Summary

The changes in social and economic relations that have occurred in the past decades have brought about a need to adjust the regulation governing employment relations. In the conditions of tightening competition, globalisation and the increase of the service sector, classical regulation of employment relations no longer works. Already since the 1990s, many countries have attempted to introduce measures to make the employment relations more flexible, in order to meet the demands posed by the market situation.

In 1992, after restoration of independence, Estonia adopted the most important instrument in the regulation of employment relations: Contract of Employment Act of the Republic of Estonia. Towards the end of 2006, the European Commission published the Green Book on modernising the labour law in order to cope with the challenges of the 21st century, which emphasised the need to develop flexible employment relations and update the relevant rules with a view to increasing economic growth. The Green Book foresaw the application of secure flexibility (flexicurity) as one of the tools in this. The publication of the Green Book contributed to the completion of a draft Contract of Employment Act in Estonia, as now there was reason to change the rules. The new Contract of Employment Act was adopted on 17 December 2008 and it entered into force on 1 July 2009.

This article aims to explore the meaning of flexicurity in the new Contract of Employment Act. To this end, the author analyses the gist of the concept of flexicurity, both in the European Union and Estonia, as well as how the idea has been implemented in the regulation of employment relations as set out in the Contract of Employment Act.