Employment register gets new co-controllers; inspectorate gains fining powers

The employment register (töötamise register) has two new hands on itRiigiteataja, and employers will feel both. The amendments to the Maksukorralduse seadus replace the old circle of authorised processors with four co-controllers (kaasvastutavad töötlejad)Riigiteataja: the Maksu- ja Tolliamet, the Tööinspektsioon, the Eesti Töötukassa and now the SotsiaalkindlustusametRiigiteataja. The register itself continues to serve the tasks of those bodies plus the Tervisekassa, the Rahapesu Andmebüroo and the Politsei- ja Piirivalveamet.

The Sotsiaalkindlustusamet arrives with a concrete job. It may enter suspensions of employment for maternity and paternity leave (ema- ja isapuhkus) on the basis of the agreement or administrative act in § 25⁵(1)Riigiteataja, and a new § 25²(2¹) obliges it to register the suspension of § 25¹(4) persons' employment in connection with ema- or isapuhkusRiigiteataja. That person circle is wide — employees, contractors other than sole proprietors, management and supervisory board members, officials and others whose Estonian employment creates a tax liability — and employers remain obliged to register starts, suspensions, cessations and their typeRiigiteataja, with starts recorded no later than the moment work begins and suspensions and cessations within ten days.

The Tööinspektsioon becomes an enforcement authority over the registerRiigiteataja. Where a person enabling work has failed to register the start of employment by the § 25²(3) deadline or the cessation by the § 25²(4) deadlineRiigiteataja, either the Maksu- ja Tolliamet or the Tööinspektsioon may now set an additional deadline and warn under § 136 that a penalty payment (sunniraha) will followRiigiteataja; the payment order itself is issued neutrally by whichever authority acts, with enforcement under §§ 128–132. A new § 25⁸(4) gives the Inspectorate explicit competence to supervise registration compliance in the course of its supervision under the Töölepingu seadus and the Töötervishoiu ja tööohutuse seadusRiigiteataja. The penalty caps do not move: 3,300 euros in totalRiigiteataja, at most 1,300 the first timeRiigiteataja and 2,000 the secondRiigiteataja.

Construction reporting gets the same treatment. The Maksu- ja Tolliamet and the Tööinspektsioon are now named co-controllers of the subcontracting-chain and employment-duration database (§ 25¹⁰)Riigiteataja, which collects data on the building under construction, the works, the client, subcontractors and persons present on site for works expected to exceed 30 working days with at least 20 persons present at once, or 500 person-daysRiigiteataja. Where a main or other construction contractor misses its § 25¹¹ or § 25¹² duties, either authority may set the additional deadline and warningRiigiteataja, and the Inspectorate may supervise construction-data submission in the course of its labour-law supervision (§ 25¹⁵(4))Riigiteataja.

Legal basis: Maksukorralduse seadus §§ 25¹, 25², 25⁸, 25¹⁰ ja 25¹⁵ muudetud kujul.