The assessment of a young person’s work ability takes into account their state of health and the resulting restrictions on their activity and participation. For this, the Unemployment Insurance Fund assesses a person’s physical and mental abilities in different areas. The work ability assessment consists of five steps:

• doctor’s visit
• submitting an application for an assessment of work ability
• drafting an expert opinion
• deciding on the scope of the assessment of work ability
• payment of the work ability allowance and, if necessary, advice and labour market services to stay in or find employment.

You can submit the work ability assessment application together with the work ability allowance application:

• via e-Töötukassa
• by phone or video, with the help of a work ability assessment specialist;  
• digitally signed, by email to [email protected];

If you do not have the technical means to submit the application via e-Töötukassa or by video, you can use an adapted, private customer room and computer at a Töötukassa office. 


If you are applying for a work ability assessment for a child aged 16–18 or have been appointed guardian of an adult child, you must attach a document certifying your right of representation. If you are applying for a child aged between 16 and 18, it is your child’s birth certificate, or a court ruling if you are applying for an adult child as a guardian. You do not need to submit the document if its details are entered in the Estonian Population Register.
 

When your child has reached the age of 16, you can apply for the determination of the degree of severity of disability along with a work ability assessment. For this, you must indicate the purpose of determining the degree of severity of disability on the work ability assessment application.

The process of determining a disability begins at the Social Insurance Board after the Unemployment Insurance Fund has made the work ability assessment decision. When determining the degree of severity of a disability, the assessment is based on the expert physician’s assessment from the Unemployment Insurance Fund regarding the existing activity limitations.

• If the young person already has a valid work ability assessment decision, the degree of severity of disability can be established without the need for a new work ability assessment. Submit the application only to the Social Insurance Board, and the document-based assessment will be conducted by the expert physician of the Social Insurance Board.
• If less than 6 months have passed since the young person’s last work ability assessment, a new ‘Application to determine the degree of severity of disability and assess work ability’ does not need to be completed to establish the severity of disability. Submit an application to the Social Insurance Board to determine the degree of severity of disability. The Social Insurance Board uses the expert opinion from the Unemployment Insurance Fund and the work ability assessment decision provided by the Unemployment Insurance Fund to determine the degree of severity of disability.

The degree of severity of disability is determined for up to 5 years, but no longer than until pensionable age.

The disability allowance for a person of working age is paid by the Social Insurance Board to a person of working age (16 years old up to pensionable age) who has a determined degree of severity of disability. The allowance ratesare between 29 and 100 euros per month, depending on the degree of severity of disability and the functional impairment.

If a benefit application was not submitted together with the establishment of the degree of disability, it is possible to submit one separately: 

• submit an application in the self-service portalvia ‘Communication and notifications’
• send the completed and digitally signed application to the Social Insurance Board by email to [email protected]
• send the application by mail to Paldiski mnt 80, 15092 Tallinn, Estonia
• take the application to the customer service office of the Social Insurance Board

If you are applying for an extension of your child’s disability, you do not need to submit a new application for social benefits. However, the sections related to the determination of social benefit must be completed on the disability extension application.

The Unemployment Insurance Fund pays work ability allowance to a person aged between 16 and pensionable age who has been evaluated to have partial or no work ability. In the case of partial work ability, the activity requirement has to be met to receive the allowance (eg study, be registered as a job seeker), while in the case of no work ability, you do not have to meet any activity requirements to receive the allowance.

The amount of the allowance is calculated based on the daily rate. You can use the work ability allowance calculator to calculate the presumed amount of work ability allowance.

An application for the work ability allowance can be completed and submitted:

• via e-Töötukassa
• at a Töötukassa regional office, with the help of a case manager
• by phone, with the help of a case manager, if the applicant can be identified by phone
• digitally signed, by email to [email protected]
• signed on paper, submitted to your nearest Töötukassa office or sent by post to: Eesti Töötukassa, Lasnamäe 2, 11412 Tallinn
   

Work Ability Allowance Act
The conditions and procedure for determination of the degree of severity of disability and the conditions of the disability allowance for a person of working age

Assessment of work ability
Conditions for receiving the work ability allowance
Determining the severity of a disability of working-age people
Allowance for a person of working age with disabilities