Inquiry regarding amendments to the Employment Contracts Act, or regarding occasional work contracts (no. 735)
Session: 15th Riigikogu, 5th session, plenary sitting
Date: 2025-05-05 20:43
Participating Politicians:
Total Speeches: 32
Membership: 15
Agenda Duration: 40m
AI Summaries: 32/32 Speeches (100.0%)
Analysis: Structured Analysis
Politicians Speaking Time
Politicians
Analysis
Summary
The discussion centered on agenda item three, which concerned the question posed by Tanel Kiike, as the inquirer, regarding amendments to the Employment Contracts Act and their potential impact on both employees and employers. On one hand, it was raised that the planned forms of hourly contracts and restrictions on flexible working hours could lead to greater instability in work results and income, and require additional security in social guarantees. On the other hand, the need to maintain a tripartite dialogue and the involvement of parties was emphasized, in order to find a balance between employee protection and business flexibility. The discussion highlighted that the proposed solution would apply to a broader target group and requires a clear agreement between two adults, which, in turn, ensures legal certainty and, if necessary, the opportunity to decline extra hours.
Decisions Made 1
As a result of the discussions, no decisions were made in this session; the procedure continues in the next reading, and further steps and a possible agreement still require trilateral dialogue and the involvement of the parties.
Most Active Speaker
Most active speaker: Minister of Economic Affairs and Industry Erkki Keldo; position: other
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
In the third item on the agenda, a parliamentary inquiry submitted on March 26, 2025 concerning amendments to the Employment Contracts Act, i.e., executive-pay contracts, will be considered, with Riigikogu member Tanel Kiik asked to serve as the rapporteur.
Tanel Kiik
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Tanel Kiik filed a parliamentary inquiry about amendments to the Employment Contracts Act, explaining that the proposed executive pay agreements would affect the job security and income of tens of thousands of employees, and he posed four concrete questions about the justifications for the government's decisions.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The speech begins with words of thanks, and it is announced that the speech by Erkki Keldo, Minister of Economic Affairs and Industry, will now follow, and an apology is offered for the minister's two-hour wait.
Majandus- ja tööstusminister Erkki Keldo
AI Summary
Economy and Industry Minister Erkki Keldo emphasizes that the changes to labor law have been achieved through an extensive tripartite dialogue, which offers flexible working hours for both employees and employers, but preserves employees' rights and must not be carried out unilaterally.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The speaker said that in addition there would be questions, and invited Lauri Läänemetsa to take the floor.
Lauri Läänemets
Profiling Sotsiaaldemokraatliku Erakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Lauri Läänemets claims that the government's draft leaves workers with a 40-hour workweek unprotected during the crisis and places them in a weaker position, offering them only the option to continue working or to be laid off under the same master agreement.
Majandus- ja tööstusminister Erkki Keldo
AI Summary
Keldo said that ideological differences should not hinder a trilateral dialogue and the creation of flexible employment contracts, where an agreement signed by both sides helps preserve jobs and the sustainability of companies, and the state should not over-regulate everything.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The vice-chairman, Toomas Kivimägi, asks Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvarti to speak.
Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
The speech criticizes a flexible employment contract as a solution in employers' interests that shifts business risks onto the employee, does not guarantee pay, and imposes limited working hours, and asks what this means for people living in rural areas who really have no choice.
Majandus- ja tööstusminister Erkki Keldo
AI Summary
Erkki Keldo said that the current law does not allow enough flexibility because most people work full-time, and the minimum-hours limit and the service contracts that lack social guarantees do not reflect real life; therefore the aim is to bring legislation in line with real life and to encourage employees to turn to the Labour Inspectorate if they are pressured to sign unreasonably.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The vice-chairman, Toomas Kivimägi, thanks Anti Allast and asks him for something.
Anti Allas
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Anti Allas emphasizes that the original plan to create flexibility should have focused precisely on the target groups (pupils, university students, and people with reduced working capacity) and that in mitigating risks the employer must not let the employee bear the burden, and he asks how to reduce these risks and what the solution would be.
Majandus- ja tööstusminister Erkki Keldo
AI Summary
The presentation emphasizes that flexibility in employment relationships must be accompanied by social guarantees and legal certainty, to avoid the risks of black wages and to give employers and employees the opportunity to find suitable conditions, without restricting flexibility on the basis of certain social groups; the majority of people would still work full-time.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The vice-chairman Toomas Kivimägi asks Raimond Kaljulaid to come and perform.
Raimond Kaljulaid
Profiling Sotsiaaldemokraatliku Erakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Raimond Kaljulaid claims that the platform-work reform will bring about the same bad outcome as shown by countries where more liberal and flexible systems have been implemented and where zero-hour contracts are allowed, and Tallinn University of Technology studies confirm that platform workers are overloaded, overworked, under-resourced and exhausted, and that companies do not hire them as employees.
Majandus- ja tööstusminister Erkki Keldo
AI Summary
Erkki Keldo said that a pilot project that began in 2021, following the example of the Nordic neighbors in retail, offers flexible working hours and platform work to Estonian people, but one must take into account burnout risks and the concerns of small entrepreneurs, and expanding this additional legal option may be too distant a step for him at the moment.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The vice-chairman, Toomas Kivimägi, asks Reili Rand to take the floor.
Reili Rand
Profiling Sotsiaaldemokraatliku Erakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Reili Rand expresses concern that although changes may improve the employer's life in economically difficult times, they affect ordinary families—especially mothers—because wages can fluctuate and various benefits depend on previous income, and she asks for clarification on how to plan a budget in such conditions and to negotiate the terms of a housing loan.
Majandus- ja tööstusminister Erkki Keldo
AI Summary
Erkki Keldo said that an additional flexible work option will be added as an extra opportunity, which may be used by a student, a person with reduced working capacity, an elderly person, and a parent of a small child, and the contract will be signed only by both adult parties. The state should not regulate too much but provide opportunities. The majority will stay in full-time work and seasonal work; working in several places or freelancing is also possible, and this will not change existing full-time contracts.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The deputy speaker Toomas Kivimägi asks Riina Sikkut to speak.
Riina Sikkut
Profiling Sotsiaaldemokraatliku Erakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Riina Sikkut says that the implementation of such contracts for all sectors and workers is unprecedented, there is no broader discussion, and the starting points are very different, and she is completely in agreement with Kaljulaid's statement that platform workers may be exhausted, and the same applies to small entrepreneurs; at the same time Europe has a record-high employment rate among older people, and she notes that people may want to earn a financial cushion for investments.
Majandus- ja tööstusminister Erkki Keldo
AI Summary
In the speech, only the examples were cited.
Riina Sikkut
Profiling Sotsiaaldemokraatliku Erakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Riina Sikkut notes that people work overtime as a forced choice due to rising food prices and rents, and if there were a living wage and a standard employment contract with social guarantees, they would do it less.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Toomas Kivimägi says that the negotiations are still to come.
Riina Sikkut
Profiling Sotsiaaldemokraatliku Erakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Riina Sikkut emphasizes that people's starting point is different, and not everyone wants to earn a financial cushion for investing through platform work and overtime.
Majandus- ja tööstusminister Erkki Keldo
AI Summary
Erkki Keldo emphasizes that although ideological views on forms of work differ, one must trust people's choices and avoid excessive state intervention, create legal contracts and flexibility, and address social guarantees that are lacking due to service contracts and undeclared employment, in order to find a common solution.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Toomas Kivimägi noted that Tanel Kiik sounds convincing.
Tanel Kiik
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Tanel Kiik asked why the government had made amendments to the Employment Contracts Act that were even more unacceptable from the trade unions' point of view, even though the earlier version had not received the agreement of the labor market parties.
Majandus- ja tööstusminister Erkki Keldo
AI Summary
Erkki Keldo stressed that the agreement was a compromise that had been discussed with employers and the trade unions, that the Riigikogu has possible amendments on this matter, and that the aim is in good faith to grant employees additional protection and to maintain open social dialogue, although not all proposals can necessarily be taken into account, and in the event of bad-faith activity the matter will be taken over by the Labor Inspectorate or other institutions.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Toomas Kivimägi thanks and announces that there are no more questions, and opens negotiations, inviting Tanel Kiike.
Tanel Kiik
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Tanel Kiik submitted an interpellation regarding changes to the Employment Contracts Act, criticizing executive pay agreements that shift the economic risk onto the employee's shoulders and reduce social guarantees, and demanded the withdrawal of the draft and the restoration of social dialogue.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Toomas Kivimägi thanked the participants, informed them that there are no more requests to speak, and closed the negotiations, saying that the processing of this agenda item has been completed.