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According to the approved work ability support the law and bill of amendments to other laws due to that, the assessment of working ability on a new basis will come in force from 1 July of next year, announced the Ministry of Social Affairs.

The ministry said the extra time was needed to ensure outsourcing a high-quality work ability evaluation service; the postponement enables to analyse the evaluation methodology better and ensure better preparedness for the reform (implementing acts, IT developments).

"We will give work disability pensioners first time to get used to the new situation, i.e. try from 1 January a large number of new services that the work ability reform launches. And reform in the second half, the activity requirements and things connected to that starts later," said Health and Labour Minister Rannar Vassiljev.

The Estonian parliament adopted reform bills in November last year despite protests and demonstrations of disabled people.

The transition from the old system of work disability pensions to work ability support was to start at the beginning of 2016. Current work disability pensioners will become recipients of work ability benefits and those who are found to have partial capacity to work, but who are not working, are required to actively search for work.

People with disabilities have mainly criticized the fact that the reform has been half-hearted and prepared in a hurry, and not enough thought has been put in it.