Estonian unions call for separate labour court

Estonian trade unions want the country to establish a separate labour court, while the Ministry of Economic Affairs is seeking to make the existing labour dispute committee more efficient, ERR reported.

People who do not want to go to court can first bring employment disputes before a labour dispute committee. Nearly 2,500 applications were filed with the committees last year, most often because an employer had failed to pay the agreed wages.

The ministry acknowledges that the committees do not operate efficiently in every situation. Several shortcomings and unresolved issues have emerged in recent years, including situations that are not sufficiently regulated.

Liis Tõnismaa, an adviser on employment relations and the working environment at the ministry, said committee chairpersons are often unsure how they should act in particular cases. This can cause proceedings to drag on.

Proceedings can be delayed when an employer or employee fails to attend a hearing without a valid reason or does not meet procedural requirements. The ministry now wants to give labour dispute committees the power to issue decisions in absentia when there are justified grounds, saving time for both parties.

“At present, all procedural steps have to be completed from beginning to end. Even if the other party does not respond, you have to wait for a response. This takes a very long time, and the labour dispute committee cannot do anything during that period,” Tõnismaa said.

The Estonian Trade Union Confederation supports the possibility of issuing decisions in absentia. Confederation lawyer Nelli Loomets said employees are the ones who usually turn to labour dispute committees with their concerns.

She gave the example of an employee who filed an application with a labour dispute committee after the employer had been informed about the hearing but failed to attend. In such a case, Loomets said, the employee could receive a decision sooner and take it more quickly to a bailiff for enforcement.

However, the unions would prefer Estonia to establish a separate labour court. They said this would allow similar disputes to be resolved much faster.

Loomets said a labour court’s decision would be a court judgment. At present, if a labour dispute committee’s decision is appealed, the proceedings start again in court. This creates four levels for resolving a labour dispute: the labour dispute committee, county court, circuit court and Supreme Court.

With a labour court, the process would move directly from the labour court to the circuit court and then the Supreme Court, leaving three court levels, she said.

ERR was unable to obtain a comment from the Estonian Employers’ Confederation, but the organisation said the ministry was moving in the right direction with its plan for resolving labour disputes.