Estonia denies unemployment benefit to conscripts without work history

Young people who enter military service directly after finishing school can no longer receive unemployment benefit when they return and begin looking for work unless they have previously worked for at least eight months, ERR reported.

The change follows a reform of the unemployment support system that took effect this year. Previously, both school graduates and people returning from military service could receive unemployment benefit. That benefit has now been replaced by unemployment insurance benefit, which depends on a person’s contributions to the labour market.

Kirsti Melesk, head of the employment department at the Ministry of Economic Affairs, said the insurance-based system was intended to partly replace income earned through work during a period of job-seeking, rather than provide income to everyone without a job.

“As with any other insurance, a person becomes entitled to compensation after contributing to the insurance system and an insured event occurs,” Melesk said, referring to unemployment. She compared the arrangement with home or motor insurance, under which a person who has never paid premiums cannot claim compensation when an insured event occurs.

Conscripts are therefore in the same position as school graduates with no previous work experience, Melesk said. They can still register as unemployed and use services supporting their job search, including counselling from advisers who specialise in helping young people find work and gain their first work experience.

According to Melesk, there are currently no plans to create an exception for people completing military service.

Some school graduates may qualify for unemployment insurance benefit if they worked while studying. They must have accumulated at least eight months of unemployment insurance record during the previous three years, with at least one day of work in each qualifying month.

Vadim Djomin, head of unemployment insurance benefits at the Unemployment Insurance Fund, said the required record could be accumulated through several employment contracts and did not have to be continuous. Under an employment contract, a person must have worked for a total of at least eight months. Under a contract for services, at least eight payments must have been made from which unemployment insurance contributions were withheld.