Visiting Researcher's Guide - EURAXESS Estonia

6.5 Unemployment insurance
Unemployment insurance is a compulsory
insurance that is collected to pay benefits
to employees in the event of unemployment.
As of 1 January 2006 all employees pay 0.6%
of their earnings and employers pay 0.3% of
the payroll for unemployment insurance. Unemployment
insurance is withheld from the
employees’ salary automatically. Persons
who are old enough to receive an old age
pension do not have to pay unemployment
insurance.
Unemployment insurance benefits are paid
to legal residents of the EU. To receive an
unemployment insurance benefit, unemployment
insurance contributions must have
been paid for at least 12 months during the
two previous years.
A legal resident of the EU has the right to
apply for an unemployment insurance benefit
from the country where he or she last
worked and paid taxes. The period of time
that a person has worked and paid unem-
Further information on unemployment
insurance is available on the web site of the
Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund
http://www.tootukassa.ee/
Information on the Estonian Labour Market
Board and its services is available at
http://www.tta.ee/
SOCIAL SECURITY
ployment insurance contributions in other
EU countries is considered when deciding
whether and how long a person is entitled
to receive the unemployment insurance benefit.
The sum of the benefit paid by Estonia is
calculated on the basis of the wages earned
in Estonia.
An unemployed person should register him/
herself at an employment office in order to
receive the unemployment benefit. Unemployment
insurance benefits are paid by the
Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund.
Those who are not entitled to receive unemployment
insurance benefits, or who have received
unemployment benefits for the maximum
period but have not found a job during
that time, are entitled to receive the state
unemployment benefit. In the latter case the
benefits are paid for up to 270 days.
state unemployment benefits are paid by
the Estonian labour Market Board’s employment
offices.
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