Investigative weekly Eesti Ekspress reported that the Kristiine district elder Renata Lukk (Eesti 200) had been engaged in remote work from that location.
Ossinovski told ERR that while the city supports remote working, in this case it had not been coordinated with him.

"And I certainly do not consider such long-term remote work from abroad reasonable in any way. I think that in such cases it would be reasonable for district elders to formally take leave. To my knowledge, as of today (July 17 – ed.) until July 24, the district elder [Lukk] is in fact on leave. To avoid this type of issue, I think that is entirely reasonable."

"Plus in the case of remote work, we still expect, especially in the case of managers, that it is not done long-term, from another country, but instead used as a flexible option for individual days," the mayor added.

Ossinovski plans to talk to Lukk about this. "I will speak with the district elder, since this information is new to me as well. And I will express the same view to her — that I believe in such cases it is reasonable to formally take leave," said Ossinovski.

Ossinovski stressed that he does not think Lukk had not contributed the full working hours required of her. "However, in public service, it is also important that things appear proper. And if someone is essentially on vacation, and posts vacation pictures from there, then I think that's what leave in public service is meant for."

Lukk herself stated in a social media post that she did indeed leave Estonia on June 30, aware that she would likely be losing her position as district elder in the following days – this was in the midst of a coalition split which saw the Reform Party briefly leave office.

Lukk said she took advantage of the five health days allocated per year to city employees, working remotely once those days were finished.

Additionally, the Kristiine district government building was at the time undergoing repair works relating to subsidence, Lukk added.

"Since the noise and disturbance from the repairs interfere with work, everyone affected has been given the go-ahead to work remotely, if the nature of the job allows for that. I am also using that option at the moment. The works are expected to last until the middle of next week," she continued.

Lukk said she worked on weekdays and only traveled in the jungles of Laos, the focus of some of her social media posts, at weekends.

Lukk added she has been accessible to all concerned since July 7, including holding meetings, approving invoices, signing documents and coordinating communication messages. "Work has not stopped, in fact, it has been quite active for the summer period," she added.

Lukk's partymate, Tallinn branch chief and deputy mayor Aleksei Jašin told ERR that since Lukk's work tasks have been fulfilled adequately, there is no issue in this case.

"Remote work has long been a reality in today's world. Renata Lukk has always carried out her duties conscientiously. This has been the case in recent weeks too. I will take the opportunity to praise my colleague, who is one of the hardest-working new-generation politicians I know personally," Jašin stated.

"The chaos created by the Reform Party and their populist election campaign in Tallinn forced us all to interrupt our vacations and resolve the problem they had caused," he added.

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