Vastus

Dear Adam,

Thank you for your letter. We have reviewed your comments on the transposition of Directive (EU) 2019/1152 on Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions and below we present our explanations on the transposition of the provisions outlined in your letter:

• * Article 5(1) of the Directive creates an obligation for the employer to provide individually to the worker, in the form of one or more documents, essential information on the employment relationship (that is included in points (a) to (e), (g), (k), (l) and (m) of Article 4(2))) at the latest on the seventh calendar day after the commencement of the employment relationship. Recital 23 states that the basic information should reach employees as soon as possible and at the latest within a calendar week from their first working day.

In Estonia, the Employment Contracts Act (ECA) includes legislation on providing information to employees. According to the ECA, the general obligation is that the employer must provide information listed in article 5 subsection 1 (that includes all the information from article 4(2) points (a) to (e), (g), (k), (l) and (m) from the directive) to the employee before commencement of work. This obligation comes from Article 5 subsections 1 to 3 of the ECA. These provisions must be read and interpreted in conjunction with each other. The employer’s obligation to inform the employee of the data arises from subsection 2, according to which the employer shall inform the employee of the data in good faith, clearly and unambiguously. However, the temporal definition of the employer’s obligation can be derived from the wording of subsection 3 that sets out an extra protection for cases where the employer has not fulfilled its obligation to provide the data before the commencement of work. In this case the employee has a right to demand the information at any time and the employer is required to provide the data within two weeks as of the receipt of such a request. This interpretation is also included in the explanations to the Employment Contracts Act (page 32 point 1 and page 34 point 4, available in Estonian: https://mkm.ee/sites/default/files/documents/2024-09/TLS%20selgitused_2024%20august.pdf) which provides explanations and guidelines for implementing the regulation of the ECA for employers and employees as well as for the supervisory authority.

Thus, in conjunction with Article 5 subsections 1, 2 and 3, the employer shall inform the employee of the data provided in Article 5 subsection 1 in good faith, clearly and unambiguously before the employee starts work. If the employer has not provided the data before starting work, the employee has the right to request it at any time. This is also the practice that employee receives this information before the commencement of the work. Therefore, Estonian legislation fulfills the requirement that the information should reach employees as soon as possible and sets even higher level of protection for the employees as they must receive all necessary information before they start working while the directive requires the information to be provided after the commencement of work.

The Labour Inspectorate excerises state supervision over the fulfilment of the requirements provided in article 5 of the ECA. Failure to submit information set out in article 5 subsection 1 of the ECA by an employer or an employer’s management board member or another representative to whom the performance of this obligation was delegated, is punishable by a fine of up to 300 fine units. The same act, if committed by a legal person, is punishable by a fine of up to 32,000 euros. Therefore, there are additional safeguards in place to protect the employees.

In addition, we would also like to stress that adding disproportionate administrative burden should be avoided where the objectives of the directive have been achieved with the measures that have been taken. Focusing on detailed and narrow interpretations does not seem to add value at this stage and may shift attention to unnecessary details instead of fulfilling the aim set by the directive and protecting employees. Given the shared aim of reducing administrative burden for Member States and employers, a more proportionate and flexible approach would better support continued constructive cooperation and future EU initiatives.

• * Article 7(2)(a), (b) and (c) is transposed to Estonian law with the Working Conditions of Employees Posted to Estonia Act. Article 5 section 1⁴ of the Act states that where the posting of an employee lasts for longer than one month, the employer must provide the employee with the following information in writing:
   1) the duration of the posting period in Estonia;
   2) the wage and the currency in which it is paid;
   3) the benefits related to the posting and the procedure for reimbursing expenditure on travel, board and lodging;
   4) the conditions governing repatriation from the country;
   5) a link to the official website of the Labour Inspectorate where information about the working conditions of an employee posted to Estonia, the applicable law, the applicable collective agreements and other important information is available.

Article 5 section 1⁴ of the Working Conditions of Employees Posted to Estonia Act includes all the information set out in the article 7(2)(a), (b) and (c). Therefore, it is unclear why it is considered not transposed into the Estonian law.

Kind regards, Thea

transposition by Estonia of Directive (EU) 2019/1152 - Ares(2025)11355769  (Please use this link only if you are an Ares user – Svp, utilisez ce lien exclusivement si vous êtes un(e) utilisateur d’Ares)

Dear Mrs Treier, dear Mrs Uusberg,

I’m contacting you about the Estonian transposition of Directive (EU) 2019/1152 on Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions (the Directive).

We have now finalised the conformity check of the notified national measures, and as announced by the Director-General of DG EMPL in the last meeting of Directors General for Industrial Relations of 13 November 2025, the Commission intends to proceed with launching infringement proceedings in cases where Member States have failed to correctly transpose the Directive.

In the case of Estonia, we have identified conformity issues with regards to the following provisions:

• * Article 5(1) of the Directive: This provision of the Directive creates an obligation for the employer to provide individually to the worker, in the form or one or more documents, essential information on the employment relationship (that included in in points (a) to (e), (g), (k), (l) and (m) of Article 4(2))) at the latest on the seventh calendar day after the commencement of the employment relationship. According to the information you have notified, the Estonian measure transposing this requirement (Article 5(3) of the Employment Contracts Act - töölepingu seadus) does not create an obligation for the employer to provide the information at the latest on the seventh day, as required by the Directive, but only a right of the worker to request information and to receive it within two weeks after the request.

• * Article 7(2)(a), (b) and (c): according to the information you have notified, this provision of the Directive requiring additional information to be provided for posted workers covered by Directive 96/71/EC has not been transposed.

Should you have any questions or comments at this stage, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Kind regards,

Adam Pokorny
Head of Unit EMPL.C.1 – Labour Law


European Commission
DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion
Directorate C: Working conditions and Social dialogue