Overtime and Shift Pay in Estonia: What the Labour Inspectorate Says (2026)
Overtime Live has started showing up in the Finance chart on the Estonian App Store. I'm a UK developer and I don't know Estonian pay rules, so I went and read what the Labour Inspectorate (Tööinspektsioon) publishes. This is what it says, in plain English, with the sources at the bottom.
- Full-time is 40 hours a week. The standard day is 8 hours
- Overtime is by agreement only. It's paid as time off, or by agreement at 1.5 times your wage
- Night work is paid at 1.25 times your wage, or extra paid time off by agreement
- 11 hours' rest between shifts, and since 2024 the weekly rest has to come on top of it
- Minimum wage in 2026: €5.67 an hour, €946 a month, gross
- Questions? Labour Inspectorate: +372 640 6000. Its information is published in Estonian, Russian and English
I'm a developer, not a lawyer, and I'm not an authority on Estonian employment law. Everything below comes from the Labour Inspectorate's own pages, checked on 26 October 2026. Your contract and your collective agreement, if you have one, can change the detail. Check with the Inspectorate or an adviser before you rely on it.
The basics at a glance
| Topic | What the Inspectorate says |
|---|---|
| Full-time hours | 40 hours a week. The standard working day is 8 hours, though summarised working time can mean longer days. |
| Overtime | Only by agreement between you and your employer. Paid as time off, or by agreement at 1.5 times the wage. |
| Night work | Paid at 1.25 times the wage, or extra paid time off by agreement. |
| Daily rest | At least 11 hours between the end of one working day and the start of the next. |
| Weekly rest | 36 hours under summarised working time, 48 hours under standard hours. Since 1 Jan 2024 it must follow the 11 hours of daily rest, not overlap with it. |
| Breaks | 30 minutes for every 6 hours worked (Inspectorate information sheet, 2022 edition). |
| Minimum wage 2026 | €5.67 gross per hour, €946 gross per month, full time. |
Overtime: agreed, then paid or time off
The Inspectorate's wording is short. Overtime may only be worked by agreement between the parties. When you do work it, it's compensated with paid time off, or, by agreement, at 1.5 times your wage.
That matters for how you keep records. If you've agreed to be paid in money, the extra is 1.5 times. If you've agreed time off, what counts is the hours you worked beyond your normal time. Either way, the hours have to be written down by someone, and it's better if one of those someones is you.
Night work
Night work is paid at 1.25 times the wage, or compensated with extra paid time off by agreement. Your employer can include night-work pay in your wage by agreement. The exception is if you're paid the minimum wage.
The Inspectorate page I used doesn't say which hours count as night. I'm not going to guess. Check your contract, or ask the Inspectorate.
Rest between shifts
If you do shifts, this is the part that bites. You need at least 11 hours between finishing one working day and starting the next.
There was a change on 1 January 2024. Following a European Court of Justice ruling, the Inspectorate now says daily rest isn't part of weekly rest and has to come before it. So the weekly rest sits on top of the 11 hours: 36 hours under summarised working time, or 48 hours under standard hours. Before that, the weekly rest alone was enough.
The Inspectorate's sheet also mentions that working days can be longer than 8 hours under summarised working time. Your contract or employer's working time rules should say which applies to you. If it isn't clear, ask for it in writing.
What to write down
It's the same advice I'd give anyone on shifts, in any country.
- Your real start and finish times, not the rota times
- Your breaks
- Whether each extra hour was agreed, and whether it's being paid as money or time off
- Which hours were night hours
- The gap between the end of one shift and the start of the next
Overtime Live does this on your phone. It's free, needs no account, and supports the euro. You can set a custom multiplier, for example 1.5 for overtime or 1.25 for night work, and set up a recurring shift pattern once. A few honest limits: the app is in English, German and Spanish, with no Estonian or Ukrainian translation yet. It records your hours and your rate, but it doesn't know Estonian payroll rules. And the tax estimator uses a deduction rate you set yourself, with a UK default, so set it or ignore it. Your payslip is always the final word.
Keep your own record of every shift
Log real start and finish times, apply your own overtime and night multipliers, and see what you earned. Free, no account, no subscription.
Коротко українською
- Повний робочий тиждень: 40 годин, стандартний робочий день: 8 годин.
- Понаднормова робота можлива лише за згодою сторін. Її компенсують відгулом або, за домовленістю, оплатою в розмірі 1,5 від звичайної ставки.
- Нічна робота: 1,25 від ставки або додатковий оплачуваний відпочинок за домовленістю.
- Між робочими днями потрібно щонайменше 11 годин відпочинку.
- Мінімальна зарплата 2026 року: 5,67 євро за годину або 946 євро на місяць (брутто).
- Інспекція праці (Tööinspektsioon): +372 640 6000, ti.ee. Її інформаційний листок для українців (2022 року) є українською мовою, тому актуальні цифри перевіряйте в інспекції.
Overtime Live Pro безкоштовний для українців в App Store: докладніше українською.
Sources
- Estonian Labour Inspectorate: Applicable law and working conditions (overtime, night work, 2026 minimum wage)
- Estonian Labour Inspectorate: Amendments to the labour law in 2024 (daily and weekly rest)
- Estonian Labour Inspectorate: Information sheet for refugees arriving from Ukraine (9 March 2022; working time, rest, breaks)
- Employment Contracts Act (Töölepingu seadus), Riigi Teataja, English translation