Salary before the job interview: what changed in Estonia on 13 July 2026?

From 13 July 2026, employers in Estonia must inform job applicants of the pay offered or its range no later than before the first job interview. The information must be provided in a form that can be reproduced in writing.

This does not mean that the salary must necessarily be disclosed in every job advertisement. The employer may include the salary in the advertisement or send it to the candidate separately, for example by email or SMS. It is important that the candidate receive the information before the interview and sufficiently early to have time to prepare for salary negotiations.

From the same date, there is an explicit prohibition on asking candidates about their current or previous salary. Employers must also not prevent employees from disclosing their salary.

The changes result from amendments to the Employment Contracts Act, through which Estonia transposed some of the requirements of the European Union Pay Transparency Directive. Riigikogu adopted the law on 17 June 2026, and the new requirements entered into force on 13 July 2026.

What changed for the employer?

Under the new requirements, the employer must:

• inform the candidate before the job interview of the salary or salary range offered;
• provide the information in a form that can be reproduced in writing;
• not ask about the candidate's current or previous pay;
• not prevent an employee from disclosing their salary;
• ensure equal pay for women and men for the same work or work of equal value, unless there are objective and gender-neutral reasons for differences in pay.

The most important practical change concerns recruitment. The candidate must receive salary information before the interview, not during or after it.

Must the salary be included in the job advertisement?

No, the law does not require the salary to be published in the job advertisement.

The employer has two main options:

1. disclose the salary or salary range directly in the job advertisement;
2. send salary information separately to candidates invited to a job interview.

If the remuneration has already been disclosed in the advertisement, the candidate has received the required information.

If salary information is not included in the job advertisement, the employer must send it before the interview to every candidate invited to an interview.

According to the explanation by Majandus- ja Kommunikatsiooniministeerium, suitable ways of providing information include:

• email;
• SMS;
• another written message that can be retained;
• a job advertisement that discloses the salary or salary range.

It is not sufficient to state the amount only by telephone or verbally at the beginning of the job interview.

How early must salary information be sent to the candidate?

The law does not specify an exact number of hours or days.

According to the official explanation, the information must be provided sufficiently early to allow the candidate to prepare for salary negotiations before the interview.

Therefore, it is not advisable to send salary information a few minutes before the interview begins. It is safer to include it in the interview invitation or send a separate message immediately after agreeing on the interview time.

Näiteks:

Hello!

Thank you for your interest in our job offer. Before the job interview, we would like to inform you that the basic salary offered for the position is 2000–2400 euros gross per month for full-time work. The final pay depends on the candidate's work experience, qualifications and the scope of responsibilities associated with the position.

What should the salary range be?

The employer may state:

• the specific salary;
• a realistic salary range.

According to the official explanation, the range must be based on the base salary for the position offered and reflect the employer’s actual willingness to pay for that position.

Suitable example

The basic salary is 1900–2300 euros gross per month. The final remuneration depends on the candidate's experience, qualifications, and level of responsibility.

Insufficient example

Competitive remuneration by agreement.

Such wording does not disclose a specific amount or range and does not fulfil the obligation to provide pay information.

Unclear example

Salary starting from 1500 euros.

This wording discloses the lower limit but does not show the employer's actual salary range. For clarity, it is better to specify both the lower and upper limits.

Risky example

Salary 1200–5000 euros.

A very broad range may raise questions about whether it is actually realistic. The employer should be able to justify the objective conditions under which the basic salary for the same position may vary to such an extent.

What should you write about salary in a job advertisement?

The law requires the salary or salary range to be disclosed but does not list all the details that must accompany the salary information.

To avoid misunderstandings, it is advisable to specify in the job advertisement or in the letter sent to the candidate:

• whether it is a monthly or hourly wage;
• whether the amount is gross or net;
• whether the salary applies to full-time or part-time work;
• which part of the salary is guaranteed;
• what additional payments or bonuses may be added;
• the criteria used to determine the final pay.

These details are not all separate mandatory elements required by law, but they make the offer easier for the candidate to understand.

Example of a correct salary section

Salary: 2000–2400 euros gross per month for full-time work.
The final base salary depends on the candidate’s work experience, qualifications, and level of responsibility. In addition, a quarterly bonus may be paid based on the achievement of agreed results.

Must bonuses and additional remuneration be disclosed?

As a general rule, the disclosed salary or range must be based on the base salary for the position.

The employer may provide information about additional remuneration, rewards, and bonuses, but disclosing these voluntary payments is generally not mandatory.

If additional remuneration terms arising from a collective agreement apply to the specific position, the candidate must also be informed of them.

The guaranteed basic salary and any potential variable pay should always be stated separately.

Clear wording

The base salary is 2000–2300 euros gross per month. In addition, a quarterly bonus of up to 15% may be paid, depending on the achievement of agreed results.

Misleading wording

Opportunity to earn up to 3000 euros per month.

If the guaranteed base salary is actually 1700 euros and the remaining amount depends on sales or bonuses, such a statement does not give the candidate a clear overview of the base salary.

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Can a candidate be asked about their previous salary?

No.

The employer may not ask about the candidate's current or previous pay.

For example, the following questions are prohibited:

• How much do you currently earn?
• What was your salary in your previous job?
• How much did your previous employer pay you?
• Can you provide a previous payslip?
• Can you show your previous employment contract?
• How much higher is our offer than your current pay?

The purpose of the prohibition is to prevent a candidate's previous lower salary from influencing their future remuneration.

The remuneration for a new position should be based on the nature of the work offered, the level of responsibility, the skills required, and the company's pay structure, not on the candidate's previous income.

Can a candidate be asked about their salary expectations?

The legislative amendment expressly prohibits asking about the candidate's current and previous pay. The amendment does not specifically address asking about the candidate's salary expectations.

Therefore, the following question is not permitted:

What pay do you expect for this position?

the same as asking about the candidate's previous salary.

However, this does not exempt the employer from the obligation to disclose the salary offered or its range before the job interview.

The employer should not ask about the candidate's salary expectations in order to conceal its actual budget or formulate an offer solely on the basis of the candidate's response.

The most transparent sequence is as follows:

1. the employer states the amount or range offered;
2. the candidate assesses whether the terms suit them;
3. the parties discuss the salary in more detail if necessary.

Can an employee discuss their own pay?

Yes.

An employer may not prevent an employee from disclosing their pay. Both explicit contractual terms and other restrictions that prevent an employee from discussing their pay may be prohibited.

For example, an employment contract should not contain a condition prohibiting an employee from disclosing their salary to colleagues or other people.

The amendment concerns the employee's right to discuss their own pay.

This does not give an employee the right to disclose other employees' personal data or confidential salary information to which they have gained access through their work duties.

The employer should review:

• employment contracts;
• annexes to the employment contract;
• internal rules;
• confidentiality agreements;
• personnel policy documents.

If any document prohibits an employee from disclosing their salary, this condition must be reviewed.

Must everyone doing the same work receive exactly the same salary?

Not necessarily.

The employer must pay women and men equal pay for the same work or work of equal value. Differences in pay may be permitted if there are objective, gender-neutral reasons for them.

Such reasons may include, for example:

• different work experience;
• qualifications;
• scope of responsibility;
• complexity of work tasks;
• working conditions;
• proven work performance;
• additional skills or duties.

The employer must be able to justify why one employee's salary is at the lower end of the salary range and another employee's salary is at the upper end.

The justification should not be based on the employee's gender or any other discriminatory factor.

The principle of equal pay already applied in Estonia under the Gender Equality Act. It has now also been added to the Employment Contracts Act to improve legal clarity.

What mistakes can employers make?

1. Salary information is only provided during the job interview

That is too late. The candidate must be informed of the pay or pay range before the interview.

2. Salary is disclosed only by telephone

The information must be provided in a form that can be reproduced in writing. Suitable methods include, for example, email, SMS, or publishing salary information in the job advertisement.

3. The job advertisement only states “salary by agreement”

This wording does not disclose the amount or range of remuneration.

4. An unrealistically wide range is disclosed

The pay range must be based on the actual basic pay for the position.

5. Guaranteed pay and a potential bonus are combined

The candidate must be able to understand which part of the remuneration is fixed and which part depends on results.

6. The candidate is asked about their previous salary

It is prohibited to ask about both current and previous salary. Attempts should not be made to circumvent this prohibition by requesting an old employment contract or payslip.

7. The employment contract retains a ban on discussing pay

An employer must not prevent an employee from disclosing their salary.

8. There is no proof that the salary information was sent

In practice, it is advisable to retain the job advertisement, sent email or SMS showing when and what information was provided to the candidate.

The obligation to retain evidence is not separately identified as a new requirement in the official explanation, but it helps demonstrate in the event of a dispute that salary information was provided before the job interview.

9. Pay information is sent immediately before the interview

The law does not specify a fixed notice period, but the candidate must have time to prepare for negotiations.

10. It is assumed that salary information need only be provided after the first interview

In practice, the candidate must be informed of the salary or salary range no later than before the first job interview.

What should the employer do now?

The simplest solution is to disclose a realistic salary or salary range in the job advertisement.

Although the law also allows salary information to be sent separately, publishing it in the job advertisement reduces extra work and helps avoid situations where the information is inadvertently not provided to a candidate before the interview.

Before publishing a new job advertisement, it is worth:

1. determine the actual base salary for the position or a realistic range;
2. decide which objective criteria will be used to determine the final amount;
3. distinguish the basic salary from bonuses and other additional remuneration;
4. indicate the workload to which the amount applies;
5. specify whether the amount is gross or net;
6. remove questions about previous and current salary from application forms;
7. review the salary confidentiality clauses in employment contracts;
8. establish a clear process for sending pay information to candidates;
9. retain a copy of the salary information sent;
10. use consistent and gender-neutral principles when assessing candidates for the same position.

Sample message before a job interview

Hello!

Thank you for your interest in our job offer. Before the job interview, we would like to inform you that the base salary offered for the position is 2000–2400 euros gross per month for full-time work.

The final salary is determined based on the candidate's work experience, qualifications and the scope of responsibilities associated with the position. In addition, a quarterly bonus of up to 10% may be earned based on the achievement of the agreed results.

Please confirm whether the described terms generally meet your expectations.

Which requirements of the directive have not yet taken effect?

At this stage, Estonia has transposed only some of the requirements of the European Union Pay Transparency Directive.

Not all of the more extensive obligations planned for employers have yet been implemented, including:

• an obligation to create a detailed salary structure;
• making all remuneration criteria available to employees;
• the obligation to provide information, at the employee's request, on the average salaries of women and men performing work of equal value;
• regular gender pay gap reporting by larger employers;
• in certain cases, a mandatory joint pay assessment, or pay audit.

This means that not all obligations described in the directive became mandatory in Estonia at once on 13 July 2026.

Nor will the salaries of individual employees automatically become public. Employees can decide for themselves whether they wish to disclose their pay.

Frequently asked questions

Does the salary now have to be stated in every job advertisement?

No. Salary information may be disclosed in the job advertisement or sent separately to the candidate before the job interview in a form that can be reproduced in writing.

Can salary information be sent with the invitation to a job interview?

Yes. An email or SMS is acceptable if the candidate receives the information sufficiently in advance of the interview.

Is it acceptable to state only a salary range?

Yes. The range must be realistic and based on the basic salary for the position offered.

Can you write “salary by agreement”?

That alone is not sufficient because the candidate cannot determine the specific salary or its range.

Can a candidate be asked about their current salary?

No. Asking about both current and previous salary is prohibited.

Can a candidate be asked about their salary expectations?

The legislative amendment does not specifically address asking about salary expectations. This does not relieve the employer of the obligation to disclose the salary offered or its range before the job interview.

Do bonuses have to be disclosed?

Voluntary additional payments and bonuses may be disclosed but generally do not have to be. Information must be provided about any additional remuneration terms arising from a collective agreement.

Can an employee discuss their own pay?

Yes. An employer may not prevent an employee from disclosing their salary.

Must all employees with the same job title be paid the same salary?

Not necessarily. Differences may be permitted if they are based on objective and gender-neutral reasons.

Summary

From 13 July 2026, employers in Estonia must inform candidates of the salary offered or a realistic salary range before the first job interview.

The salary does not necessarily have to be included in the job advertisement, but the information must be provided in a form that can be reproduced in writing, such as by email or SMS. The candidate must be given sufficient time to prepare for salary negotiations.

An employer must not ask about a candidate’s current or previous salary. Nor may an employee be prevented from discussing their salary.

The safest solution for a business is to disclose the salary range in the job advertisement, distinguish the base salary from potential bonuses, and review application forms, interview questions and confidentiality clauses in employment contracts.

Are you looking for employees or business partners in Estonia?

On Easyfind, you can publish job advertisements, search for employees and business partners, and present your company, all in one place.

A detailed description, photos, a video, a PDF file, company information and the contact details needed to get in touch quickly can be added to the advertisement. This gives candidates an immediate overview of both the job offer and the company.

Easyfind helps the company remain visible beyond social media news feeds and makes the job offer easier for people to find.

This article is for informational purposes and does not replace personalised legal advice. In a complex or disputed situation, it is advisable to consult an employment law specialist.

Ametlikud allikad

• Majandus- ja Kommunikatsiooniministeerium: pay transparency
• Riigi Teataja: töölepingu seaduse muutmise ja sellega seonduvalt teiste seaduste muutmise seadus
• Riigi Teataja: current Employment Contracts Act
• Majandus- ja Kommunikatsiooniministeerium: salary information will become more visible to job applicants
• Majandus- ja Kommunikatsiooniministeerium: the European Union Pay Transparency Directive and its implementation in Estonia

Sources checked on 18 July 2026.