Estonia, Good for Business, Labour-market

"Estonia clearly is in competition for top-level specialists also with other countries, and by exempting them from the quota we will provide Estonian employers with an additional lever to make a contribution to the Estonian economy with skilled workforce. Thus far, about 80 top-level specialists per year on the average have been attracted to Estonia from abroad under the immigration quota. Devising of smart and well thought-out solutions for attracting foreign labor will of course continue," Interior Minister Andres Anvelt said in remarks released through spokespeople.

The minister has made a proposal to the work group on immigration to apply a different minimum wage criterion for foreign labor to different sectors of the economy.

"The present requirement to pay at least the Estonian average wage is not flexible if we think about the significant wage differences in different areas of activity. At the same time, it is important for the sector's average wage to be agreed namely between representatives of the employers and trade unions," the Social Democrat minister said.

The amendment that stepped into effect on Sunday exempts from the immigration quota top-level specialists to whom the employer in Estonia pays at least two times the national gross average wage.

Besides, the amendment extends the maximum term of short-term employment from the current nine months to one year. The latter change is aimed at enabling the labor market to react to changing conditions in a flaxible manner and alleviate labor shortages in project based fields of activity.

The same set of amendments introduces a requirement for third country nationals to have Estonian language skills on the A2 level when extending their residence permit for the purpose of employment or seeking a new such permit. This requirement is applied only to the people whose residence permit is issued after the amendment has taken effect, and their language proficiency would be tested in 2023, when they have lived in Estonia for five years.

The amendments aimed at preventing illegal employment are aimed at motivating employers in Estonia and employees coming from third countries to observe the rules of legal employment in Estonia. The maximum fine for a corporate employer using illegal workforce was raised tenfold from 3,200 euros to 32,000 euros to prevent a situation where the gain from not paying taxes is bigger than the fine.

In addition, the amendments enable the removal of a tenderer from a public procurement procedure if the tenderer has been punished for the enabling of the violation of the conditions of the employment of a foreigner in Estonia, as well as the elimination from business of enterprises which consistently violate the law by illegally hiring foreigners.