The purpose of unemployment insurance is to ensure to a worker replacement income during unemployment which would support active job seeking, and to support the employer during the periods of economic restructuring.
Three types of benefits are paid by the Unemployment Insurance Fund:
- the unemployment insurance benefit – applied for via the e-töötukassa self-service environment, at an office of the Unemployment Insurance Fund, or by phone
- the redundancy benefit – applied for by the employer from the Unemployment Insurance Fund
- the insolvency benefit – applied for by the trustee in bankruptcy from the Unemployment Insurance Fund.
Unemployment insurance benefit
As of 1 January 2026, the Unemployment Insurance Fund is granting unemployed people either the income-based unemployment insurance benefit or the basic unemployment insurance benefit.
You are entitled to the income-based unemployment insurance benefit if:
- you are registered as unemployed and have applied for an unemployment insurance benefit;
- you worked and paid unemployment insurance contributions for at least 12 of the 36 months prior to registering as unemployed; or
- the circumstances under which your last employment or service relationship ended provide a basis for granting the benefit.
For example, you are entitled to the income-based unemployment benefit if:
- you were made redundant;
- your place of work was liquidated;
- your employment or service relationship ended during your probationary period;
- your employer terminated your contract because you have long-term incapacity for work;
- your fixed-term contract came to an end;
- your contract under the law of obligations came to an end; etc.
The income-based unemployment insurance benefit is not granted if you yourself ended your last employment relationship, it ended by agreement between the parties or it was terminated due to misconduct on your part.
You are entitled to the basic unemployment insurance benefit if:
- you are registered as unemployed and have applied for an unemployment insurance benefit; or
- you worked and paid unemployment insurance contributions for at least eight of the 36 months prior to registering as unemployed.
The legal basis for the ending or termination of your last employment relationship has no bearing on your right to obtain the basic unemployment insurance benefit.
You can apply for the unemployment insurance benefit via the e-töötukassa, at your preferred unemployment insurance office or over the phone. When applying for an unemployment insurance benefit via the e-töötukassa, you must submit both your application to be registered as unemployed and your application for unemployment insurance benefits electronically.
The Unemployment Insurance Fund will make a decision regarding your benefits within 14 days of your application being submitted. This decision will be sent to you electronically, or you can obtain it from a regional branch of the Unemployment Insurance Fund.
The income-based unemployment insurance benefit is 60% of your average earnings per calendar day for the first 100 calendar days of the benefit period and 40% thereafter.
The income-based unemployment insurance benefit has both a maximum and a minimum amount. The maximum amount of the benefit is 60% and 40% of three times the average Estonian wage per calendar day, respectively. The minimum amount is 50% of the minimum wage per calendar day in Estonia in the previous calendar year.
The basic unemployment insurance benefit is 50% of the minimum wage per calendar day in Estonia in the previous calendar year.
The amount of the unemployment insurance benefit is not recalculated when the calendar year changes. You can find out more about the amount of the benefit and how it is calculated on the Unemployment Insurance Fund website.
The Unemployment Insurance Fund calculates unemployment insurance benefits starting from the eighth day after you submit your application. If you are re-applying for an unemployment insurance benefit, the fund calculates the benefit from the day on which the application is submitted.
If you were made redundant or had to resign because your employer, through circumstances beyond their control, was unable to provide the agreed work and had to reduce your salary, a ' waiting period' is implemented. Unemployment insurance benefits are calculated and paid once the waiting period ends, and the benefit period is not shortened by the duration of said period.
The waiting period is:
- 30 days from the end of your employment or service relationship if you have worked for 5-10 years; or
- 60 days from the end of your employment or service relationship if you have worked for more than 10 years.
Recipients of unemployment insurance benefits in Estonia may look for work in other EU Member States. Unemployment insurance periods in other Member States may also be taken into account when granting unemployment insurance benefits in Estonia. This ensures that moving from one Member State to another does not negatively affect unemployment benefits obtained through previous employment.
More information about unemployment insurance benefits, the application and granting process, amounts and so on can be found on the Unemployment Insurance Fund website.
Redundancy benefit
The redundancy benefit is paid to an employee or official whose employment or service relationship the same employer has lasted at least five years and
- whose employment contract has been terminated due to redundancy
- who has terminated their employment contract, as the employer was unable to provide them the agreed amount of work due to circumstances which were out of their control and lowered their remuneration,
- whose service contract was terminated due to redundancy on the basis of the Civil Service Act.
The amount of the redundancy benefit depends on the duration of the employee’s last employment relationship or the official’s last service relationship. If the duration of the employment relationship with this employer or the length of employment is:
- five to ten years – in the extent of the average remuneration or wage for one month,
- over ten years – in the extent of the average remuneration or wage for two months.
In order to apply for the redundancy benefit, the employer has to submit an application to the Unemployment Insurance Fund within five calendar days as of the termination of the employment or service relationship. If the employer has not submitted an application for the benefit in the event of redundancy in a timely manner, the employee also has the right to submit an application to the Unemployment Insurance Fund. The benefit will be paid no later than on the fifth calendar day after the decision is made to the bank account of the employee or official.
Further information about the redundancy benefit can be found from the website of the Unemployment Insurance Fund.
Insolvency benefit
The purpose of the insolvency benefit is to compensate to the employee for any remuneration, holiday pay, or benefits payable upon the termination of the employment contract pursuant to the Employment Contracts Act which have remained unpaid due to the employer’s insolvency. The employer is deemed insolvent if the employer is declared bankrupt and the bankruptcy proceeding is closed due to de-escalation.
In order to receive the benefit, the employee must contact the trustee in bankruptcy or a temporary trustee in bankruptcy when the employer is declared bankrupt or the bankruptcy proceeding de-escalates and confirm the amount of their claim against the employer. The trustee in bankruptcy, temporary trustee in bankruptcy, or, in exceptional cases, the employee will submit an application to the Unemployment Insurance Fund for the insolvency benefit.
Further information about the amount of the insolvency benefit and the procedure of granting the benefit can be found on the website of the Unemployment Insurance Fund.
In case of any questions, please call the information line of the Unemployment Insurance Fund (777 3000, or +372 777 3000 from abroad) or send an email to [email protected].