Summary

How the law of employment contracts should evolve is currently a highly disputed question in Estonia. In this context, one of the contraversial issues is whether the rules governing employment contracts should be provided by the law of obligations or whether employment contracts should be regulated by the Labour Code.
Some specialists view labour law as a specific part of private law. However, this does not mean that employment contracts should be regulated by the law of obligations only. If the Labour Code is retained, it should contain rules governing specific issues of labour law.
In their nature, employment contracts fall in the domain of the law of obligations and are aimed at the exchange of labour and wages. Hence, the general principles of contract law should also apply to employment contracts. In Estonia, a position has been adopted that employment contracts constitute part of the law of obligations. However, regardless of whether employment contracts are regulated by the Labour Code or the law of obligations, it is important to define the relationship between these laws.