The act has recently been analyzed to see if it has stood the test of time. One belief is that the national language cannot be used everywhere in the country, and, in some places, it is difficult for employers to find a person who knows Estonian.

Kätlin Kõverik, chief expert of the language policy department of the Ministry of Education, told ERR that in recent years Estonia has become a destination for migration. More and more people are moving here, but language learning and finding a job do not always keep pace.

"So this is one of the bigger and more comprehensive problems, which we are trying to solve partly with the language law, but also much more broadly, so that employers have Estonian-speaking employees and on the other hand our Estonian people can speak Estonian everywhere," she said.

On Tuesday, the Riigikogu's Culture Committee discussed the plans. Chairwoman Heljo Pikhof (SDE) said the act's new amendments should ensure requirements to use Estonian language are met.

One problem is that the education system has not been able to prepare people to the required standard. There is also a shortage of workers and people are increasingly entering the labor market without knowledge of the Estonian language.

"If you look at the numbers, of those in employment today, there are about 43,000 workers who do not speak Estonian, and about 60 percent of them are in sectors where there are no direct language requirements," she pointed out.

One much-discussed subject is Bolt taxi drivers' low or non-existent knowledge of the Estonian language. Pikhof said a consensus has been reached with the transport service providers that the situation needs to improve.

However, as drivers are not technically employees, the service provider's conditions must be supplemented to introduce the language proficiency requirement.

"For example, Bolt has started to develop a language training program that rideshare drivers will have to complete to continue providing the service," she told ERR.

Additionally, it has been proposed that couriers speak Estonian at A1 level in the Common European Framework (CEF). This means a person should be able to communicate on a basic level if the customer speaks slowly and, if necessary, repeats or paraphrases what has been said. However, for such a requirement to be introduced, an A1 level test would need to be added to the exam system.

"The committee's discussion also revealed that the work dynamics of couriers are more about entering the labor market of the host country rather than staying in the sector for the long term. For example, in some of the countries where Wolt operates, couriers are employed for four to six weeks and then move on to other jobs," she said.

Pikhof noted that if language skills were checked already at the time of entry into the labor market, it would limit thousands of people from entering the labor market and significantly affect the economy in some sectors. It is therefore more appropriate to focus on influencing employers so that workers acquire the necessary language skills.

"There was also talk of employers themselves being prepared to regulate the situation through pay rises, so that language-skilled workers receive a higher salary, or support for time spent on language learning," she added, listing the possible options.

Additionally, the learner's responsibility must be increased and supervision must be increased and better targeted at more problematic sectors, the committee chairwoman said.

The Ministry of Education's Kätlin Kõverik said the problem can be solved by improving language learning, but the state must also stress it is important to meet the requirements. The new amendments seek to solve this issue.

Kõverik said the coercive measures currently included in the law – such as fines – are outdated and do not motivate people to learn the language.

"After all, today's coercive measures have been in force for 10 years without being changed, but average wages have doubled, so the coercive fines are so small that they do not even make you worry that if I don't speak Estonian and if I get inspected, it won't affect me," she explained.

Pikhof said the committee has discussed language issues many times. The most complaints are received about shopping center employees' poor language skills.

The Ministry of Education plans to complete the draft bill in the autumn.

--

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