Involvement of Employees through Representatives Working at Enterprises
The article analyzes Estonia’s current and prospective employee involvement systems on the background of other European Union states.
Compared to other countries, Estonia’s current system is special in the sense that it is not a single or double channel system but something in between. Namely, employees can be represented by either a trade union trustee or a non-union trustee selected by the employees. Under current legislation, the functions of both of these are the same. The Ministry of Social Affairs has therefore proposed to amend the employee representation system so that a trustee for all employees—both union members and non-members—could serve as the partner in notification and consultation on the enterprise level, and collective bargaining functions would be left to the trade unions. Basically, the new system, which would create the basis for a form of employee representation with two different functions, would bring Estonia closer to the double channel system in its traditional sense.