Background information

The measure is a basic public employment service's measure. Employment mediation is available to all employers who access the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund (EUIF) in order to find new employees. Employment mediation is available to all persons who are registered as unemployed or are seeking employment through the EUIF.

It is established in the Labour Market Services and Benefits Act (§12).

Other cases related to the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund (EUIF) are:

• Labour force and skills demand forecasts
• Response service to collective redundancies
• Benefits in case of employer insolvency
• Measures to prevent unemployment - work and study

Content of measure

Employment mediation is free of charge for employers. Employers can publish their job offer on the website of the Unemployment Insurance Fund (EUIF) for all interested parties to see. Alternatively, they can ask the EUIF to select appropriate candidates, according to specific job requirements. In the latter case, the EUIF can either motivate suitable employees to apply for the job being offered, or it can forward the contact details of suitable persons to potential new employers.

The service also includes 'work trial', if needed. This gives the employer an opportunity to check that the candidate is suitable for the position before signing an employment contract with them. The duration of the trial is one day and both the employer, as well as the potential employee must be clients of the EUIF. For the trial day, the jobseeker is entitled to travel and accommodation if the place of the jobseeker's residence is more than 500 metres from the place where the trial day takes place. No remuneration for the trial work can be paid by the employer to the employee. The employer does not receive any monetary support from the EUIF.

Use of measure

Not many employers see the EUIF as a potential source of suitable staff. Recent surveys among the clients of the EUIF indicated that just 31% of all employers who are clients used the job mediation service in 2021 (19% in 2020 and 38% in 2019). On average, it is more popular among larger companies (with 100 or more employees), of which 49% have used the service in 2021 and 46% in 2020. The share of companies with 21-100 employees who have used the measure was 45% in 2021 and 20% in 2020. 23% of companies with less than 20 employees have used in 2021 and 14% in 2020.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Unemployed	Applies to all businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Public employment service	National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Unknown	Unknown
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Unknown
• Main level of involvement: Unknown

Involvement

Unknown

Views and reactions

Unknown

Sources

• 31 December 2020: Turu-uuringute AS. (2020), Tööandjate rahulolu töötukassa teenustega (Employers' satisfaction with the services of Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund) (www.tootukassa.ee)
• 31 December 2021: Turu-uuringute AS. (2021), Tööandjate rahulolu töötukassa teenustega (Employers' satisfaction with the services of Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund) (www.tootukassa.ee)
• 11 October 2022: Töövahendusteenus (Employment mediation service) (www.tootukassa.ee)
• 11 October 2022: Proovitöö (Trial work) (www.tootukassa.ee)