All natural persons working under an employment contract or providing services under another contract of employment (e.g. an authorisation agreement, contract for services, agency contract, etc.) must be recorded in the employment register of the Estonian Tax and Customs Board.
The employment of an entrepreneur (member of the board) must be registered in the employment register if they receive remuneration under a contract of a member of the board or a contract under the Law of Obligations Act and social security contributions are paid for them per month at least to the extent of the monthly rate of social tax. Registration is also required if they conclude a contract of employment for more than one month or for an indefinite duration.
Commencement of the employment must be recorded latest by the moment when an employee commences the work, which means directly before starting the work.
The data contained in the employment register serve as a basis for determining the social guarantees related to employment (health insurance, pension insurance, unemployment benefits, etc.). From the emplyment register a variety of authorities acquire information.
What are the data of the employment register used for:
- The Estonian Health Insurance Fund uses the data of the employment register for granting the health insurance benefits;
- the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund uses the data of the employment register for registration of persons as unemployed, termination of the persons’ registration as unemployed, for granting unemployment allowances and other unemployment insurance benefits prescribed by the Unemployment Insurance Act;
- the Social Insurance Board uses the data of the employment register for verification of the employment status;
- the Police and Border Guard Board uses the data of the employment register for exercising supervisory control over the working conditions of foreigners;
- the Estonian Tax and Customs Board uses the data of the employment register for monitoring the performance of the tax liabilities of taxable persons.
How to register the employment
- In the e-MTA environment by entering the data manually or by uploading the file;
- via X-Road by means of machine-to-machine interface, delivering the employment data contained in the personnel management programmes of a company or agency;
- visiting a service bureau of the Estonian Tax and Customs Board in person.
It is also possible to use a simplified procedure for first registration by calling to 880 0812 or sending the SMS message to 1811.
How a foreigner can obtain the Estonian personal identification code needed for registration of the employment
- Persons who are staying in Estonia on a temporary basis (e.g. are working in Estonia but are residing in Latvia) can apply for a personal identification code with the closest local government of the county center upon going there in person;
- upon submission of a notice of residence at the local government unit;
- persons who do not have the possibility to apply for the personal identification code in Estonia, e.g. are coming to work in Estonia with a visa, can submit the application with the foreign mission of Estonia in a foreign state.
What kind of data must be entered in the register
- Employee’s given and family name and a personal identification code;
- employee’s date of birth, if the personal identification code is not available and the duration of the employment will be up to five days;
- employer’s name and registry code, or a personal identification code;
- date of commencement of the employment;
- type of the employment;
- initial and final dates of and the reason for the suspension of the employment;
- date of termination of the employment and the reason for termination;
- rate of working time
Both the commencement of the employment relationship and the suspension and termination of the employment relationship shall be recorded in the register. Employers have 10 days to register the suspension or termination of employment in the employment register.
More detailed information about registration of employment is available on the webpage Estonian Tax and Customs Board
Related articles
- Recruiting employees
- Health insurance and taxes for employees
- Recognition of foreign professional qualifications in Estonia
Services
- Adding data on the certificate of temporary incapacity for work
- Health insurance data of employees in the health insurance fund
- Signing in to e-MTA