An Estonian job contract reads like the country: short, clear and in writing. You will find fewer surprises than you might expect, a legal minimum of 28 days of leave and a strong online record of everything you do. You will also find a labour market where good English opens doors but where Estonian is often the language of the workplace.
This guide to working in Estonia covers contracts, wages, leave and what happens if you lose your job.
Can you work in Estonia without a permit?
If you are a citizen of the EU, the EEA or Switzerland, yes: you can work in Estonia without a permit, like an Estonian. Register your address if you stay beyond three months (residence in Estonia for EU citizens).
A British citizen who arrives now needs a residence permit for employment from the police. As a general rule, the salary must be at least the Estonian average gross wage; for applications from 5 March 2026 to March 2027 the general threshold is €2,092 gross a month (the PPA table gives other thresholds), and the answer should come within 90 days. See moving to Estonia from the UK.
How do you find a job in Estonia?
Three public tools: the Töötukassa portal (job offers and advice, open to Europeans), EURES, the European job network, and Work in Estonia, the public talent attraction programme. If you need your degree recognised, the ENIC/NARIC centre of the Harno agency evaluates foreign qualifications free of charge, within 30 days of a complete file. For a regulated profession (doctor, nurse, teacher), the authority for the profession decides, and Harno directs you.
Work in Estonia advises candidates to be precise in answers and questions, because vagueness gets nowhere, and notes that modesty is appreciated and boasting can look like bragging.
What does an Estonian employment contract contain?
It should be written. It must state at least the parties, the start date, the duties, the pay, the pay date and the deductions. A contract is presumed open-ended; a fixed term is allowed only for genuinely temporary work, five years at most. More than two successive fixed-term contracts for similar work, or more than one extension in five years, makes the relation open-ended from the start. Two contracts are "successive" if no more than two months separate them.
Your employer registers you in the tax board's employment register; that is what starts your health cover 14 days after the start date (healthcare in Estonia for expats). Ask your employer in writing to apply your tax allowance.
Got a contract in Estonian, a probation clause you do not understand or a question about your notice? Moovy can walk through the clauses with you and draft questions to your employer in English, with an Estonian version.
What are pay, hours and leave in Estonia?
- Minimum wage: €946 gross a month, €5.67 an hour, since 1 April 2026 (€886 in 2025). Part-time is proportionally lower.
- Pay: at least monthly, on a set date.
- Working time: 40 hours a week and 8 a day is the norm; on average no more than 48 hours a week over four months, or 52 if you agree in writing, revocable with two weeks' notice.
- Leave: 28 calendar days a year, excluding public holidays. Holidays are mostly taken in June and July, and many people do not read email then.
- Probation: four months at most. Termination during probation needs at least 15 days' notice.
- Notice: 30 days if you resign. The employer must have a legal ground, with 15 days' notice under a year of service, 30 days for one to five years, 60 for five to ten and 90 for ten or more. Redundancy gives one month's average pay.
What if you lose your job?
Register as a jobseeker with the Töötukassa. In 2026 there are two benefits:
- Unemployment insurance benefit if you contributed at least 12 months in three years and did not leave voluntarily, by agreement or for misconduct: 60% of your average daily wage for 100 days, then 40%. The minimum is €14.77 a day; the maximum is €101.27 a day for the first 100 days, then €67.51. The basic duration is 180 days (under five years of insurance), 210 (five to ten years) or 300 (ten or more), extended when the labour market worsens.
- Basic benefit (new in 2026) with at least 8 months of contributions over three years, whatever the reason for leaving: €14.77 a day for 180 days.
The old unemployment allowance (töötutoetus) is no longer granted from 1 January 2026, except for applications filed earlier. Benefits are taxable at 22% above the allowance. Bring form U1 from your previous country's fund if you worked elsewhere in Europe.
What is working in Estonia like day to day?
Most employees have an open-ended contract with a monthly salary and an annual leave of 28 calendar days, in addition to public holidays. Work in Estonia advises asking precise questions and giving precise answers. Summer is the holiday season, mainly June and July, and answers can take time then.
For jobs in Estonia for foreigners, the public Work in Estonia programme and the Töötukassa portal publish offers. A good level of English opens many doors, but Estonian counts for daily work, school and long-term paperwork.
Working in Estonia: how do notice and dismissal work?
An employer can dismiss only on a ground in the law. The notice is 15 days under one year of service, 30 days from one to five years, 60 days from five to ten and 90 days from ten years. For redundancy, you are owed one month's average salary. If you resign, give 30 days.
During probation, a termination needs at least 15 days' notice. After your last day, your health cover continues for two months from the end date entered in the register (healthcare in Estonia for expats). The labour inspectorate publishes details of wages and holidays on tooelu.ee.
Working in Estonia as a freelancer or a company director
If you want to be self-employed, the rules and the taxes differ from employment, so ask the tax board before you start. A director of an Estonian company is taxed in Estonia on that pay wherever they live, so do not mix employment and company income without advice.
What mistakes should you avoid?
- Resigning and counting on benefits. If you leave on your own or by agreement, you get only the shorter, smaller basic benefit.
- Arriving with no contributions. Without 8 months of insurance (Estonia and other European countries added), there is nothing.
- Mixing up two "886" figures. The minimum wage rose to €946 in April 2026, but the minimum social tax base for self-employed people is still calculated on €886.
- Serial fixed-term contracts.
- Looking abroad without form U2. You may keep Estonian benefits for 3 months (6 at most) in another EU country, only after four weeks of registration in Estonia and with form U2 requested before leaving.
What changes by nationality?
EU and EEA citizens have free access and their insurance periods in other EU countries count. Swiss citizens too. British citizens covered by the withdrawal agreement keep their rights; the others need a permit. No unemployment benefit is paid once you reach retirement age or if you receive an early or flexible old-age pension.
Whatever your passport, get the contract in writing and read it before you sign.