Temporary subsidy program

Temporary subsidies will be paid to those employees whose employers are significantly impacted by the current extraordinary circumstances. The subsidy will grant an income for the employees and help the employers to surpass temporary difficulties without having to lay off their staff or call bankruptcy.

Principles of paying the subsidy

The subsidy is paid, when an employer is in a situation where they comply with at least two of the following terms:

     The employer must have suffered at least a 30% decline in turnover or revenue for the month they wish to be subsidized for, as compared to the same month last year.
     The employer is not able to provide at least 30 percent of their employees with work.
     The employer has cut the wages of at least 30% of employees by at least 30% or down to the minimum wage.

The employer must meet the terms during the calendar month they wish to have subsidized. The employee must have an employment contract with the employer.

Both private and state organizations are eligible for the subsidies, independent of the size of the organization.

Subsidies will be paid to employees whose employers are not able to provide them with work or whose wages have been reduced.

The amount of the subsidy will be 70% of the average monthly wage of the employee. The maximum amount of the subsidy is €1000. In addition to that, the employer must pay a wage of at least €150 to the employee.

The employee will receive at least the minimum wage of €584 from the Unemployment Insurance Fund and their employer, collectively. In case the employee has thus far received less than the minimum wage due to working part-time, their income will remain the same as before.

Any employee’s wage can be subsidized for up to two months during a three-month-period.

The Unemploymend Insurance Fund will pay social security, unemployment insurance tax and mandatory funded pension, and income tax on the subsidy, the employer will pay the aforementioned taxes on the employee’s wage.

Important:

     The employer will be applying for the temporary subsidy, but it will be paid directly to the employees;
     The period between March to May 2020 can be subsidized, the employer can apply for 2 months of a single employee’s wage to be subsidized during that period;
     The employer will send a separate application to the Unemployment Insurance Fund per each month, after having paid the wages to their employees.
     If the employer terminates the contract with the employee due to redundancy in the course of the same or the following calendar month they have received the temporary subsidy, the subsidy is to be returned to the Unemployment Insurance Fund.

Applying for the temporary subsidy

The application for the subsidy will be available in e-töötukassa in April, the exact date and specifications will be provided as soon as possible.

In order to apply for the subsidy, the employer will send an application to the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund for each calendar month separately. The terms that the employer complies with may be different for different months, but two out of three terms must be met in any case.

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