Working time and rest periods

How much can an employer make you work?

Full-time work is 40 hours in a seven-day period, unless shorter working time (part-time work) has been agreed (TLS § 43 lg 1) [1]. For minors the law sets a reduced full-time working time that depends on their age and on school holidays (TLS § 43 lg 4) [1].

The upper limit is an average of 48 hours per seven-day period over a reference period of up to four months (TLS § 46 lg 1) [2]. For health care, social welfare, agricultural, road maintenance and tourism workers, the reference period may be extended to up to 12 months by a collective agreement (TLS § 46 lg 2) [2]. The employer and the employee may also agree on longer working time if the total does not exceed an average of 52 hours per seven-day period over a four-month reference period and the agreement is not unreasonably harmful to the employee; the employee may cancel such an agreement at any time by giving two weeks' notice (TLS § 46 lg 3) [2].

If an employee works more than 13 hours in a 24-hour period, the employer gives them, immediately after the working day ends, additional free time equal to the number of hours worked beyond 13; an agreement to compensate this in money is void (TLS § 51 lg 5) [3].

With summarised working time (summeeritud tööaeg), the agreed working time is counted per seven-day period over the reference period (TLS § 43 lg 3) [1]. In that case the employer must inform the employee of the terms on which the work schedule (tööajakava) is announced and changed (TLS § 6 lg 6) [6].

How much rest must you get?

• Daily rest. An agreement leaving the employee less than 11 hours of consecutive rest in a 24-hour period is void, unless the law provides otherwise (TLS § 51 lg 1) [3]. An employee aged 7–14, or older and still subject to compulsory schooling, must have at least 14 hours, and an employee aged 15–17 who is not subject to compulsory schooling at least 12 hours (TLS § 51 lg 2) [3]. The 11-hour limit does not apply to health care and social welfare workers, provided the work does not harm the employee's health and safety (TLS § 51 lg 4) [3]. In the cases listed in Article 17(3) of Directive 2003/88/EC, exceptions to the 11-hour limit may be made by a collective agreement, and in the cases listed in Article 17(3) and (4) the rest period may be split into parts by the employment contract or a collective agreement, provided one part lasts at least six consecutive hours; in both cases the work must not harm the employee's health and safety (TLS § 51 lg 3 and 6) [3].
• Weekly rest. In every seven-day period there must be at least 48 hours of consecutive rest, or at least 36 hours with summarised working time (TLS § 52 lg 1 and 2) [4]. It is presumed to be given on Saturday and Sunday (TLS § 52 lg 3) [4].
• Breaks during the working day. Work of more than 6 hours requires a break of at least 30 minutes; for a minor, work of more than 4.5 hours already does (TLS § 47 lg 2 and 3) [7]. The break is not part of working time, except where the nature of the work makes a break impossible and the employer lets the employee rest and eat during working time (TLS § 47 lg 2) [7].

How are night work and work on public holidays paid?

Night time is from 22.00 to 6.00. For work during that time the employer pays 1.25 times the wage, unless it has been agreed that the wage already includes pay for night work (TLS § 45 lg 1) [5]. A night worker (öötöötaja) is an employee who works at least three hours of their daily working time, or at least a third of their annual working time, at night; they may not be obliged to work on average more than eight hours in a 24-hour period, calculated over a seven-day reference period (TLS § 50 lg 1) [8].

If working time falls on a public holiday (riigipüha), the employer pays 2 times the wage (TLS § 45 lg 2) [5]. The parties may agree that night or public holiday work is compensated with additional free time instead (TLS § 45 lg 3) [5]. The public holidays are New Year's Day, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Spring Day, Whit Sunday, Victory Day, Midsummer Day, Day of Restoration of Independence, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day (PTS § 2) [9]. To the national holiday – Independence Day, the anniversary of the Republic of Estonia – the rules other legislation lays down for public holidays apply (PTS § 1; PTS § 4 lg 2) [10] [11]. According to the Supreme Court (Riigikohus), the duty to pay double applies with summarised working time too, and the agreed working time is not reduced by the time worked on the holiday; even then, only the time exceeding the agreed working time at the end of the reference period counts as overtime (RK 3-2-1-69-17) [12].

The employer shortens by three hours the working day before New Year's Day, the anniversary of the Republic of Estonia, Victory Day and Christmas Eve (TLS § 53) [13].

When is it overtime?

Overtime is work beyond the agreed working time that the parties have agreed on; with summarised working time, overtime is the work exceeding the agreed working time at the end of the reference period (TLS § 44 lg 1) [14]. An overtime agreement with a minor is void (TLS § 44 lg 2) [14]. Because of unforeseen circumstances, in particular to prevent damage, the employer may require overtime in good faith, but not from a minor, a pregnant employee or an employee entitled to maternity leave (emapuhkus) (TLS § 44 lg 4 and 5) [14]. Overtime is compensated with free time of equal length, unless compensation in money has been agreed; in money, the employer pays 1.5 times the wage (TLS § 44 lg 6 and 7) [14].

What the law says

• „Eeldatakse, et töötaja töötab 40 tundi seitsmepäevase ajavahemiku jooksul (täistööaeg)“ [1] (translation: an employee is presumed to work 40 hours in a seven-day period (full-time); TLS § 43 lg 1) – unless the contract says otherwise, this is the normal working week.
• „Tööaeg kokku ei tohi ületada keskmiselt 48 tundi seitsmepäevase ajavahemiku kohta kuni neljakuulise arvestusperioodi jooksul“ [2] (translation: total working time may not exceed an average of 48 hours per seven-day period over a reference period of up to four months; TLS § 46 lg 1) – a single week may be longer, but the average must stay within the limit.
• „Kokkulepe, mille kohaselt töötajale jääb 24-tunnise ajavahemiku jooksul vähem kui 11 tundi järjestikust puhkeaega, on tühine“ [3] (translation: an agreement leaving the employee less than 11 hours of consecutive rest in a 24-hour period is void; TLS § 51 lg 1) – as a rule, there must be at least 11 consecutive hours of rest between working days.
• „Eeldatakse, et iganädalane puhkeaeg antakse laupäeval ja pühapäeval.“ [4] (translation: weekly rest is presumed to be given on Saturday and Sunday; TLS § 52 lg 3) – this is a presumption: weekly rest may fall on other days, but it must last at least 48 (with summarised working time 36) consecutive hours.
• „Kui tööaeg langeb riigipühale, maksab tööandja töö eest 2-kordset töötasu.“ [5] (translation: if working time falls on a public holiday, the employer pays 2 times the wage for the work; TLS § 45 lg 2).

What to do

1. Check in your employment contract what working time has been agreed and whether summarised working time applies (TLS § 43 lg 1 and 3) [1]; with summarised working time, the employer must tell you the terms on which the work schedule is announced and changed (TLS § 6 lg 6) [6].
2. Keep a record of your working hours. The employer must ensure the agreed working and rest time and keep a record of working time (TLS § 28 lg 2 p 4) [15].
3. Check that you get at least 11 hours of consecutive rest between working days and at least 48 (with summarised working time 36) hours each week (TLS § 51 lg 1; TLS § 52 lg 1 and 2) [3] [4].
4. Compare your payslip with your night hours, public holiday hours and overtime: 1.25 times the wage for night work and 2 times for public holiday work, unless agreed otherwise; overtime is compensated with free time unless compensation in money has been agreed, and in money it is paid at 1.5 times the wage (TLS § 45 lg 1, 2 and 3; TLS § 44 lg 6 and 7) [5] [14].
5. A dispute with the employer is resolved under the Employment Contracts Act and the Labour Dispute Resolution Act (töövaidluse lahendamise seadus, TvLS) (TLS § 114) [16]; applying to the labour dispute committee (töövaidluskomisjon) is free of state fees (TvLS § 15) [17].

Frequently asked questions

Is the lunch break part of working time?

As a rule, no: breaks during the working day are not counted as working time. The exception is where the nature of the work makes a break impossible and the employer lets you rest and eat during working time (TLS § 47 lg 2) [7].

Can the employer change the start and end of the working day unilaterally?

The organisation of working time covers in particular the start and end of working time and breaks during the working day (TLS § 47 lg 1) [7]. The employer may change it unilaterally if the changes arise from the needs of its business and are reasonable in view of both parties' interests (TLS § 47 lg 4) [7].

Must on-call time be paid?

Yes, if it has been agreed that the employee is available to the employer for work tasks outside working time (on-call time, valveaeg). Its pay may not be less than 1/10 of the agreed wage, and the part of on-call time during which the employee is under the employer's direction and control counts as working time (TLS § 48 lg 1 and 3) [18]. An on-call agreement that does not ensure the employee can use their daily and weekly rest is void; under certain conditions an exception is allowed for a full-time employee whose task is ensuring the continuous operation of information and communication technology services and infrastructure or information security (TLS § 48 lg 2 and 2¹) [18].

Do the working time and rest rules apply to everyone?

With an employee with independent decision-making authority (iseseisva otsustuspädevusega töötaja), who because of the nature of the work is free to organise their own working time, it may be agreed in writing that the rules on compensation for night and holiday work, organisation of working time and breaks, on-call time, limits on night work, rest periods and shorter working days before holidays do not apply. Such an agreement is allowed if their monthly wage is at least the Estonian average gross monthly wage in the quarter before the agreement, as published by Statistics Estonia (Statistikaamet); such an agreement with a minor is void (TLS § 43² lg 1, 2 and 6) [19]. The agreement must not harm the employee's health or safety, and either party may cancel it at any time by giving 14 calendar days' notice (TLS § 43² lg 3 and 5) [19]. It does not remove the limit of an average of 48 hours, because TLS § 46 is not among those provisions (TLS § 43² lg 1; TLS § 46 lg 1) [19] [2].

Can worse terms than the law be agreed?

An agreement deviating from the Employment Contracts Act to the employee's detriment is void, unless the law itself allows such an agreement (TLS § 2) [20] – for example, working time of up to an average of 52 hours (TLS § 46 lg 3) [2].