A collective agreement is a voluntary agreement between employees and their employer which can establish the terms and conditions for work.
Entering into a collective agreement
Entry into, term, termination, and content of collective agreements is regulated by the Collective Agreements Act. The main advantage of a collective agreement compared to an employment contract is the participation of the representatives of employees in the conclusion of the agreement. A collective agreement is entered into as a result of collective bargaining and can only be entered into and amended in writing. In addition, all annexes to a collective agreement shall be in writing.
A trade union or an authorised representative of employees (e.g. a trustee of employees) has the right to collective bargaining in the company. The trustee of employees has the right to collective bargaining if no trade union is formed at the employee or no employees belonging to a union work at the employee.
Collective agreements can also be entered into between trade unions and employee unions/confederations. A third person cannot be a party to the agreement. Agreements can be reached on wages, holiday, the procedure for lay-offs, and possibilities of vocational or in-service training. In addition, matters regarding the collective agreement can be agreed upon, such as the automatic extension, conditions for amending, or supervision over the performance of the collective agreement to be concluded.
Concluded collective agreements shall be registered in the collective agreement database of the Ministry of Social Affairs within 15 working days.
Entering into an extended collective agreement
A collective agreement may be extended in terms of the wage conditions and working and rest time conditions. The extension of a condition of a collective agreement may be agreed upon by:
- a federation of trade unions or an industry trade union whose members account for 15 per cent of the employees in that industry or who have at least 500 members; and
- an association or union of employers whose members employ at least 40 per cent of the corresponding industry’s employees covered by the extended condition of the collective agreement.
Before extending a condition of a collective agreement, the parties to bargaining have an obligation to publicly inform all employees and employers in respect of whom the extension of the condition of the agreement is sought. The information must state the condition to be extended, its scope of application, and the planned entry into effect. These employees and employers must also be consulted before extension, i.e. if they must be involved in the negotiations if they wish to be.
Representatives of the Employers’ Confederation and the confederation of trade unions, together with the minister, monitor the proper conduct of notifying and consultation and the fulfilment of the representation criteria. If the extension agreement is duly concluded, the condition of the extended agreement will be published in Ametlikud Teadaanded. An extended condition of the collective agreement takes effect within three months of its publication, unless the parties agree on a later date.
Term of the collective agreement
The collective agreement enters into force on the date of signature. However, the provisions of the agreement may take effect prospectively or retroactively. The collective agreement is valid for one year unless stated otherwise in the agreement and is terminated at the end of its term, upon the conclusion of an agreement on termination, or the conclusion of a new collective agreement with the same content.
Upon the expiry of the term of a collective agreement, the agreement is deemed valid for an indefinite period unless either party to the collective agreement notifies the other party in writing at least three months before the expiry of the collective agreement that it does not wish for the agreement to be extended. In the event the collective agreement becomes valid for an indefinite period of time, the parties are required to comply with the terms and conditions of the collective agreement until a new agreement is entered into or the collective agreement is terminated by cancellation. A collective agreement which is valid for an indefinite period of time may be cancelled by either party to the agreement by notifying the other party thereof no less than six months in advance. The obligation arising from a collective agreement to refrain from calling a strike or a lock-out ends as of the submission of a notice concerning the cancellation of the collective agreement.
The text of the collective agreement shall be available to everyone it applies to.
You can see which employers you are in contractual relations with from e-MTA.
More information about collective agreements is available in the portal Tööelu.
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Related articles
References
Services
Laws
- Trade Unions Act
- Collective Agreements Act
- Employees’ Trustee Act
- Collective Labour Dispute Resolution Act