The Chamber supports making the conditions for minors’ employment more flexible and wishes to ease restrictions on young people handling alcohol

A draft act amending the Employment Contracts Act is currently being processed by the Riigikogu. The aim is to simplify the rules on minors’ employment and make the hiring of young people more flexible. The Chamber supports the planned amendments, as they will help young people gain their first work experience more easily and reduce the administrative burden on employers. At the same time, the Chamber made two additional proposals concerning work restrictions related to the handling of alcohol.

The Chamber made two additional proposals concerning restrictions on handling alcohol

In the Chamber’s view, the draft act should allow young people aged at least 16 to work in jobs related to the production, offering for sale and sale of alcoholic beverages. In practice, this mainly concerns the catering, accommodation and service sectors, where young people are often offered their first job opportunities. The current restrictions unjustifiably reduce young people’s opportunities to enter the labour market and deepen labour shortages in sectors where the need for seasonal and part-time labour is high. In the Chamber’s view, the protection of minors is ensured by the requirement for parental consent before taking up employment. The employer also remains obliged to ensure a safe and lawful working environment.

In addition, the Chamber proposed allowing 13–15-year-olds to perform auxiliary cleaning tasks in catering establishments, such as clearing and washing tables, dishes and glasses, including dishes that have contained alcoholic beverages. In such cases, the young person would not participate in serving or selling alcohol. In the Chamber’s view, such an amendment would give young people the opportunity to perform simple first work tasks and support the development of working habits without reducing the protection of young people.

The Chamber supports the amendments planned in the draft act

The Chamber also supports the amendments included in the draft act that will help young people gain their first work experience more easily and reduce the administrative burden on employers. The draft act creates an opportunity for minors aged 7–17 to work in a family business without the current restrictions on fields of activity being applied. In addition, minors will be allowed to work during school holidays for more than the currently permitted half of the holiday period. According to the amendment, the legal representative of a minor — usually the mother or father — may not give consent for the child to work for longer than two months during the summer holiday, provided that the minor is left with at least four consecutive weeks of rest, five calendar days during a one-week school holiday, and ten calendar days during a two-week school holiday.

The deadline for processing the Labour Inspectorate’s permit required for employing minors aged 7–12 will also be shortened from ten working days to five working days, and an exceptional case will also be provided for. In addition, the length of minors’ annual leave will be harmonised with that of adult employees, as a result of which a minor employee’s annual leave will be reduced from the current 35 calendar days to 28 calendar days.

You can follow the Riigikogu proceedings HERE.