Latest changes to Estonian occupational health legislation, regulations, and guidance.Sources: the State Gazette (Riigi Teataja), the Labour Inspectorate (Tööinspektsioon), the Health Board (Terviseamet), and the Ministry of Social Affairs.We describe the nature of each change, its scope of impact, and the resulting recommendations for employers.
The scope of impact indicates how much action the change requires from employers.
·High impact·Affects: all employers recruiting staff·Source: State Gazette (Riigi Teataja)
Pay transparency rules are in force - employers must update recruitment now
Employers may no longer ask applicants about their previous or current pay and must provide the proposed pay or pay range in a reproducible written form before the interview. The same Act changed only the purpose and data categories of the TTOS work environment database. It did not relax the risk assessment, health surveillance or safety representative rules.
What employers should do now
Add the proposed pay or pay range to the vacancy or send it to the applicant in writing before the interview.
Remove salary-history questions from application forms, interview scripts and background checks.
Do not prevent employees from disclosing their pay, and verify equal pay for women and men performing the same or work of equal value.
Update instructions for recruiters, managers and HR staff.
Important clarification on TTOS
The new consolidated TTOS text dated 13 July 2026 reflects the pay-transparency database amendment. It does not mean the Government's separate occupational-safety simplification package entered into force. The existing risk-assessment submission duty, four-month initial health-check deadline and safety-representative rules remain in force.
Enforcement · July 2026·High impact·Affects: construction and employers with hazardous workplaces·Source: Labour Inspectorate
Labour Inspectorate launches targeted PPE inspection in July 2026
The Labour Inspectorate (Tööinspektsioon) is launching a nationwide targeted inspection of personal protective equipment (PPE) at construction sites and other hazardous workplaces in July 2026. Inspectors will generally arrive without prior notice.
What will be inspected
Whether the required PPE - helmets, fall protection, hearing and respiratory protection, safety footwear, goggles, gloves, and protective clothing - is available and suitable for the tasks being performed.
Whether it is in working order and within its service life.
Whether it is actually being used and whether workers have received adequate instruction.
What employers should do before an inspection
Review your risk assessment and verify that it reflects actual hazards present in the workplace.
Issue workers with appropriate PPE and check its condition.
Ensure instruction has been provided and monitor that protective equipment is actually worn.
Enforcement · May 2026·High impact·Affects: construction and work at height·Source: Labour Inspectorate
Labour Inspectorate launches targeted inspection ‘Working at Height’
The Labour Inspectorate launched a preventive targeted inspection in May 2026 focusing on work at height and the risk of falls. The aim is to raise awareness among employers and workers, not merely to identify violations.
Falls account for some of the most serious workplace accidents, often resulting in severe injury or death - particularly in construction. Common causes include absent fall protection, incorrect use of protective equipment, inadequate instruction, and missing or disregarded safety plans.
What employers should do
Prepare or update the risk assessment and safety plan for work carried out at height.
Install guard rails and check the condition of fall-protection equipment.
Issue appropriate PPE and ensure workers have received instruction.
Bill · not yet in force·Affects: employers·Source: Government of Estonia, State Gazette
Forthcoming: wide-ranging relaxation of occupational health requirements (deregulation bill)
There is a bill in the Riigikogu that would ease occupational health and safety obligations. The Government approved it on 16 April 2026; the intended effective date was 1 July 2026. As of 7 August 2026, the Riigikogu has not yet passed the bill. Until adoption, existing requirements apply in full. The current TTOS does not contain these relaxations. The consolidated TTOS text effective from 13 July changed pay-transparency database provisions, not the risk assessment, health surveillance or safety representative requirements.
What the bill proposes
The initial health check window would be extended from four to six months (with the right to carry out the check earlier retained for high-risk work).
A sole-trader entity where the same individual is the sole owner, sole board member, and sole employee would be excluded from the full scope of TTOS.
Companies with fewer than 10 employees would no longer be required to submit their risk assessment to the Labour Inspectorate's data repository. A written risk assessment would still have to be prepared - only the obligation to submit it to the repository would be removed.
The separate obligation to carry out an annual internal review would be abolished.
The workplace health and safety representative and committee would become need-based rather than mandatory.
What employers should do now
Continue to follow the current TTOS: submit the risk assessment, arrange the initial health check within four months, and elect a safety representative in companies with 10 or more employees. Do not stop these activities because of the Government bill or a news report.
·Medium impact·Affects: occupational health service providers·Source: State Gazette (Riigi Teataja), Health Board
Change in the registration of occupational health service providers - what employers need to check
This change arises from the implementation of the General Part of the Economic Activities Code Act (MSÜS) and affects the Occupational Health and Safety Act (TTOS) and the Health Services Organisation Act (TTKS). The primary practical impact concerns the registration of occupational health service providers and the employer's related duty to verify their status.
What exactly has changed
Providers of occupational health hygiene, ergonomics, and work psychology services no longer need to submit a registration application to the Health Board (Terviseamet). Instead, they submit an economic activities notice via the eesti.ee portal. The notice is free of charge, can be submitted electronically, and takes effect from the moment of submission.
Occupational health physicians and nurses are an exception - they must continue to obtain a licence from the Health Board.
What employers would be wise to do
We recommend checking that your current service provider has the appropriate legal basis for their activities - an economic activities notice or an operating licence, depending on the type of service. You can check via the Health Board's public register or ask your provider directly.
Retain evidence of your check together with your occupational health contract - the Labour Inspectorate may request it.
Why this matters
If your service provider lacks the required economic activities notice or a valid operating licence, your occupational health obligations may not be properly fulfilled. Responsibility for the organisation of occupational health rests with the employer, not the service provider. It is therefore worth verifying your provider's legal status when concluding a contract and ahead of any Labour Inspectorate inspection.
·Low impact·Affects: employers and employees·Source: State Gazette (Riigi Teataja) (TTOS)
Threshold for working on sick leave reduced from 60 to 30 days
An employee and employer may now agree on temporary work suited to the employee's state of health once more than 30 calendar days have passed since the start of the period of incapacity (previously 60) - TTOS § 12-4 lg 1. The agreement must be in writing and the work must be appropriate to the employee's health.
·Low impact·Affects: employers·Source: State Gazette (Riigi Teataja) (TTOS)
Employer may compensate the difference between sickness benefit and average wage
The employer may compensate the employee for the difference between average wages and the ceiling of the temporary incapacity benefit - TTOS § 12-3 lg 4-1. This is the employer's right, not an obligation.
·Medium impact·Affects: employers and employees·Source: State Gazette (Riigi Teataja) (TTOS)
Working on sick leave and retention periods for reproductive toxins
The law introduced the possibility of working while on sick leave: an employee and employer may agree in writing on temporary work appropriate to the employee's state of health - TTOS § 12-3 to § 12-5.
Reproductive toxins were also added alongside carcinogens and mutagens, and data retention periods were clarified: records of exposure to a carcinogen or mutagen must be retained for 40 years; for a reproductive toxin, 5 years - TTOS § 13-1 lg 17.
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