TASULISE PUHKUSE SISSESEADMINE EESTIS
INTRODUCTION OF THE PAID ANNUAL LEAVE IN ESTONIA

Summary/Abstract: At the beginning of the 20th century when some European countries introduced paid annual leave for employed persons, this phenomenon was unknown to Estonian workers. After the World War I more and more countries guaranteed paid annual leave for their workers under pressure of trade unions. There was no strong trade union movement in Estonia; therefore, seven days paid leave was introduced in 1934 by the law as a result of rather external than internal social pressure. Law of 1934 guaranteed one week paid annual leave only for industrial workers. In this respect, Estonia was not exceptional among other member states of International Labour Organization (ILO), as there were few countries where paid leave was guaranteed for all employees by law or collective agreement. In the second half of the 1930s, many European countries extended not only workers’ rest periods including paid holidays but also expanded paid holidays for all types of workers to follow the requirements of the 1936 ILO Conventions and Recommendation on Holidays with Pay. The ILO standards on paid leave, as well as the impact of labour laws of Finland and other Scandinavian countries, were reflected in Estonia’s new law on paid leave of 1940, despite opposition from employers who considered the extension of paid holidays economically unrealistic. The new law guaranteed all employees working under an employment contract (except seasonal workers and seamen) the right to paid leave after one year of continuous service. The duration of the holiday depended on the length of the employment and was between one and two weeks. Introducing the statutory entitlement to seven day paid annual holiday in 1934 to industrial workers, extending the duration of holiday, and expanding it to wider category of workers in 1940, Estonia took a major step towards harmonizing its social policy with that of other, more progressive Member States of ILO. However, the law of employment contract did not include several categories of employees, the paid leave was not available for all Estonian workers. Paid holidays were very important for the improvement of workers’ health, but also for the improvement of their economic conditions and the quality of life, which in turn had a positive effect on productivity. Introduction of paid leave raised the question about the possibilities to spend the vocation time actively. Most of the Estonian workers spent their holidays in the home environment and continued to be engaged in traditional leisure activities such as playing in amateur theatre groups, attending concerts and theatre shows, going to the movies, reading books, listening to the radio, visiting relatives, participating in the activities of cultural and educational associations and enjoying vacation at the beach. Travelling or spending family vacation in holiday homes was an option for limited amount of Es¬tonian workers due to low income. However, the Estonian trade unions under the influence of Scandinavian organizations tried to build holiday homes and organize weekends in tourist farms and guest houses in the countryside away from the everyday environment.

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