Estonia: the unions oppose the bill on employment contracts

The bill of the Reformist Party in government seeks to facilitate severance by simplifying procedures and reducing the period of notice as well as the amount of severance pay. The unions reacted immediately threatening to call a general strike.  According to their evaluation, if the bill is passed, employers will be able to fire “at four times less cost and ten times faster”. Their reaction is supported by the social-democratic party. Unsurprisingly, employers welcome favorably the government initiative considering that making severance regulations more flexible is a positive factor for the economic development of the country. The Estonian Employers’ Federation (ETTK) has expressed satisfaction emphasizing that the new legislation will speed up growth and create the conditions for changing to the Euro. The Ministry of Social Affairs justified its proposals as an expression of its wish to make the labour market more flexible and enable the economy to overcome hard knocks.