Unpaid salary in Estonia – how to get your money

By Ero Liivik, lawyer (jurist) at Erovik Law Office · Updated 2 November 2026

If your employer pays late or not at all, send a written demand and, if that fails, apply to the Labour Dispute Committee (töövaidluskomisjon): there is no state fee, and a bailiff can enforce its final decision. A claim for pay can be brought within three years, but other deadlines are much shorter, so act early. The steps below apply to unpaid salary Estonia-wide, whatever the size of your employer.

Key points

• Pay is due on the agreed payday, at least once a month (§ 33 of the Employment Contracts Act (TLS)).
• Late pay carries late payment interest (§ 113 of the Law of Obligations Act (VÕS)).
• The Labour Dispute Committee charges no state fee and, as a rule, reviews an application within 45 calendar days (§§ 15 and 38 of the Labour Dispute Resolution Act (TvLS)).
• If pay is substantially delayed, you may terminate the contract and claim three months’ average pay, which can be adjusted (TLS §§ 91(2), 100(4)).
• Deadlines: three years for pay, four months for most other employment claims, 30 days to challenge a dismissal.
• If the employer is insolvent, the Unemployment Insurance Fund (Töötukassa) may cover part of your claim, up to set limits.

When is your salary late?

Your employment contract must state the payday (TLS § 5). If the payday falls on a public holiday or a rest day, pay is due on the working day before (TLS § 33).

Rules many foreign employees miss:

• Holiday pay is due by the second-to-last working day before your holiday starts, unless agreed otherwise. An agreement to pay it later than the first payday after the holiday is void (TLS § 70(2)).
• “No work, no pay” is not the rule. If you are able and ready to work but the employer gives you no work, it must still pay your average pay, unless this is your fault (TLS § 35). Pay may be cut only temporarily, for unforeseen economic reasons and never below the minimum wage (TLS § 37).
• Deductions: to set off its own claims against your pay, the employer generally needs your consent in a form that can be reproduced in writing, and advance consent is generally void. Without consent, it may deduct an advance you must repay and, when employment ends, pay for holiday taken in advance (TLS § 78).
• Final pay: when the contract ends, all claims from the employment relationship fall due (TLS § 84). This includes money for unused basic holiday that has not expired (TLS § 71).

Step 1: collect your evidence

Gather your contract, payslips, bank statements, records of hours worked and messages about pay. On request, the employer must tell you what pay it has calculated, paid and still owes you (TLS § 28(2)). Make a simple table: month, amount due, payday, amount paid, difference.

Step 2: send a written demand

Send a short, factual demand by e-mail or letter. State the months and amounts owed, set a deadline (for example, seven days) and say that you will apply to the Labour Dispute Committee if you are not paid. You can add late payment interest from each payday. The rate is the European Central Bank’s main refinancing rate, fixed for each half-year, plus 8% a year (VÕS §§ 94, 113). A clear written demand is sometimes enough.

Step 3: apply to the Labour Dispute Committee

The committee is an out-of-court body at the Labour Inspectorate (Tööinspektsioon) (TvLS § 4). It hears disputes with employers that are registered in Estonia, operate here through a branch or are registered as a non-resident employer (TvLS § 2).

1. Choose the committee for your place of residence, your place of work or the employer’s seat (TvLS § 25).
2. Write the application: the parties’ details, a clear claim with the amount, the facts and the evidence for each fact, and whether you agree to a written procedure. Attach your documents, and a power of attorney if a representative files it (TvLS § 26).
3. Review. As a rule, the application is reviewed within 45 calendar days of receipt (TvLS § 38). The chair alone may decide money claims totalling up to EUR 6,400 in writing, but you can ask to be heard (TvLS § 40).
4. Decision. After a hearing, the decision is announced within ten working days (TvLS § 57).

Language and costs. The procedure is in Estonian. A hearing may be held in another language only if the parties and the committee members agree; otherwise, without an Estonian-speaking representative, you must bring your own interpreter at your own cost (TvLS § 13¹). There is no state fee, but each party bears its own costs, including lawyer’s fees (TvLS §§ 15, 16).

After the decision: payment or enforcement

A party who disagrees may take the same dispute to court within 30 calendar days of receiving the decision. This is a new claim, not an appeal (TvLS § 58). Otherwise the decision enters into force and is binding (TvLS § 59). If the employer still does not pay, ask the committee to confirm that the decision is in force, and give it to a bailiff (kohtutäitur) for enforcement (§§ 2 and 12 of the Code of Enforcement Procedure (TMS)). On your request, the committee may make an award of pay immediately enforceable to the extent you urgently need, up to two months’ pay (TvLS § 65).

Can you resign because of delayed salary?

Yes, if the employer has substantially delayed paying your wages (TLS § 91(2)). The Act does not define “substantially”, so a short one-off delay may not be enough. Act within a reasonable time (TLS § 91(4)), and give notice with reasons in a form that can be reproduced in writing, such as an e-mail (TLS § 95). You need not work a notice period if you cannot reasonably be expected to continue until it ends (TLS § 98(2)).

If your ground is valid, the employer must pay three months’ average pay on top of the unpaid salary; the committee or court may adjust it (TLS § 100(4)). Resigning on this ground does not exclude the income-based unemployment insurance benefit, if you meet its other conditions (§ 6(2) of the Unemployment Insurance Act (TKindlS)).

If your ground is not valid, resigning from a permanent contract counts as an ordinary resignation with 30 days’ notice (TLS §§ 85(4), 98(1)). If you leave earlier, the employer may claim average daily pay for each working day of missing notice (TLS § 100(5)).

Deadlines you must not miss

• Pay: three years from the date it fell due (TLS § 29(9)).
• Other claims from the employment relationship, such as compensation: four months from when you learned or should have learned of the breach (TLS § 3¹). If unsure whether a payment counts as pay, work with four months.
• Dismissal: 30 calendar days from receiving the notice (TLS § 105). See termination of employment in Estonia.
• Holiday: a basic holiday claim expires one year after the end of the calendar year for which it was calculated (TLS § 68(6)). Only unused holiday that has not expired is paid out when you leave (TLS § 71).

If your employer is insolvent

If the employer is declared bankrupt, or its bankruptcy case ends without a declaration because there are not enough assets, the Unemployment Insurance Fund (Eesti Töötukassa) pays an insolvency benefit (TKindlS §§ 19–20). It covers:

• unpaid pay: up to your last three months’ gross pay, capped at three Estonian average gross monthly wages for the quarter before the insolvency;
• unpaid holiday pay: up to one month’s holiday pay, capped at one average gross monthly wage;
• unpaid termination compensation: up to two months’ average gross pay, capped at one average gross monthly wage.

Usually the bankruptcy trustee (pankrotihaldur) or interim trustee applies to the Fund, so give the trustee your claim and documents promptly (TKindlS § 21). The Fund decides within 30 days of accepting the application (extendable by 14 days) and pays within five days of its decision (TKindlS § 22).

If the employer has simply disappeared, you can file a bankruptcy petition yourself, subject to conditions such as minimum claim amounts (§ 15(3) of the Bankruptcy Act (PankrS)). If the court asks for a deposit because assets are lacking and you do not pay it, the court can still make a ruling, provided you have substantiated the petition and proved your claim. That ruling lets you apply to the Fund yourself (PankrS §§ 15(4¹), 27(4¹); TKindlS § 21).

Construction workers: the contractor above your employer may be liable

If you do construction work on buildings and your employer does not pay, the company that subcontracted the work to your employer is liable as a surety if your pay cannot be collected within four months after enforcement began. The liability is capped at the monthly minimum wage per calendar month. It does not apply if that company acted with the care of a prudent businessperson, in particular by checking your employer’s background (TLS § 33¹). The rule covers subcontracts made after 15 October 2022, when it took effect.

Typical mistakes

• Waiting months in the hope that the employer will pay.
• Relying on phone calls instead of a written demand.
• Ending the contract “by agreement” to get part of the money. This removes the right to the income-based unemployment insurance benefit (TKindlS § 6(2)), and the agreement may waive your other claims.
• Thinking you cannot act without Estonian: a representative or interpreter solves this.

Related guide: Annual leave and holiday pay in Estonia.

Frequently asked questions

How long does the Labour Dispute Committee take?

As a rule, 45 calendar days from receipt of the application (TvLS § 38). The decision becomes binding if neither party goes to court within 30 days of receiving it.

Can I claim unpaid salary after leaving Estonia?

Yes. You can apply to the committee for the employer’s seat, act through a representative, agree to a written procedure and join a hearing by video link if the committee arranges one (TvLS §§ 17, 25, 26, 42¹). The same deadlines apply.

What if my employer says it has no money?

Lack of money does not cancel your claim. Apply anyway; if the employer goes bankrupt, the Unemployment Insurance Fund may cover part of it.

How Erovik Law Office can help

We assess your claim, calculate the amounts, write the demand letter (EUR 120–200), prepare the committee application and can represent you there or in court. An initial written analysis and action plan costs EUR 120–180. Send a short description and your documents through the contact page; we usually reply within one working day. See our fees and employment law services.

This guide reflects Estonian law in force on 1 November 2026. It is general information, not legal advice for your situation.