At the same time, current law – the area is mostly covered by the Employment Contracts Act – does not contain clear rules regarding intern contracts, which means employers are not obligated to pay them, even as they may benefit from an intern's input and work.

At the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, for instance, gaining experience is considered more important than getting paid. Usually, however, students do not have time to work in another, paid job while completing their internship and studies.

Ulla Saar, Deputy Secretary General for Labor and Equality Policy at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, which itself takes on interns, said: "In Estonia, we have freedom of contract. Two people can agree to anything, within the confines of the law, so therefore we do not currently have a clearly defined legal regulation of internships. Universities, vocational schools, and students who wish or are required to undertake internships are free to interpret and agree on the content and the rights and obligations of the parties involved."

This means the onus is mostly on the intern to stand up for their rights themselves, Saar went on.

"People themselves should think. The Labor Inspectorate website has plenty of information on when work is being performed and when payment should be demanded. So a person has the right and the opportunity to stand up for themselves and to agree on the internship conditions."

Many ministries are active providers of internships. This does not mean simply making the coffee, and interns are often assigned real work assignments, under a supervisor. The ministries clearly state from the outset that interns are not usually remunerated.

Saar pointed out that the line between unpaid internships and working in the understanding of the Employment Contracts Act is a very thin one, and in the past, ministries have tended to forget that.

"They are there from nine to five, five days a week, doing exactly the same work as the next person. They produce things which get used, so then it is work. This should be paid proportionally and fairly," Saar continued.

At the same time, this is not monitored by any particular body in Estonia, while in many fields, internships are a mandatory part of studies, in which students must try out their knowledge in a real-life work environment.

This also benefits the hiring institution as well. Külliki Tafel-Viia, head of knowledge management at the economic affairs ministry, said: "We recently had a very good experience where someone from the economics field came to do an internship in economic analysis with our team of analysts. They worked there on analyzing companies based on business register data to determine what kind of company profile would indicate export potential."

In some areas of the private sector, for instance banking, there has been more scope for paying interns – in the case of Swedbank as much as €1,000-€1,500 gross per month, depending on the field.

Heleriin Adelbert, head of Swedbank's career center said: "We always provide real tasks that need to be done in the respective department. Naturally, there is a supervisor alongside them, but everything they do directly or indirectly affects the products or services we offer to clients, their provision, and development."

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