An employer may wonder whether an employment contract must be written or whether an oral or email agreement is enough.
Employment in Estonia is principally governed by the Employment Contracts Act, which includes formal requirements.
Must an employment contract be written?
The Employment Contracts Act generally requires a written contract.
The requirement does not apply if the contract lasts no more than two weeks. Even then, we recommend recording the agreement in writing to avoid misunderstandings.
What does written form mean?
Under the General Part of the Civil Code Act, a transaction document subject to written form must be signed by the persons making the transaction, by hand or digitally.
An employment contract should therefore be signed by hand on paper or digitally in electronic form.
What if the contract is not written?
Failure to follow the formal requirement does not automatically make the employment contract void. A contract is also deemed concluded if the employee starts work that, in the circumstances, would ordinarily be performed only for remuneration.
Failure to record it in writing may result in a fine for the employer and difficulties for the employee. In a later dispute, it may be hard to prove the agreed duties and remuneration.