On Wednesday, Minister of Economic Affairs Erkki Keldo (Reform) signed a draft amendment to the Employment Contracts Act, which incorporates changes adopted during the consultation round.

The draft initially sought to grant a new alcohol handling exemption to minors. In practice, this would have given those aged 16 and over the legal right to prepare alcoholic cocktails for customers while working in service establishments. However, the newly updated draft no longer contains that provision.

"The proposed amendment to the Alcohol Act, which sought to allow minors aged 16 and over to be employed in work related to the preparation, offering for sale and sale of alcoholic beverages, there was a lot of negative feedback. Therefore, the amendment has been removed from the draft," states the document containing proposals received by the ministry.

Minister of Economic Affairs Erkki Keldo told ERR that the thinking behind the initial proposal was that it would give young people more opportunities to gain work experience, while also reducing bureaucracy for employers.

"The initial proposal was (based in the idea) that if a young person gets their first job at a café, for example, at present, they are not allowed by law to collect beer glasses or serve alcohol. As we were unable to reach an agreement with the Ministry of Social Affairs, in order not to violate the law, we have removed this specific point concerning the handling of alcohol and also proposed that the Riigikogu discuss whether this additional amendment is necessary," said Keldo.

Keldo was clear that promoting alcohol consumption for young people is certainly not acceptable. However, for many young people, their first job is in a summer café or restaurant, especially in smaller towns. In many cases, if they cannot work there, they will not gain any work experience at all.

"As a country, we should not over-regulate; we should give the decision-making power to children and parents," said Keldo, emphasizing that even after the change in the law, young people are still required to obtain their parents' consent in order to work.

The minister added that he believes young people aged 16 and over ought to be given more opportunities to gain their first positive experience of employment.

---

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!