A reasonable solution for all parties
The purpose of TEIS is simple – to reduce the time spent on administration and document exchange because the necessary information can be accessed and managed in the system at any time. TEIS provides an overview of what the state expects from employers. In the self-service of the Labour Inspectorate, you can provide and submit the necessary information about employees and the working environment, plan activities to mitigate risks present in the working environment, and during supervision proceedings engage in quick, convenient and paperless communication with a labour inspector.
Each employee can also log in to the self-service and access information related to their or their representative’s working life, view information on the working environment provided by their employer and take part in proceedings related to them.
The self-service environment is under development and additional features are constantly being added. The following is an overview of the services currently available and usable in the self-service.
In the TEIS self-service, you can submit data about working environment representatives. Pursuant to law, the Labour Inspectorate must be notified of the election and appointment of representatives. In the self-service, this can be done conveniently and quickly.
Appointed representatives are:
- working environment specialist;
- working environment representative;
- working environment council members;
- first aid provider;
- trustee.
If any of the above are an employee of the company, they can be conveniently added from the list of employees, for which the system receives data from the employment register. It is also possible to add an external contact, using their name and personal identification code. We also recommend adding the person’s authorisation period and contact details (phone number, email address) to make communication as efficient as possible. After giving a person a role, you can also associate a place of business with them (eg they are a first aid provider in the company’s branch in Tallinn, but the Tartu branch has appointed another person).
Additionally, in the representatives section, you can also assign persons to the other authorised person role. The privileges of this role are similar to the right of representation of the business register, and such privileges also belong to persons with the working environment specialist role. The role allows them to see information about the company, including information related to supervision proceedings. You can also submit information, edit existing information, participate in proceedings etc. Other roles generally have viewing privileges, which have various restrictions depending on the role. As an exception, the accidents and illnesses module is visible only to persons with the right of representation, working environment specialists and, with limitations, to working environment representatives and trustees. Persons with the other authorised person role cannot see information about occupational accidents and illnesses.
The purpose of the Labour Inspectorate’s supervision is to prevent occupational accidents and promote the creation of a safe and healthy working environment. The process of supervision proceedings necessitates close collaboration and communication between the labour inspector and the employer’s representative Self-service now makes this faster, easier and with less administrative burden than before.
Using TEIS, supervision can be carried out in two ways – contactless via the self-service and by visiting the company. Contactless document-based supervision is exercised in particular on compliance with the requirements of employment legislation, with the aim of raising employers’ awareness of the legal framework.
When organising supervision, the inspector plans the time of the inspection, the subjects to be inspected and the documents they want to examine. The employer can upload the requested documents in the self-service even before the supervision. This allows the inspector to examine them in advance, thus reducing the time spent on site at the company.
When carrying out supervision, the inspector can see the company’s information on their smart device. They can also use the smart device to take a picture of a dangerous situation and upload it to the information system, where it is immediately visible to the employer. Once the hazard has been eliminated, a picture of the solution can also be uploaded to the system for the inspector to see. This makes reporting the elimination of hazards quicker and simpler and non-compliance notifications easy to see.
All proceedings also include a chat window where the inspector of the Labour Inspectorate and the employer can conveniently and securely communicate and exchange information and, if necessary, send files concerning the proceedings or conclude cooperation agreements. For example, if the employer needs more time than initially set to rectify a deficiency, they can inform the inspector via the chat window and mutually agree on a new deadline.
The Labour Inspectorate carries out comprehensive supervision of transport companies, during which it verifies compliance with the conditions set out in the Occupational Health and Safety Act, the Employment Contracts Act, the Road Transport Act, the Public Transport Act and the organisation of working, driving and rest time of drivers.
The supervision of transport companies is carried out in the self-service similarly to other types of supervision, with the same convenient options for the submission of documents in advance, proving the rectification of deficiencies, using the chat window etc. However, we have developed a separate functionality to verify compliance with the working and rest time requirements of drivers, as this requires the processing and management of slightly more specific data than the so-called standard supervision.
Employers can conveniently upload tachograph files in .DDD format via the self-service, which the inspector will enter into the Tachoscan programme and from there to the supervision proceedings in TEIS. Any anomalies detected by the system are conveniently displayed in the driver supervision window for each driver and article, and it is also more convenient for employers to justify them via the self-service, or to attach files or other materials.
The service also includes automatic X-tee interfaces to the traffic supervision information system and the motor register.
From 1 September 2021 employers are required to upload all valid working environment risk assessments and action plans to TEIS.
If the company has not yet carried out a risk assessment, it can be conveniently done in the self-service. The risk assessment module outlines various hazards and measures to prevent and reduce specific risks, from general problems in the working environment to industry-specific hazards. The risk assessment tool helps raise the awareness of companies of the working environment and associated risks, and makes it possible to offer companies the help, decision-making support and feedback required to improve the working environment and make it safer. Identifying hazards with the self-service tool is based on the NO/YES method – ie the person preparing the risk assessment has to assess whether the described hazard is present in the organisation or not. If the answer is ‘yes’, the corresponding measures that can prevent or mitigate the specific hazard are displayed – again, you have to decide whether the measure is already in place or not.
In the action plan preparation stage, you can add future measures and actions. The prepared action plan is displayed to the company in a separate ‘action plan’ panel. The action plan is by nature a so-called living plan, to which employers can add planned actions independently of the risk assessment. You can also add persons responsible and deadlines to the actions, as well as indicate their status (pending or completed).
Risk assessments are accessible only by company representatives and employees.
In the accidents and illnesses module, representatives of the employer (board members, working environment specialists) can register occupational accidents easily and quickly. Submitting the data also fulfils the obligation to notify the Labour Inspectorate of the accident. In addition, employers can submit their investigation results in the self-service, and if the Labour Inspectorate also decides to conduct an investigation, they can exchange information quickly and easily.
Private persons can access their cases, communicate with the inspector, participate in the investigation of the case, and submit documents by logging in to the self-service using their private account instead of the employer’s account.
The Labour Inspectorate may receive information about an occupational accident before the employer notifies us – in this case we register the accident ourselves and send the information to the employer.
Unlike occupational accidents, occupational diseases are registered by the Labour Inspectorate, who then notifies the employer. In such cases, employers involved in the case are required to submit a report. While in the case of occupational accidents, this can be done in the self-service by filling in the required fields, occupational diseases require you to fill in a form, upload it to the Working Life Information System and submit it to the Labour Inspectorate.
The service uses automated X-road interfaces with the employment register, population register and Health Insurance Fund, which streamlines the entire process and simplifies it for both officials of the Labour Inspectorate and employers. Data already available in other registers need not be entered additionally.
The minors module allows parents to be more involved in and aware of their child’s working conditions and give or withdraw consent to their child’s employment. In the case of employees aged 7–12 years, employers are required to submit additional information to the Labour Inspectorate via the self-service (iseteenindus.ti.ee) about the employment of a minor (except if they are working under the Law of Obligations Act or for free).
The self-service is used to send automated notifications to both employers and parents, which include the necessary information and instructions to simplify finding information and meeting legal obligations.
The process begins with an entry made by the employer in the employment register about the company employing a young person.
The employment of a minor aged 7–12 years must be entered into the employment register 10 working days before they commence work, after which the Labour Inspectorate verifies (except if they are working under the Law of Obligations Act or for free) within 10 working days that the work is not prohibited and that the minor’s working conditions comply with the requirements established by law.
Once the entry regarding the employment of a minor has been made, the employer must enter additional information into TEIS, where they can also use a chat window to conveniently communicate with the Labour Inspectorate. Entering additional information into the employment register is no longer necessary. A day after the employment register entry, the system will automatically send the employer an email to the email address in the business register with additional information and instructions to submit data in the self-service of the Labour Inspectorate. The email will also be sent to the working environment specialist (if they have been appointed in the self-service). In the self-service, the employer’s desktop now has a corresponding task to submit information. The task allows the employer to easily find the relevant case involving a minor that needs to be supplemented.
In the self-service platform, the employer must provide:
- the consent of the legal representative of the minor;
- formal data on the minor’s working conditions, including their working time and duties, and the details of the employer’s contact person; and
- information about the minor’s compulsory school attendance.
In the case of minors aged 13–17 years, the employment register entry must be made on the first working day at the latest. Submitting additional data in the self-service of the Labour Inspectorate is not necessary. In addition, the self-service sends informative emails to the employer with the necessary information and instructions to simplify finding information and meeting legal obligations.
When employing a minor, it is necessary to seek the consent of their legal representative (generally a parent).
Parents whose minor child starts working can see information about their child’s working conditions in TEIS and give or withdraw their consent to the employment of their minor child. Module allows parents to be more involved in the employment process and provides an overview of which work the child is going to do and whether it is feasible and safe for them. Parents also receive an informative email from the self-service, which includes information related to the employment of minors with the necessary references.
More information about the working conditions of minors is available through the Working Life Portal.
Logging into the system
You are most likely using an outdated browser. If you are using Internet Explorer, you will get an error because Internet Explorer is outdated and should no longer be used (even the developer Microsoft does not support it anymore). We recommend that you access the self-service environment with a Google Chrome or Safari browser.
You can log in using your ID card, Mobile-ID or Smart-ID. In the case of foreign nationals, the possibility to log in depends on whether they are registered as an employee in an Estonian enterprise and whether they have an Estonian Smart-ID or are an e-resident and have all the corresponding certificates that they can use to log in with an ID card or Mobile-ID.
Only enterprises entered in the Estonian commercial register can use the self-service. In the future, if we can access the data of foreign commercial registers, it is possible that foreign enterprises will be able to use the self-service environment of the Labour Inspectorate while they are operating in Estonia. This will depend on whether their home country has joined the EU-wide identification service eIDAS or not.
Authorisation
Yes, in extraordinary circumstances, the Labour Inspectorate is allowed to assist enterprises in granting authorisation if the Labour Inspectorate can verify the existence of the right of authorisation, for example, from the commercial register or a separate document.
Yes, similarly to a member of the management board, the working environment specialist has the right to grant authorisation.
In that case, the Labour Inspectorate enters the necessary data via the official application but will continue to redirect the employer to use the self-service with subsequent letters.
Operations of the enterprise in the TEIS self-service available since 2021
The address in the commercial register is the contact address by default, however additional addresses and specifications can be added (e.g. for warehouses).
Yes, the self-service displays a notification that the information is taken from the commercial register and, if it is incorrect, it can be changed in the CR (a reference to the CR is displayed).
You can appoint an employee of your company (i.e. a person who has been entered in the employment register as an employee of the enterprise) to be a representative. If you wish to appoint an external employee to be, for instance, the working environment specialist, first aid provider or trustee, select the option ‘other person’ when adding the person. If it is the enterprise’s own employee but the self-service is not displaying that employee, then it may be because it is a large company and it takes longer than normal to load the list of employees. Please try again in a few moments.
The roles of the member of the management board, working environment specialist and other authorised persons have equal rights in the self-service, including the right to assign another role to a person. Other roles (working environment representative, trustee, member of the working environment council, provider of first aid) have fewer rights.
An employer can carry out the following operations in the self-service environment: enterprises can appoint the right people to the roles of occupational health and safety (working environment specialist, working environment representative, members of the working environment council, trustee, provider of first aid). By entering the data of the working environment specialist and working environment representative, the reporting obligation resulting from the OHSA is also fulfilled. In addition, the following operations can be carried out: submission of the risk assessment file and its preparation with the risk assessment tool, adding the places of business. If supervision proceedings have been commenced against the enterprise, all data exchange and communication between the party to the proceeding and the Labour Inspectorate will take place in the self-service.
In accordance with subsections 134 (6) and (7) of the OHSA, the employer must prepare the risk assessment in the working environment database or send it to the Labour Inspectorate in a format which can be reproduced in writing. Employers are required to submit a valid risk assessment of the working environment prepared before 1 March 2021 to the working environment database or send it to the Labour Inspectorate by no later than 1 September 2021.
There are no other legal obligations.
If you have any questions or experience issues while using the self-service, you can reach us at 640 6000 or you can write to us at [email protected]
Supervision
You can see the time and place of inspection on the desktop of the self-service. One of our labour inspectors will conduct the inspection. If you wish to communicate with the inspector prior to the inspection, please do so via the self-service chat window.
It is probably because you do not have the required rights. All employees of the enterprise can log into the self-service; however, only the working environment specialist, a member of the management board, or another authorised person will have access to information related to supervision. Click on ‘Representatives’ in the left menu and check whether you have been assigned the role of the working environment specialist or another authorised person. If you can see yourself there, you should be able to access the supervision information. If you cannot find yourself, a member of the management board (private company) or a person with right of representation (state or local government authority) can grant you user rights. They should log in and assign you the role of a working environment specialist or another authorised person. If a working environment specialist has been appointed, they already have access to the supervision data.
Risk assessment
No, the use of the risk assessment tool of the TEIS self-service is not mandatory. We find that small- and medium-sized enterprises can benefit most from using this tool. It is still possible to continue preparing the risk assessment in the present form and to upload the prepared risk assessment file to TEIS. Employers are required to submit a valid risk assessment of the working environment prepared before 1 March 2021 to the working environment database or send it to the Labour Inspectorate by no later than 1 September 2021. In the future, all risk assessments of the working environment will either be prepared or available in TEIS.
Currently, we have prepared and added to the system the fields of activity where the most enterprises operate. We are continuously adding more fields of activity to the system. If you cannot find your enterprise’s field of activity but would like to use the risk assessment tool of TEIS, please contact the Labour Inspectorate and let us know!
Currently, only one business type (i.e. field of activity) can be selected in the tool for the risk assessment. If there are more activities, it would be reasonable to conduct separate risk assessments for them. This approach helps to keep the assessment and management of risks in different environments separate and provides a clearer picture of the situation. However, if you wish to prepare a joint risk assessment document, it is possible to manually add more hazards to the risk assessment started with one business type as well as write them down in free format. The enterprise can determine for themselves which approach is the best and what the most convenient way to use the risk assessment and action plan is. In the near future, we are planning to provide the opportunity to select the main business type (i.e. field of activity) in the system along with its most probable activities. Additionally, you can contact the Labour Inspectorate and request that they add an activity that is important to you to the specific business type. The Labour Inspectorate will definitely take these wishes into consideration wherever possible.
In this case, the submitted risk assessment data can be used to start preparing the new risk assessment. The data from the previously submitted risk assessment is available and only the data regarding the new situation should be updated. To do this, open the submitted risk assessment and on the right click on the button with three dots ‘Operations’ -> ‘Create new’ – now you can start preparing the new risk assessment which includes the data from the previously submitted risk assessment. If the previous risk assessment is no longer appropriate, it can be archived and subsequently restored if necessary.
Yes, of course there is. Firstly, you should read this FAQ section or frequently asked questions page and the referenced instructions for the self-service. If you did not find an answer to your problem here, then Mon-Thur from 09.00 to 16.30 and on Fridays to 15.00 you can call the information line (+372) 640 6000. Alternatively, you can send an e-mail to [email protected].
You can change the risk assessment title once you have started the risk assessment and selected the business type, however this can only be done before submitting the risk assessment to the Labour Inspectorate. To change the default title provided by the system, move the cursor near the risk assessment title -> click the pen icon -> a text input box opens -> type the desired risk assessment title in the box.
The Occupational Health and Safety Act does not specify the volume or part to which the risk assessment prepared by the employer should be uploaded to the working environment database and no exceptions are provided. However, considering the objective of uploading the risk assessment of the working environment, the Labour Inspectorate expects that if the risk assessment has been prepared on an employee basis (e.g. due to teleworking or based on the needs of the employee), then based on the principle of personal data protection, the employer has two options: 1. to upload to the working environment database a general risk assessment of the working environment which reflects the company’s working environment hazards and their parameters where necessary, and includes an overall risk assessment of the effect of each hazard on the health and safety of an employee, with reference to the individual occupation or position based risk assessment and its location, or 2. to upload an occupation- or position-based risk assessment with processed personal data, taking into account the fact that all employees of the enterprise have access to the risk assessment in the TEIS self-service environment, thus removing all personal data before uploading.
The risk assessment includes an action plan designating the measures applied in all fields of activity and at all management levels of the enterprise to prevent or reduce employees’ health risks, and a schedule for applying such measures and executors thereof. The employer allocates the necessary resources for carrying out the action plan (subsection 134 (2) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act). In other words, the action plan is part of the risk assessment and should also be uploaded. The risk assessment identifies the areas that need to be improved in the working environment and the action plan sets out how to tackle the problems. Both are necessary to improve the working environment.
We kindly ask you to upload the risk assessment of the working environment to the Working Life information system in Estonian. Pursuant to subsection 10 (1) of the Language Act, the language of public administration in state agencies and local government authorities is Estonian. Pursuant to subsection 12 (1) of the same Act, if an application, request or other document submitted to a state agency or local government authority is in a foreign language, the agency has the right to require the person who submits the document to submit the translation of the document into Estonian. In order to ensure that instructions, including the risk assessment, are understandable to employees, it may be necessary to translate the instructions and risk assessment into a language they understand or to compile them in another language. Written translation should be preferred to interpretation because, in the case of interpretation, a dispute may arise whether all the information was translated or not. It is not necessary to submit a risk assessment translated into another language or prepared in another language to the self-service environment of the Labour Inspectorate; however, pursuant to section 134 of the OHSA, the employer is required to submit the Estonian version of that risk assessment to the Labour Inspectorate.
Last updated: 06.09.2023