The Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (EKTK) wants to cut the national minimum paid vacation from 28 calendar to 20 working days, arguing the current system is unfair.
In a letter to Minister of the Economy and Industry Erkki Keldo (Reform), the chamber said the Employment Contracts Act sets a national minimum of 28 calendar days of paid vacation — but noted that calculating leave in calendar rather than working days puts some employees at a disadvantage.
EKTK director general Mait Palts explained that if one full-time worker takes off 28 calendar days in a row, including weekends, they end up with 20 days off work. Meanwhile, another who splits their vacation time — taking the required 14 consecutive days off but using the rest only on workdays — gets 24 days off work.
Changing the way annual paid vacation is calculated “would make it easier to ensure employees under the same employer receive an equal amount of vacation time,” Palts wrote to the minister, proposing that Estonia switch from 28 calendar days to 20 working days of annual vacation.
He noted that many EU countries already count vacation time in working days — 20 in Lithuania, Latvia and Germany, and 24 in Finland.
Read more: ERR.EE
