to Employees

- How is the Contract of Employment Terminated?

- Occupational Health and Safety

- Organizing Occupational Health and Safety in a Company

- Working Environment Specialist

- Working Environment Representative

- Risk Assessment

- Instruction of Employees

- Instruction and Training System

- The Order of Employees’ Medical Examination

- Organizing First Aid in a Company

- Notifying the Labour Inspectorate

- Legal Acts Regulating the Working Environment

- Appendix. Brainwork!

- Help a new entrepreneur!

The ABCs for a Starting Entrepreneur

Introduction

Congratulations on the decision to become an entrepreneur! According to an old hand, entrepreneurship is a lifestyle. However, keep in mind that it requires a change of mentality – an entrepreneur is not simply their own boss, but is also responsible for their employees.

The World Health Organization has defined health as a state of mental, physical and social welfare. Thus, an employer is responsible for the welfare of their employees and must offer them the opportunity to engage in appropriate and pleasant work, guarantee their income and maintain a work environment that is as healthy as possible.

Like the saying “You get what you give,” motivated and committed employees have an immense positive effect on the competitiveness of a fresh company. Well-organized occupational health and work safety encourages an increase in productivity, lowers costs and risks, creates competition among suppliers and partners, and raises the company’s reputation in the eyes of investors, clients, potential employees and society.

This publication gives you some pointers and suggestions on how to achieve a good working environment and how to organize employment relationships (e.g., what to consider when concluding an employment contract or planning vacations).

Good luck!

The Labour Inspectorate

What Does the Labour Inspectorate Do?

According to § 29 of the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia, working conditions are controlled by the state. This means that the state is responsible for carrying out the supervision of working conditions, which is the responsibility of the Labour Inspectorate. In addition to these supervision activities, the Labour Inspectorate helps employers to understand the importance of managing the work environment and guide them in creating safer and healthier working conditions and valid employment relationships. The mission of the Labour Inspectorate is to provide security in professional relationships.

Governmental Supervision

Governmental supervision is carried out by labour inspectors who check the occupational health care and work safety conditions in companies. Labour inspectors and lawyers keep a close eye on employment relationships.

To carry out supervision, the inspector agrees on a suitable visiting time with the company manager and clarifies the purpose of the visit. In general, regular supervision is carried out which, contrary to widespread belief, is not the result of a complaint. Sometimes labour inspectors also make cold calls to carry out follow-up supervision or to check up on a complaint and gather related information.

Supervision is undertaken with a company’s representative and, if possible, the working environment representative or a representative of the employees. Results shall be recorded in a report. If the inspector detects violations that the employer has not corrected in five working days, the inspector issues a precept determining the rectification deadlines. In the case that the violation is extremely severe (compromising life or health), a precept is immediately issued prohibiting the hazardous work or the use of the dangerous equipment. In the case of severe violations, a misdemeanour procedure and fine can follow.

When carrying out supervision activities, the inspector is always prepared to counsel the company on how to improve employment relationships or the working environment.

Settlement of Labour Disputes

Labour dispute committees are present at the Labour Inspectorate, solving disputes between the employee and employer free of charge.

A labour dispute case is reviewed within one month of the application filing date. The decisions by the labour dispute committees are mandatory, just like court orders.

The labour dispute committees consist of the chairman of the labour dispute committee (as the representative of the state) and employee and employer representatives appointed by the managing bodies of the central associations. The three participants hear the disputing parties and pass a decision. If the parties disagree with the solution, they can have recourse to the county court.

Awareness-Raising

The awareness-raising activities of the Labour Inspectorate include counselling, organizing information days and other training activities, collecting and sharing the best work environment practices, and information sharing via different electronic channels.

AWARENESS-RAISING BY THE LABOUR INSPECTORATE

Counselling

The Labour Inspectorate can be contacted for advice via the following channels:

• The lawyer infoline 640 6000 operates on workdays between 9:00–16:30. This number is answered by Labour Inspectorate lawyers who can explain the Republic of Estonia Employment Contracts Act and answer related questions. If the question concerns the organization of work safety and occupational health care, the lawyer can share the phone number of the Labour Inspectorate specialist in the corresponding matter.

• Questions concerning employment relationships are welcome to be sent to the lawyers’ email address at jurist@ti.ee or the general email of the Labour Inspectorate at ti@ti.ee.

• You can also visit the labour inspectors and lawyers in person in all Labour Inspectorate offices across Estonia.

Consultations

The Labour Inspectorate affords employers the opportunity to invite a work environment consultant to their company. The consultations are aimed at improving occupational health care and work safety in the company, not to look for breaches. The aim is to help employers find solutions to prevent employee health damage and preserve their ability to work.

The consultant visits the work environment accompanied by the company’s representatives, examines the company’s documentation on the work environment and gives suggestions for improving the work environment, and/or updating the documentation.

In general, the employer is given some time after the consultation to execute the consultant’s suggestions, and inspectors will not check up on the company during that time period.

The consultation service is free of charge to the company, and the consultant’s visit can be arranged by sending a corresponding email to ti@ti.ee.

Information Days and Training Activities

The Labour Inspectorate holds information days across Estonia, clarifying issues vital to working life. All information days and other training activities (e.g. lectures at trade fairs) are free of charge to participants. The Labour Inspectorate warmly welcomes working environment specialists, working environment representatives, company managers and others interested in work environment topics to such informative events.

Electronic Channels

Electronic channels of the Labour Inspectorate:

• The Labour Inspectorate website www.ti.ee has information about the Inspectorate’s activities. The contact information of the local Labour Inspectorate offices, application forms and everything else necessary to simplify the work of employers and work environment specialists regarding work environment management is available here.

• The website www.tööelu.ee shares up-to-date information about occupational health care, work safety, employment relationships, information days, training sessions, etc.

• The electronic newsletter by the Labour Inspectorate is published six times a year. The free newsletter will pop into your inbox once you fill in the respective form at www.ti.ee.

• The Labour Inspectorate’s customer portal has been launched to facilitate information sharing between the Labour Inspectorate and employers. Employers can use the site to forward reports or documents and to get an overview of documents and cases connected with their company.

• Also, stop by Facebook and Twitter to hear the latest by the Labour Inspectorate.

Collecting and Sharing Best Practices

The best work environment practices are measures adopted by an employer for ensuring health and safety at a workplace that have shown consistently better results than other measures in use. The aim of collecting the best practices is to offer outstanding examples for organizing the work environment that can also be used as a guideline in other organizations.

Characteristics of the best work environment practices are as follows:

• required – a problem exists which needs to be solved;

• oriented to a specific target group;

• innovative / clever;

• applicable / adoptable – the solution can also be adopted by other employers without them bearing unreasonable expense;

• efficient – the adopted solution is efficient, which can be proved with measurements or other indicators.

In addition to the abovementioned mandatory characteristics, it is also recommended that the practice is:

• educative / awareness-raising – during the practice application, the awareness of employees about work safety and occupational health care increases;

• user friendly – facilitates work and is user friendly.

Each year, the Labour Inspectorate holds a contest for best practices, awarding three new ones a place on the list.

The database on the Labour Inspectorate website www.ti.ee contains over 200 examples of best practices adopted by companies, which are gradually being translated into Russian.

Example of a Best Work Practice, Awarded in 2015.

Psychological counselling service

Organization: Estonian Rescue Board

Best practice target group: all employees

Problem

Rescue workers face extremely difficult situations on a daily basis and encounter wounded or dead people and human tragedies. In addition, employees’ mental pressure is increased by the constant preparedness to react, the physical danger to their lives and health, being away from their loved ones, and the responsibility to protect the community’s safety and property. All these factors contribute to stress that is constantly in the background, which creates an excellent starting point for emotional burnout. The employer must support employees in recovering from a crisis following traumatic and difficult events, and in relieving emotional pressure.

Best practice description

The necessity became evident when talking to rescue teams. It was concluded that raising awareness through an explicit plan helps employees implement timely assistance. In 2013, a thesis defended at the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences investigated stress among rescue workers and how they cope with it at Lääne Rescue Centre. Based on the actual situation, the Rescue Board compiled guidelines for rescue workers on how to deal with psychologically difficult situations. These guidelines provide an overview of possible crisis situations, behavioural reactions and the consequences of crisis situations; introduce the principles of psychological help; give pointers on how to recognize that someone is in a crisis and how to help them; and describe when and how can one find additional help. In addition, the Rescue Board has concluded cooperation agreements with psychologists in different Estonian counties for providing both individual and group therapy. In cooperation with psychologists, information events were held in the rescue centres introducing offered opportunities and giving guidelines for identifying stress symptoms. The information events aimed to treat the topic positively, helping a male collective to better understand the essence of counselling and to encourage them to use the service. The counselling service was also introduced in the Häire112 newsletter and publication. Information about cooperation partners is also available through the Board’s Intranet.

Results

The compiled guidelines help employees to delve deeper into the topic and, if the need arises, be there for their colleagues. Cooperation agreements concluded with psychologists all over Estonia have helped to bring the service to those who need it, and people have begun using the counselling service. The post-tragedy counselling service is still used, and work to increase awareness is ongoing.

EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIPS

Hiring an Employee

Depending on the company’s specifics and the work volume, there are two options for tackling pending tasks: the entrepreneur can take care of everything necessary by themselves, or hire other people to do it instead.

In the case of a small company which does not project great volumes, the entrepreneur can take care of all necessary tasks. But in this case, a question might arise as to whether and who will conclude a contract of employment with the entrepreneur. In many cases, the entrepreneur concludes the contract with themselves – or, if the company has two board members, they conclude the contract with one another. The contract of employments is not necessary to act as an entrepreneur as it does not provide any extra rights nor guarantees. However, a contract should be concluded when the entrepreneur fulfils tasks related to the company’s activities.

When the entrepreneur decides to recruit an employee, several important questions come up and need to be solved.

Which Contract to Conclude

Several types of contracts can be concluded for doing work: a contract of employment, a contract for services, or an authorization agreement. Before choosing and signing one, it must carefully be considered which contract best suits the emerging legal relationship. It must reflect the actual will of the parties that was agreed upon in negotiations.

A contract of employment is best for continuous work. Depending on the work tasks, the parties can also conclude a contract for services or an authorization agreement.

A contract for services is usually concluded for manufacturing an object, providing a one-off service, or for fulfilling an order (e.g. laying flooring, installing a door).

An authorization agreement is usually concluded to fulfil a certain task (e.g. for representing in court, for holding a lecture).

Contract of Employment

Usually, a contract of employment is concluded for doing work. The contract of employment provides the employees with more rights and better protection than other contracts. Thus, a contract of employment should be the favoured one. In the case of a contract of employment, the employee is subordinate to the management and control of the employer.

Among other rights, the contract of employment guarantees the following to the employee:

• engagement with work during a longer time period;

• receipt of remuneration on a regular basis, at least once a month;

• tools and training at the cost of the employer;

• a pause during the working day; daily and weekly time off work;

• extra fees for working on a public holiday, working overtime, or for night shifts;

• a safe working environment and regular health checks;

• the right to a yearly vacation.

Concluding the Contract of Employment

When concluding the contract of employment, the Employment Contracts Act must be adhered to. For conditions to be satisfactory to both parties, all important aspects must be reviewed prior to signing the contract. What conditions the parties see as important and what will be agreed upon shall become evident in negotiations. It is recommended to spare sufficient time, as this is the key for achieving a mutually satisfying result.

Form of the Contract of Employment

The contract of employment is concluded in writing. However, the contract is treated as concluded when the employee starts doing work, which can only be assumed to be made against a remuneration.

The contract of employment is concluded in two copies, one of which is for the employer and the other for the employee.

The employer is obliged to maintain their copy of the contract during the entire employment relationship, and for ten years after its termination.

If the employee starts working on a task that does not exceed two weeks, concluding a contract of employment in writing is not mandatory. However, for the purpose of clarity and for avoiding any future disputes, it is also recommended to conclude a contract in writing in the case of short-term employment.

Example. An employer and an employee agreed on the work and remuneration, but, for different reasons, the employer repeatedly postponed the work starting date. However, the contract of employment had been concluded and the employer cannot simply waive it. The employee has a legitimate expectation to do the agreed work and receive the agreed remuneration. The employer is obliged to enable the employee to start working at the agreed time, and at the same time, fulfil their contractual obligations.

What Must a Contract of Employment Contain?

The contract of employment enforces the most important conditions, which usually are:

• a description of work tasks;

• remuneration received for the performed work;

• working hours;

• the location of the workplace.

The employer must inform the employee in writing about other data prescribed by the Employment Contracts Act that the parties have not agreed upon in the contract of employment – for example, the duration of the vacation, established work rules, and notification deadlines for terminating the contract of employment.

The employer must present data about the contract of employment to the employee in good faith, clearly and understandably.

Apart from data that the employer is obliged to inform the employee of, conditions exist of which the employer informs the employee if parties have agreed to do so. If the agreement is set in the contract of employment, an additional notification is not required.

Conditions that must be agreed upon:

• a probationary period of less than four months, or no probationary period;

• reasons for and duration of the fixed-term contract if the work is temporary or fixed-term;

• application of the restraint of trade clause;

• working outside the regular employer’s location or place of activity (working remotely);

• employee’s working for a third party (temporary agency work);

• working with a total working time.

If the employee starts a job where the employer has a grounded interest in maintaining manufacturing or trade secrets, the employee must be informed in writing about the classified data. This poses the obligation to keep the trade secrets.

Assuming that these are not illegal nor forbidden, the employer and employee can agree on other conditions in the contract of employment. It must be taken into account that an agreement that is less favourable for the employee than stated in legislation is invalid. In employment relationships, the principle of applying the most favourable condition for the employee is always adhered to.

Example. An employee started working and the employer promised to conclude the contract of employment very soon. Weeks passed and the employee constantly asked for the contract, but the employer stalled with concluding it. When the contract was finally handed over after several months, the work tasks defined in it differed considerably from those that the parties had agreed upon. The employee was not satisfied and consulted the labour disputes committee, where both parties had to prove what conditions were originally agreed upon.

How to Agree on the Remuneration

One of the most important conditions of the contract of employment is the remuneration, agreed on in the gross amount.

Remuneration must take the work volume and time required for it, the complexity of tasks, work conditions, qualifications and working under special conditions (e.g. night shifts), etc. into consideration.

If an employee is hired full-time, remuneration cannot be lower than the minimum wage fixed by the decree issued by the Government of the Republic of Estonia.

The employee must know how their remuneration is calculated – whether they get paid according to their work hours or by piecework; whether the working time is calculated in hours per month, etc.

The remuneration amount must be clearly and unambiguously stated in the contract of employment.

Remuneration Payment Time and Place

The employee must know what taxes the employer pays and deducts from their remuneration. The employee must also be informed about the date on which the remuneration is paid (salary day). These details can either be stated in the contract of employment, or the employee can be informed otherwise, but in writing.

Remuneration is paid at least once a month, as a transfer to the bank account specified by the employee. The parties can also agree that the remuneration is paid out in cash.

Other Rewards

Apart from the remuneration, the employer might pay:

• a reward for economic results. The parties can agree that the employee is paid an additional reward that depends on the company’s profit or sales figures as stated in the company’s attested annual report, or depending on other economic results;

• a reward for transactions. The employee is entitled to a reward on a contract concluded between the employer and a third party if the employee has fulfilled their obligations to the third party. The size of this reward shall depend on the contract value;

• performance pay. The parties can agree in the contract of employment that the employee gets a regular (monthly, quarterly or yearly) performance pay for good results. The employer can determine the eligibility conditions for getting the performance pay in a corresponding remuneration organization document.

Example . The remuneration was agreed upon with the employee in writing; in addition, the parties discussed the piecework pay system, according to which the employee was supposed to get a share of profits. However, this remuneration system was not included in any documents. Remuneration received on four salary days contained the piecework pay, but it was not added to the salary in the following months.

The employee demanded that the employer fulfil the agreement, but the employer argued that only the monthly remuneration had been agreed upon and everything extra depended on the company’s good will and financial opportunities.

As the employee has a grounded expectation to also receive performance pay, they have a right to demand the unpaid remuneration.

If the employee works under special conditions, they get a higher remuneration for the corresponding time period as compensation.

Remuneration is higher in the following cases:

• overtime – 1.5 x the regular salary, if an agreement for monetary compensation exists;

• night shifts – 1.25 x the regular salary. If the employee is paid minimum wage, the salary must be higher with the night shift remuneration;

• twice the regular salary for working on a public or national holiday.

Example . The employee’s contract of employment stated that the hourly remuneration is 3.50 euros. The employee worked regular hours, from Monday to Friday. Hourly remuneration had been agreed upon and salary was paid once a month. In one month, the employee had to do six hours’ overtime. As the employee worked on all working days of this month, the working hours totalled to 182. The remuneration for this month must be calculated according to the following formula: 182 (monthly working hours, overtime included) x 3.50 (hourly remuneration) + (6 x 1.75 euros overtime compensation) = 647.50 euros.

The employee is paid remuneration for executing work tasks. It is also prescribed legally that the employer must pay remuneration to the employee when:

• the employer does not give work to the employee but the employee is ready to carry out work tasks;

• the employee fulfils tasks that are not agreed upon in the contract of employment but are necessary for the employer;

• the employee is not able to take care of work tasks due to an unexpected and unpostponable personal reason.

NB! Remuneration, as well as performance pay and rewards for economic results, if these have been agreed upon, cannot be decreased without the employee’s consent.

On-Call Time

The employer and employee can agree that the employee is reachable in their free time, in the case that the need arises to execute unforeseeable and emergency work tasks. If the employee agrees, this time is considered on-call time and compensated for by the employer with at least 1/10 of remuneration. If the employee is called in during the on-call time, it is treated as overtime and, depending on the agreement, compensated for either with free time or with higher remuneration.

How to Organize Working and Rest Time

Working Time

Working time is the second important condition of the contract of employment that the parties agree upon. It is important for the employee and the employer to understand whether the employee starts working full-time or part-time – according to this, the employee’s working time shall be organized.

Full-time means that the parties have agreed that 8 hours shall be worked in a 24-hour period, but no more than 40 hours during a 7-day period.

Part-time means that the number of working hours in the 24-hour and the 7-day period are shorter than in the case of full-time (e.g. 7 hours a day and 35 hours a week).

The contract of employment specifies the working time as daily and weekly hours. If the working hours are not indicated, it is assumed that the employee works full-time. The beginning and end time of the work day does not need to be included in the contract of employment, but rather in the administrative rules.

The administrative rules set in place by the employer define the length of working days (for instance, full-time means Monday to Friday, 8 hours a day, which means 40 hours per week; Saturday and Sunday are days off work). If a separate schedule has been agreed with the employee, a note of it is made in the contract of employment.

If the working time is distributed unevenly in one accounting period (e.g., during one month), a schedule shall be determined and the contract of employment must state the length of the accounting period, whether the schedule covers the entire accounting period or a shorter period, and how and when the employee is notified about the schedule. For instance, some working days in the schedule may be 12 hours and others 6 hours long, but the monthly working time may not exceed the full-time working hours (e.g. 21 working days x 8 hours = 168 working hours in a month).

The working time may be summated in four months, at the maximum. The exceptions are health care, welfare, agriculture and tourism – in these spheres, an up to 12-month calculation period can be fixed with the collective agreement.

Night Shifts

A night shift is working between 22:00 and 6:00. An employee is regarded as a night worker if at least three of their daily work periods take place during the night shift. The average night shift may not exceed eight hours in length. If the work environment has risk factors hazardous to the health of employees, the shift length may not exceed 8 hours.

Overtime

When an employee works longer than agreed, it is treated as overtime (regardless of the fact whether the employee is hired full-time or part-time).

Overtime is made in the agreement between parties – considering the fact that the agreement cannot be given in advance. Each overtime situation requires a new agreement. By way of exception, the employer can require the employee to work overtime if the company faces unforeseeable circumstances.

Rest Time

Rest time is the period when the employee is not obliged to execute work tasks.

Depending on when the rest time is foreseen, it can be classified as follows:

• rest time during the workday – during the workday, the employee is entitled to a pause for resting and dining for every six hours of work;

• daily rest time – at least 11 hours must be left for resting between two working days, i.e. from the end of one workday until the start of the next workday;

• weekly rest time – at least 48 hours during a 7-day period; 36 hours in the case of a summed-up working time.

Resting breaks are also mandatory when the employee must undertake physically or mentally hard work; also, office workers behind computers must have at least 5-7 minutes per hour for resting their eyes.

Working Time Calculation

The employer tracks how long the employee works. It is primarily necessary for remuneration calculation and for adherence to working and rest time limitations.

The tracking form for night shifts is not legally stipulated, but emanating from the need to keep track, it must, at minimum, contain the following:

• daily worked hours;

• sick days;

• vacation days;

• other days when the employee was absent.

The work time tracking document can also contain data about business travel days, substituting for a temporarily absent employee, etc.

Example. The employer enforced 15-minute rest times during the workday, one for every 2 hours worked. As the employer did not treat rest times as working time, the actual length of the workday amounted to 9 hours and 15 minutes (incl. a 30-minute break for resting and dining).

Such time calculation is incorrect. The Occupational Health and Safety Act states that, in the case of a hard physical or mental work load or working in a forced position, the employer must enable additional breaks for employees. The need for extra breaks depends on the position risk assessment and such breaks must be treated as working time.

How to Grant Vacations to Employees

Duration of the Annual Vacation

Employees are entitled to at least 28 calendar days of annual vacation in each calendar year. The duration of the vacation does not depend on whether the employee works full-time or half-time.

Minors and persons receiving a pension for incapacity for work are legally entitled to 35 calendar days of vacation. The duration of the annual vacation for educational specialists ranges from 42 to 56 calendar days, depending on their position.

Vacation Schedule

Vacations are planned using a schedule, compiled and disclosed to the employees by the end of March, at the latest. Vacation times are determined by the employer, taking into account the requests of employees (if compatible with the company’s interests).

The employer is obliged to grant a vacation on 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 attending compulsory schooling on a school holiday.

The vacation schedule determines the vacation length according to the start and end dates. If the employee has unused vacation days from the previous calendar year, these are also highlighted in the vacation schedule.

If the employer does not compile a vacation schedule, the employee is entitled to use their vacation in the full length and at the suitable time by notifying the employer in writing at least 14 calendar days in advance. Such notice must be given in a form reproducible in writing.

A scheduled vacation can be changed if both parties agree. The vacation can be divided into parts – however, the employee must use at least 14 calendar days of vacation in one part.

Vacation during the First Year

On the calendar year of the start of employment, the employee is entitled to a vacation after 6 months. If the parties agree, vacation can also be given earlier – however, the length of the vacation must correlate with the length of employment.

Suspending the Vacation

The employer is entitled to suspend or postpone the employee’s vacation if it is necessary to prevent damage caused by a work emergency. Such situations cannot be solved otherwise than to call the employee back from vacation, or to postpone their upcoming vacation. The unused part of the vacation shall be provided to the employee immediately after the emergency has been solved, or at some later time if the parties agree.

As the employer is obliged to bear all costs related to the suspension or postponement of the employee’s vacation it must be considered whether suspending the employee’s vacation is less expensive than organizing the work temporarily with another employee.

The employee also has a right to suspend, postpone or prematurely end the vacation in the event of certain circumstances (e.g., an illness or maternity leave). If such circumstances occur, the employee is obliged to notify the employer as soon as possible. The unused part of the vacation can be used immediately after the hindering circumstances have passed, or at some later time if the parties agree.

When an illness occurs during the vacation, it does not automatically give the employee the right to use the unused part of the vacation when the sick leave is over. The employer must be first notified of such a request.

Vacation Expiration

If the employee does not use all annual vacation days, the unused days shall be transferred to the following calendar year and used with the next year’s vacation. If the employee does not use these days the following year, they expire and cannot be used on the third year. In other words – the employee can use the annual vacation of a calendar year starting from the beginning of the calendar year for which the vacation is granted until the end of the next calendar year.

Vacation Pay

The vacation pay is paid out on the second-to-last workday before the beginning of the vacation. The parties may agree that the vacation pay will be paid later, but not later than on the first salary day after the end of the vacation. Unused vacation days are monetarily compensated for only when the contract of employment is terminated.

Vacation Pay Calculation

The vacation pay is calculated based on the six months’ remuneration received by the employee prior to the vacation. The salary and calendar days of the six months are summed up. Public holidays and the days when the employee was absent for a significant reason (e.g. illness, vacation, military service, or representation of employees based on conditions stipulated in the collective agreement) are not included in this calculation.

The remuneration sum is divided by the number of calendar days, which gives the average calendar day salary. The result is multiplied by the number of calendar days of the length of the vacation. This gives us the vacation pay size.

Example. The employee will be on vacation from 7 July until 3 August (28 calendar days). The vacation pay is calculated based on data from January to June. The employee’s total remuneration during that time period is 3,960 euros, and the number of calendar days is 181. The average calendar day salary is 3,960: 181 = 21.87 euros. The vacation pay is 21.87 x 28 = 612.36 euros.

If the employee was paid a fixed-size remuneration during the past six months (or a shorter time period) and the remuneration did not change, the average calendar day salary is not calculated and the fixed remuneration shall be paid out to the employee as the vacation pay.

Example. The employee will be on vacation from 4-31 July. During the six months preceding the month when the vacation pay is calculated, the employee got a fixed-size salary of 750 euros. The vacation pay shall be calculated based on 750 euro. First, the calendar day salary is calculated: 750: 23 = 32.60 euros. This is multiplied by the number of workdays that the vacation covers: 32.60 x 20 = 652 euros, which is the vacation pay amount.

Family Vacations

If the employee has children, the following additional vacation options are available:

• paid parental leave. The mother or the father is entitled to get either 3 or 6 additional vacation days in a calendar year. Three days are available if the family has one or two children aged 3-14. Six days are available if the family has at least three children aged 3-14, or at least one child younger than 3. This parental leave pay is calculated based on the minimum wage and compensated from the state budget. A corresponding form must be submitted to the Social Insurance Fund;

• paid parental leave for parents with disabled children. The mother or the father of a disabled child is entitled to have one workday per month off until the child turns 18. The vacation pay is calculated based on the parent’s average salary and compensated from the state budget;

• unpaid parental leave. The mother and the father are entitled to take 10 additional workdays off (without pay) if the family has a child younger than 14 or a disabled child younger than 18;

• parental leave for the father. Fathers are entitled to parental leave – either 10 work days the two months before the child is born or two months after the child was born. This parental leave is compensated for based on the father’s average salary and compensated from the state budget;

• adoption leave. When the employee adopts a child younger than 10, they are entitled to take an adoption leave of 70 calendar days, starting from the date the court order enters into force. Adoption leave is compensated for according to the Health Insurance Act.

Unused parental leave from a calendar year shall not be transferred to the next calendar year.

Compensating for Unused Vacation Days

Unused annual leave days are monetarily compensated only when the contract of employment is terminated. The compensation is paid out with the terminal wage.

If the contract of employment is terminated and the employee is found to have used more vacation days than earned, the vacation pay for such days shall be subtracted from the employee’s terminal wage. The employee’s consent is not necessary.

Example. The employer did not compile a vacation schedule for the annual vacations. The employee had an agreement to use only a part of the annual vacation – two weeks in the first half of July. When the employee also requested to use up the remaining vacation days, the employer did not consent. The organization of work allegedly required the employee’s presence and the employer demanded that the employee return to work after the first part of the vacation ended. The employee submitted a vacation application three weeks before the beginning of the second part of the vacation and had a holiday during the time period requested in the application.

As the law enables the vacation to be split only if both parties agree and obliges the employer to compile and disclose a vacation schedule by the end of March each year, the employer is not entitled to demand that the employee must come to work. The employee is entitled to get a vacation which is not included in the vacation schedule by notifying the employer at least 14 calendar days in advance. Such notice must be given in a form reproducible in writing.

How is the Contract of Employment Terminated?

The contract of employment can be terminated:

• at the parties’ mutual consent;

• when the deadline is reached;

• when the employee dies;

• when the sole proprietor dies;

• when the contract is cancelled.

Terminating the Contract of Employment at the Parties’ Mutual Consent

The contract of employment is terminated at the parties’ mutual consent if one party suggests ending the employment relationship and the other party approves. The suggestion may be oral, but it is recommended to document it in a form reproducible in writing to avoid later disputes.

Terminating the Contract of Employment when the Deadline is Reached

A fixed-term contract of employment ends when the deadline is reached. If the employee continues working, the contract is regarded as being without a term. However, the employer can treat the contract as terminated due to the reaching of the deadline by expressing so in five days starting from the day the employer got to know or discovered that the employee continued working.

Terminating the Contract of Employment by Ordinary Cancellation

The contract of employment can also be terminated either through ordinary or extraordinary cancellation. The ordinary cancellation option is available only to the employee, who must notify the employer at least 30 calendar days in advance but is not obliged to justify the ordinary cancellation. If the employee does not adhere to the legally determined notification period, the liability arises to monetarily compensate the shorter notification period.

Terminating the Contract of Employment by Extraordinary Cancellation

The contract of employment (both fixed-term and with an indefinite duration) can extraordinarily be terminated both by the employee and the employer.

The employee is entitled to terminate the contract if the employer severely violates the conditions stipulated in the contract, or when the employee cannot continue work due to personal reasons (e.g. attending to an ill family member or decreased capacity for work).

The employer is entitled to extraordinarily terminate the contract in the case of a redundancy situation or when the employee cannot fulfil their work tasks due to a health problem or decreased capacity to work, or when the employee has committed a wrongful act.

The employee terminates the contract in a reasonable time period starting from the notification.

Employer’s Term for the Advance Notice

The employer notifies about the termination of the contract of employment in a reasonable time period if the contract is terminated due to the employee’s decreased capacity for work.

In the case of a redundancy situation, the notification term depends on the length of employment at the employer’s company:

• less than 1 year – at least 15 calendar days;

• 1–5 years – at least 30 calendar days;

• 5–10 years – at least 60 calendar days;

• over 10 years – at least 90 calendar days.

If the employer does not adhere to these legally stipulated terms, they are obliged to monetarily compensate for the shorter notification period.

The employer does not need to notify about the contract termination in exceptional cases only when it is not reasonable to continue the employment relationship until the end of the notification period.

Terminal Wage

When the contract of employment is terminated, the employer pays the employee the earned remuneration and legally stipulated benefits, including the compensation for the unused annual vacation. The employee returns any received advance payments and work equipment.

Example. The employer did not include a share of earned remuneration in the terminal wage, justifying this action with the need to subtract damage caused by the employee. The employee did not consent to the subtractions as they had allegedly not caused any damage to the employer. The employee turned to the labour dispute committee to get the subtracted share of remuneration.

In general, the employer is entitled to make subtractions from the terminal wage, but doing so requires the employee’s prior consent. If the employee does not give their consent for the subtractions, the employer is entitled to turn to the labour dispute committee with the claim.

Occupational Health and Safety

The web interface called Tööbik is available for managing information related to occupational health and safety. Tööbik is meant to enable Estonian companies to manage information and legal obligations stipulated by the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Tööbik enables the company’s work environment and accompanying hazard factors to be mapped and their risk levels to be evaluated.

The tool is available free of charge at www.tööbik.ee.

Organizing Occupational Health and Safety in a Company

The employer is responsible for occupational health care and work safety in the company.

The presence of a working environment specialist is mandatory for all companies regardless of their field of activity or the number of employees. In companies with more than 10 employees, the employees choose their representative – the working environment representative. In companies with more than 50 employees, the employer must initiate a working environment council, consisting of an equal number of representatives appointed by the employer and chosen by the employees.

Working Environment Specialist

The working environment specialist is a competent working environment employee (engineer, specialist) in a company whom the employer has commissioned to fulfil tasks related to occupational health and safety. The working environment specialist may have higher education in the field or attended a longer or shorter course.

When appointing the working environment specialist, the employer must consider whether the person has the necessary competence to fulfil their tasks or whether they should be sent for training. According to the Occupational Health and Safety Act, the appointed working environment specialist must already be competent in working environment topics and only needs follow-up training every five tears.

The employer can carry out the tasks of the working environment specialist themselves if they have received relevant training. Taking on the responsibilities of a working environment specialist must be thoroughly considered, as this activity might be rather vast in scale – but in the case of small companies, completely manageable and reasonable.

If the employer does not find a person suitable to be the working environment specialist in their company and does not wish to take on the position themselves, they can use an external service provider.

Usually, one company has one working environment specialist, but the law does not prohibit having several. The number of working environment specialists in a company must be sufficient to carry out protective and preventive measures, keeping in mind the size and hazard factors in the company.

Possible responsibilities of the working environment specialist include:

• evaluating the work environment risk factors and compiling a corresponding work environment risk assessment document;

• based on the risk assessment, planning measures to avoid or decrease the influence of factors that might harm the health of employees;

• compiling safety instructions;

• introductory training for the employees;

• carrying out occupational health and safety internal audits;

• organizing the employees’ health checks;

• investigating the occupational accidents and occupational diseases diagnosed in the company.

NB! The working environment specialist is obliged to temporarily stop work in a hazardous work section or prohibit the use of hazardous equipment if they pose a direct risk to the employees’ life or health and it is impossible to eliminate the hazard otherwise.

The employer must provide equipment to the working environment specialist for carrying out their tasks. For better results on guaranteeing a safe and healthy work environment, the working environment specialist must cooperate with the employer, employees, and, if necessary, third parties (e.g. an occupational health doctor).

Working Environment Representative

In a company with 10 or more employees, the employees pick at least one working environment representative from among themselves. The number of representatives also depends on the number of work shifts or structural units.

The employer must hold a general meeting where the employees can select the representative. The employer is obliged to introduce the tasks of the working environment representative and the representative’s rights and responsibilities.

The working environment representative is a person chosen by the employees who represents the opinions of employees when communicating with the employer concerning occupational health and safety topics. Successful activity requires that the representative has received training on working environment.

The working environment training is a 24-hour training session provided by training establishments registered at the Ministry of Social Affairs. During the training, the working environment representative gets an overview of questions related to occupational health and safety, work environment risk factors and their preventive measures. In some cases, further training might be required for the representative as prescribed by law – for example, if legislation has considerably changed.

The tasks of the working environment representative include:

• supervision over the application of preventive occupational health and safety measures and verification that employees are equipped with functioning personal protective equipment;

• participation in occupational accident and diagnosed occupational disease investigations;

• informing the employees and employer (or their representative) immediately about discovered hazardous situations or deficiencies, and requiring that the employer eliminate the deficiencies as soon as possible;

• monitor that employees get required knowledge, instructions and training on occupational health and safety.

Example . The manager of a successful large company praises the working environment representative as a very useful person. Namely, the company owner used to walk around the workplace from time to time. At that time, some employees used the opportunity to complain about the working environment and problems were gradually solved. However, only the courageous employees dared to address the owner, so not everyone’s problems were solved.

When a working environment representative was selected from the employees, the representative visited the workplaces of the more reserved employees. In this way, the employer got the full picture, and thanks to the representative, the work environment problems of the more reserved employees were also solved.

Risk Assessment

Risk assessment aims to detect all workplace hazards and to assess them.

It is recommended to carry out risk assessment in the following stages:

• collect information about the working environment, work procedures and employees;

• detect working environment risk factors;

• assess risks associated with the risk factors – the severity of the possible consequences is evaluated and whether the risk is tolerable is decided;

• plan activities to eliminate or decrease the risk;

• document risk management activities.

The compiled documentation is called the working environment risk assessment.

The employer must update the working environment when the working conditions change, tools or equipment are replaced or upgraded, new data has become evident about the risk factor’s influence on a person’s health, when the risk level has changed due to an occupational accident or dangerous situation, or when an occupational health doctor has diagnosed an occupational disease.

Example. The employer asks whether risk assessment is necessary when the company moves to a brand-new office building where the builder has measured lighting and checked the air circulation.

The working environment specialist answers yes. The builder has given the company empty offices that the company furnishes according to their own needs. Thus, even brand-new rooms need risk assessment to evaluate whether workplaces are suitably positioned and other occupational health and safety requirements adhered to. Aspects to pay attention to include the employees’ non-work rooms, space to store (winter) clothes, accessibility of passages and possible obstacles in corridors (e.g. wires).

Risk assessment can be carried out either by the employer or their representative (e.g. the working environment specialist), but it can also be ordered from a corresponding service provider.

The upside of assessing risks in a company “on one’s own” is primarily teamwork: no such universal person exists who is familiar with all work processes who could assess these from the perspective of risk factors. On the other hand, an ordered service provides a certain sense of certainty that the assessment is carried out by a specialist aware of the risk assessment and documentation methodology. Also, the specialist as a bystander can discover or assess such risk factors that do not appear at first sight.

Some factors are known only to employees engaged in specific tasks who habitually follow or ignore the safety requirements. It’s possible that not even these employees are aware of the risks. Some risks are connected to certain technologies or devices and various situations can occur in different work stages – an outsider can only spot a few during the brief visit.

The best option is to assess risks in cooperation with the service provider and a company representative. In this way, two experts join forces – the employer who is familiar with the company’s work and its peculiarities, and the service provider who knows the risk assessment methodology and can objectively assess the risks. The best risk assessment model also takes into consideration the employees’ opinion about risks and preventive measures.

Example. In an overview of an occupational diseases study, the labour inspector quotes one risk assessment of a company: “The work of all carpenters is, to a smaller or greater extent, related to repeated work movements. Workload mostly affects hands, wrists and back; the body is sometimes twisted, repeated movements and grabbing occurs. Employees must constantly bow down. Bases where material is placed are located low on the ground. Bases with adjustable height are not used.”

According to the description, the risks in the company are objectively assessed. However, the action plan compiled based on the risk assessment is not satisfactory as it states “work safety is constantly monitored and the proper methods for work are taught to avoid and decrease health risks caused by physical overload.” This can by no means be treated as sufficient when the work is primarily undertaken in a bowed position because bases are on the floor. In addition, the employees must constantly make repetitive movements, twist their body and grab materials. To prevent risk to the employees’ health, the employer must have adopted efficient means to prevent the constant bowing and twisting, and to decrease the need for grabbing.

Instruction of Employees

Guaranteeing a safe working environment is not the sole responsibility of the employer – the employees must also participate. The contribution of employees lies primarily in following the occupational healthcare requirements and using such work techniques which do not harm the life and health of the employee nor that of their co-workers.

The employee needs instructing and training in order for the employee to be aware of the work environment risks and so that they can avoid and decrease such risks.

Instruction and Training System

• Introductory instruction is carried out prior to starting the work by the working environment specialist who introduces the new employee to the company’s work regulations and related rules, the measures for preventing occupational accidents or health injuries, the location of first aid kits and work safety requirements, and the code of conduct in case of an emergency or occupational accident.

• Primary instruction is carried out by a competent person appointed by the employer on the site, introducing the new employee to the safety requirements compiled and approved by the employer, the risk factors of the workplace environment, the proper use of personal protective equipment, ergonomically correct work positions and techniques, and fire and electricity safety requirements.

• Training for learning safe work techniques is provided after primary instruction and is carried out by a specialist or experienced employee, as chosen by the employer. The duration of the training depends on the position’s specifics, complexity and hazardousness.

• Follow-up instruction might be required when the work organization’s or legislative acts change, equipment or technology is replaced or upgraded, when the employee changes their job position, or when the employee has breached work safety requirements which caused or could have caused an occupational accident.

The introductory instruction, primary instruction, training, follow-up instruction and permission to undertake independent work are registered in a corresponding diary or database.

The employee can be allowed to start working independently when the employer is certain that the employee completely understands the introduced safety requirements. The employee must verify by signing that corresponding instructions have been introduced and that the employee has been allowed to start working independently. Instructions must also be accessible to the employees after the training.

Instruction and training is not a single and final activity. It must be checked whether the acquired knowledge is actually applied while working. Sometimes the introduced guidelines may not suffice – the employees cannot copy the work processes as competently as more experienced colleagues, and information tends to be forgotten in time. In other cases, employees do not identify the hazard nor use personal protective equipment.

Example. An employee was severely injured (as a result of which, two fingers had to be partially amputated) on their first working day, 2 hours and 20 minutes after joining the company. About an hour of this time was spent on concluding the contract of employment, the introductory instruction, and the primary instruction. According to the occupational health and safety training and permission to start working independently registry card, at least 10 manuals were introduced to the new employee. The victim explained that they were only able to briefly browse through the materials.

This occupational accident sends clear signal to the employer that one hour does not suffice to give an adequate overview of the work and related hazards, and to learn correct and safe work techniques.

The Order of Employees’ Medical Examination

The working environment risk assessment determining the hazardous factors that the employee comes in contact with is the basis for sending the employee to a medical examination.

The employer is obliged to organize a medical examination:

• for employees whose health may be influenced by a risk factor of the working environment or by the nature of the work;

• after employees come to contact with physical (e.g., noise and vibration), chemical (e.g. asbestos dust, lead), biological (e.g. mould that could cause allergies) or ergonomical working environment hazards;

• for employees forced to look at display monitors;

• in the case of other risk factors or a working mode that could cause work-related illnesses (e.g. psychosocial risk factors that could cause changes in the employee’s physical form);

• for night shift employees prior to starting night shifts, and regularly during working night shifts. A night shift employee is a person working during night-time (22:00 – 06:00) for at least three hours of their daily work time, or at least a third of their yearly worktime.

Physical risk agents must also be taken into account which do not cause occupational illnesses but could cause serious injuries (e.g. moving or sharp parts of devices and equipment, lack of lighting, risk of falling or electric shock).

If the employee in contact with such risk factors is sent to a medical examination due to some other risk factor, it is recommended to check counter-indications for other risk factors or working modes that the employee comes in contact with as well. In this case, the additional purpose of the medical examination is to determine the employee’s suitability to carry out one or another hazardous work task.

Example. An electrician works with raised hands, local tension, in a forced position and, if necessary, also at height (on a ladder, in a hoist, etc.). When an electrician belongs to the list of employees sent to the occupational health doctor, it is recommended to mark both the ergonomical hazards and working at height as risk factors.

A medical examination is not required if the risk assessment states that:

• the workplace does not have any risk factors;

• the employee has minimum contact with the risk factor (e.g. the chemical risk factor has been measured and the concentration is significantly below the marginal rate);

• the exposure to the risk factor is minimal (1-2 hours per week).

However, the two latter examples should be interpreted with caution as each person is unique and a health problem might also occur when they are exposed to a chemical that seems harmless.

The employer retains a right to impose stricter occupational health and safety requirements in the company than legally stipulated – for example, a mandatory medical examination for all employees regardless of the risk factor extent, exposure time, etc. In the case of certain biological risk factors, it might occur that despite a high risk level, a medical examination is not grounded – for example, when the illness is avoidable with an efficient vaccine (tick-borne encephalitis, rabies, flu, and hepatitis of types A, B and C) and the need for a medical examination is practically absent because the illness does not start slowly, but has a specific pattern instead: contact, incubation period, falling ill.

NB! A medical examination is organized during worktime and at the cost of the employer.

Organization of the Medical Examination

• Who? A medical examination is carried out by the occupational health doctor who is obliged to oversee the employee’s working environment and work organization on the spot.

• Where? The employees’ medical examination can only be carried out in such buildings and rooms which have a corresponding use permit. Thus, it is not acceptable to perform the employees’ medical examination on the employer’s premises (except when the employer is a medical institution that organizes the medical examination of their employees).

• When? The first medical examination is mandatory during the first month of employment. It must not be postponed to the end of the trial period, as the general health situation of the employee might not be suitable for the working environment. The family doctor’s certificate cannot be requested from the new employee as the family doctor does not make a medical examination to determine the suitability of the employee’s health to the specific working environment.

The time of the next examination is determined by the occupational health doctor, bearing in mind the employee’s general health situation and their suitability to the specific working environment.

NB! An adult employee must visit the occupational health doctor at least once every three years and a minor employee at least once every two years, but the specific frequency is determined by the occupational health doctor.

Result? The occupational health doctor forwards the employee’s medical examination decision to the employer and explains it to the employee, who must sign the decision.

The decision is mandatory for the employer. For example, an occupational health doctor has decided: “May not work in a noisy environment; must not lift weights heavier than 10 kg; may not work with raised arms.”

The employee is also obliged to adhere to the limitations and orders in the occupational health doctor’s decision (e.g. do some physical exercises during resting times).

Even though the propositions by the occupational health doctor to change the employee’s working environment or work organization are advisory in nature, the employer should still take these into consideration and apply them, if possible. The recommendations serve the goal to preserve the employee’s health and working capability.

Example. The employer in a furniture factory wished to postpone the medical examination and reasoned: “The company is currently having a busy period; employees are working from the early hours until late at night and make overtime. A medical examination would waste very valuable working time.”

The Labour Inspectorate specialist replied: “The employer has clearly not understood the aim of the medical examination if they are of the opinion that first, let’s let our employees work until exhaustion and then, when we have more time, they can have the examination. But has the employer thought what to do when all those physically exhausted employees later demand compensation for their health loss?”

Organizing First Aid in a Company

A person’s life and future health might depend on timely and competent first aid. Help must be available in each work-related situation and the employer is obliged to organize it.

The following requirements apply for the first aid organization:

• The first aid equipment in a workplace must be easily accessible and marked clearly following the requirements. The location of the first aid equipment is marked by a white cross on a green square-shaped background.

• The list of mandatory first aid equipment is given in the regulation “The Provision of First Aid in Enterprises” issued by the Minister of Social Affairs. The amount of first aid equipment depends on the number of employees in a company. The list does not contain any medications as the employee might not be aware of possible reactions or allergies to unfamiliar medicaments.

• The workplace must have a room where it is possible to give first aid and keep the injured until the ambulance arrives. The break room of the employees might be suitable – but the most important condition is that it must be possible to lie down. How this option is guaranteed is up to the employer to decide.

• The employer must appoint first aid provider(s) in the company. If the company is located in several locations, has many structural units or the work is done in shifts, at least one person competent in giving first aid must be present in each structural unit or shift.

• The first aid provider can only be a competent person who has received adequate training. The first aid provider training must be at least 16 hours long. Every three years, the first aid provider must be sent to follow-up training paid for by the employer.

• The employer must inform employees whom they can turn to for getting help. Data about first aid providers must be visible (e.g. on a notice board).

Example . How must an employer proceed if no employees wish to be the first aid provider? In this case, the employer has no other option but to appoint one of the employees. There is no need for the employer to call a meeting and let the personnel decide whether there are any volunteers or not. The employer must guarantee that the company has trained first aid provider(s), and the voluntariness principle is not applicable.

Notifying the Labour Inspectorate

Notification forms are available on the Labour Inspectorate website at www.ti.ee and in the customer portal.

The employer must notify the Labour Inspectorate in the following cases:

• when the company is founded – provide data about the field of activity and place of operation;

• changing the field of activity;

• names and contact information of people engaged in occupational health and safety (working environment specialist, working environment representative, members of the working environment council);

• beginning asbestos work;

• at the start the handling of carcinogenic or mutagenic substances, or when the risk assessment has detected exposure to carcinogenic or mutagenic substances;

• before the start of handling the biological risk factors from the 2, 3 or 4 group for the first time (for information about the risk groups, refer to Annex 3 of Regulation No. 144 of May 5th, 2000 by the Government of the Republic of Estonia on occupational safety and health requirements for the working environment affected by biological risk factors);

• when an employee is diagnosed with an occupational disease – in 20 working days, a report must be compiled and sent to the Labour Inspectorate in 3 working days after ending the investigation of the occupational disease contraction;

• occupational accident – in 10 working days, a report must be compiled and sent to the Labour Inspectorate in 3 working days after ending the investigation. Fatal injuries or visibly severe injuries caused by an occupational accident must be immediately reported to the Labour Inspectorate.

Legal Acts Regulating the Working Environment

The Occupational Health and Safety Act stipulates occupational health and safety requirements, the rights and responsibilities of employers and employees when creating and guaranteeing a safe working environment, and the organization of occupational health and safety at the company and state levels.

Over twenty regulations have been passed based on this Act, specifying the more detailed requirements on workplaces, work equipment and different jobs.

Legal acts in force in Estonia can be found in Riigi Teataja (www.riigiteataja.ee). The list of legal acts related to working life is also available on the Labour Inspectorate website (www.ti.ee), and in the portal Tööelu (www.tööelu.ee).

Familiarizing oneself with the legal requirements helps to build a successful internal audit system which is the basis for managing all occupational health and safety issues. It is also clear that a design company should not pay much attention to “Occupational Health and Safety Requirements Posed on Fishing Boats” nor the “Occupational Health and Safety Requirements Posed on the Mineral Extraction Industry”.

When organizing working life, one should forget the saying, “What’s not directly forbidden is allowed.” Saving money on the working environment is not reasonable. One apparently saved euro could later result in much greater expense – whether in the form of health damage claims or a misdemeanour decision by the labour inspector. All employers should rather ask what is the best way to solve problems existing in the working environment.

Awareness-raising

by the Labour

Inspectorate:

– Counselling

– Information days

– Electronic channels

– Best practices

Appendix. Brainwork!

Help a new entrepreneur!

Which break during a workday always counts as working time for which remuneration is paid? Lunch, a break from working in unsafe conditions, extra break or the like? Put the terms that a new entrepreneur needs to know in the grid. One phrase reveals the solution.

BUSINESS SECRET, COMPENSATION, EMPLOYEE, EXTRA BREAK, FIRST AID, HOLIDAY, INTENT, LUNCH, NOTIFICATION, ORAL, PRACTICE, PUBLIC HOLIDAY, REPRESENTATIVE, RISK, RISK ANALYSIS, SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS, SALARY, SIGNATURE, TEMPORARY AGENCY WORK, TRANSACTION

Correct answers

Crossword: characters are irreconcible

Word puzzle: extra break

Table of Contents

The ABCs for a Starting Entrepreneur

Introduction

What Does the Labour Inspectorate Do?

AWARENESS-RAISING BY THE LABOUR INSPECTORATE

Counselling

Consultations

Information Days and Training Activities

Electronic Channels

Collecting and Sharing Best Practices

EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIPS

Hiring an Employee

Which Contract to Conclude

Contract of Employment

How to Agree on the Remuneration

How to Organize Working and Rest Time

How to Grant Vacations to Employees

How is the Contract of Employment Terminated?

Occupational Health and Safety

Organizing Occupational Health and Safety in a Company

Working Environment Specialist

Working Environment Representative

Risk Assessment

Instruction of Employees

Instruction and Training System

The Order of Employees’ Medical Examination

Organizing First Aid in a Company

Notifying the Labour Inspectorate

Legal Acts Regulating the Working Environment

Appendix. Brainwork!

Help a new entrepreneur!