Many young people take their first seasonal job in the summer, but employers may act unfairly toward new workers, such as not signing an employment contract or paying wages in an envelope. /nginx/o/2019/10/18/12666527t1he50f.jpg)
Euro. Illustrative photo. Photo: Arvo Meeks
Many young people take their first seasonal job in the summer, but employers may act unfairly toward new workers, such as not signing an employment contract or paying wages in an envelope.
Above all, parents need to be aware of fair labor conditions to avoid adverse consequences and also to protect youth entering the labor market from unfair offers.
According to head of labor tax risk management Mark Mälter, who represents the income tax department at the Tax and Customs Board (Tax and Customs Board), it all starts with the employment contract. “The parent can make sure that the employer has a written employment contract with the young person who will be working during the summer,” Mälter said. The above-mentioned manager noted that a written employment contract is necessary mainly when the employer violates his duties. In addition, the concluded employment contract will help to avoid the fact that the salary will be paid in an envelope and the damage associated with this will not occur. Mälter noted the following: if wages are paid inappropriately, the recipient may lose sickness, redundancy and unemployment benefits, as well as receive a smaller pension in the future. “The recipient of a salary in an envelope is always in a more vulnerable position in possible labor disputes,” said Mälter. “For example, if an employer does not pay wages in the promised amount to an employee with whom an employment contract has not been officially concluded, then it will be very difficult to claim his wages later.” And there were plenty of cases when the promised salary was not paid. A risk manager described a situation where a young man was paid little by little in cash but never received the full amount while he was working under unfavorable conditions. “From a case described by one young man, it turned out that the promised salary was not paid at the end of the working season, and the employer himself seemed to have disappeared: he did not answer calls or letters,” said Mälter. “Fortunately, this young man’s parent took an active position and was not at a loss, but turned to the Labor Dispute Commission, thanks to which, after about six months, they managed to get their missing money back.” According to Mälter, it is necessary to check whether the employer has entered the employment of the young person into the appropriate register. He also noted that official registration is extremely important, since otherwise there is no trace that a person worked at the enterprise, and this, in turn, makes it difficult to resolve labor disputes. NTD sends the young person an automatic notification that his data has been entered into the labor relations register, which can be checked independently in the e-MTA environment . “We also examined the following case: when everything seemed to be in order and wages were received on time, but when the young man later went to the doctor, he found out that he did not have valid health insurance because the employer did not pay taxes,” Myalter gave another example. “If taxes are not received, then NTD will still find this enterprise and begin the corresponding production, but the parent will have to pay the missing income tax from his own pocket, because the young person, as a rule, does not have this money.” In addition to having an employment contract, it is important to remember that there is no free trial day. “Before a young person starts working for someone, it is necessary to conclude an employment contract and also later receive payment for his work,” Mälter explained. He added that the service of providing an unpaid trial day exists only at the Unemployment Insurance Fund, which organizes the opportunity for the employee to try out the work, and this service lasts one day. “For example, there was a case when a young man worked for free for three trial days, but was not hired,” Mälter said. – This is not against the law. From the moment a young person starts doing work, such as serving customers, it is considered paid work.” The head of risk management in the field of labor taxes noted that in order to prevent unfair work offers, it is important to check information about the enterprise. The reliability of the employer can be checked, for example, through e-äriregister , e-krediidiinfo.ee , the Information Register and the website of the Tax and Customs Board . “You can always search for information on the Internet, check it in different sources and social networks,” added Mälter. “Of course, such verification should be done before starting work to determine whether the employer is trustworthy and provides fair working conditions.”
