Services

It is a common misconception that people who have to cope with a disability, are difficult to employ and pose more challenges than other employees.

If you are registered as unemployed and unable to participate in a labour market service or start a job because you are raising a child up to 7 years of age (inclusive) or caring for an immediate family member who is elderly or has disabilities, the Unemployment Insurance Fund can grant needs-based compensation for costs related to care and caregiving (hereinafter referred to as the care service).

If you want to do temporary paid work, which does not require vocational, special or professional training, while registered as unemployed, inquiry about public work from your consultant at the Unemployment Insurance Fund. 

A business start-up subsidy is financial aid (currently up to 4,474 euros) whose objective is to provide motivation and support in starting a business.

The labour market service provided for jobseekers of retirement age is co-financed by the European Social Fund of the European Union by regulation No. 222 of the Minister of Health and Labour of 4 December 2014 on the basis of ‘Provision of labour market services to facilitate employment opportunities’ .

The labour market service provided for individuals with decreased working ability is co-financed by the European Social Fund of the European Union by regulation No. 57 of the Minister of Social Protection and the Minister of Health and Labour of 27 March 2015 on the basis of ‘Provision of labour market services to the target group of work reforms’ .

The objective of labour market training is to provide the knowledge and skills needed to secure employment. You can participate in training if you and your consultant come to the conclusion that you need to gain new or improve existing knowledge and skills in order to secure employment.

In order to help a young person who has little work experience to secure employment, we grant a wage subsidy to the employer and compensate training costs of the hired young person.

The Unemployment Insurance Fund provides mobile counselling, or MOBI, in all Estonian counties, sharing the information and knowledge needed by those looking for work. 

The aim of these workshops is to share information and knowledge on various topics related to work, working life and career. Usually MOBI workshops take place at locations that are further away from larger cities, where access to labour market and career information tends to be limited. When organizing MOBI events, the topics focus among other target groups specifically on young people (including the ones currently studying in vocational schools and high schools) and people with reduced capacity to work (in the context of younger people including also their parents).

Are you going to work far from your place of residence?

Before starting work, ask you consultant about mobility benefits, as the Unemployment Insurance Fund can offer you mobility benefits if you:

We offer counselling services for people who have registered as unemployed and to jobseekers who have received a redundancy notice. If you want to go to a meeting with an advisor, tell this to your consultant who will introduce you to the service in greater detail and will, if necessary, direct you to the service.

The Unemployment Insurance Fund offers a chance to do participate in work trial in the framework of the employment mediation service. The work trial gives the employer an opportunity to check that the candidate is suitable for the position before signing an employment contract with them.

Community work is an old tradition of people working together, and it continues to be upheld even today. It is a wonderful coming together in order to get something done. It includes all kinds of activities that need to be done in your village, neighbourhood, town or city.

Work practice is designed for people who:

• have been unemployed for a long time or do not have any working experience,
• want to enhance your teamwork skills or gain experiences of working in a group,
• want to learn and get support from people with similar experiences,
• feel that their motivation to search for a job has decreased,
• would like to find out more about their own capabilities and skills, as well as the process of applying for a job.

The purpose of work placement is to provide a client with practical work experience that is necessary for recruitment and to allow them to gain additional professional skills and knowledge at the employer. When directing a client to a work placement, we take into account their past work experience, skills and knowledge, job search results and job requests.

Job club is open to anyone who wants to learn about the labour market, application process and the rights and obligations involved in working.

Volunteering is a good opportunity to stay active and contribute to the development of society and your community. Volunteering helps you acquire various knowledge, skills and experience, which can support you job search. It is also a great opportunity to learn more about different fields of work. 

The Unemployment Insurance Fund offers career information, job mediation, job search counselling (participation in a job search workshop or job clubs) and career counselling services to everyone.

If you are of retirement age, you can also use other Unemployment Insurance Fund services, provided that you are not working and register as a jobseeker.

An unemployed person receiving unemployment insurance benefit can move to another EU country to look for work and continue to receive the unemployment insurance benefit he/she is entitled to, provided the unemployed person is actively seeking work in another country and is available for work and complies with the other country's rules on registering and looking for work. The jobseeker is entitled to the benefit for a limited period – up to 3 months (in exceptional cases up to 6 months). 

How easy it is for you to look for a job, work, and receive benefits in Estonia, depends on your nationality. As a member of the European Union, Estonia has arrangements that make it easier for citizens of other EU Member States, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland to come into the country for professional reasons. For others, different conditions apply.

Within Europe (the countries of the European Union, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) specific rules and legislation make it easier for jobseekers to search and work in another country, and information concerning job vacancies is shared between countries.