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Most annual reports have by now been submitted and the Commercial Register is now checking whether companies’ equity meets the minimum net assets requirement arising from legislation. What does this mean for companies?

Kristel Tiits, a long-term employee of our company and Head of Legal, became a Partner of Grant Thornton Baltic. In total, we now have seven partners in Estonia and 15 in the Baltics.

The Commercial Register Act will enter into force in three stages: the general date of entry into force is 1 February 2023, but the amendments concerning the maintenance of a list of shareholders and a list of building association members will enter into force on 1 September 2023, while the amendments concerning, among other things, the reservation of a business name and the making of entries on a specified date will only enter into force on 1 March 2024.

The European Union directive on transparent and predictable working conditions has been transposed into national law. The corresponding amendments come into force on 1 August 2022, but it would be a good idea for employers to start preparing for this date already.

Employers have to deal with three important aspects that lead to an employment relationship between employer and employee: job interview, pre-contractual negotiations and background checks (the last of these, of course, with employee consent).

A businessman who started a company in Estonia even before the country had regained independence, Kevin Probert-Ehaver, recently sold his life’s work – the three Baltic companies in BK Group – to a major Chinese corporation, Hikvision. The transaction proved more complicated than planned, but in the end he managed to negotiate a price that was triple what was originally offered.

Grant Thornton Baltic OÜ advised German company RAUMEDIC AG on the acquisition of aktsiaselts A&G. RAUMEDIC AG is a leading developer and manufacturer of systems and components and a partner to medical and pharmaceutical industries. Core business of aktsiaselts A&G is production of medical supplies.

Grant Thornton Baltic advised Howden Finland Oy, the market leader in Finland and part of the international group Howden Broking, on the acquisition.

Effective 1 April 2022, when the system for taking child leave will change in the Employment Contracts Act, all parents of children under 14 years of age will be entitled to 10 working days of paid child leave per child under 14.

Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, employers must compile a risk assessment of the working environment. It is mandatory for employers who have at least one employee (security institutions excluded).

The coronavirus restrictions have put many employers in a very difficult situation. When turnover is down, it’s time to analyse what would lead the company through the difficult times – applying for a new salary compensation from the government, temporary pay cuts, leave or layoffs.

The coronavirus crisis, which started a little more than a year ago, changed quite a few things in employment relationships. One of the most important changes has been the widespread use of working from home offices. Provided that the nature of the job had some degree of compatibility with the format, employees were allowed to work remotely by companies and organisations where this had not previously been the practice.

The employer has an obligation to ensure the safety of its employee, but in the conditions of a home office, a legal requirement may become absurd, it was stated on Äripäev raadio’s ,,Kasvukursil’’.

The spread of the coronavirus has brought a leap in the adoption and utilisation of e-commerce, but when moving your business online, it is necessary to first consider taxes, marketing and the choice of business model.

Amendments to the Labour Market Services and Benefits Act (hereinafter LMSBA) and the Unemployment Insurance Act create the possibility of temporary employment, in other words, accepting temporary job offers during registered unemployment, plus unemployment allowance and unemployment insurance benefit increase. Grant Thornton Baltic's legal manager Kristel Tiits and legal adviser Lee Laanemäe explain the details in their article.

Remote work due to the coronavirus in companies is becoming a new positive trend, which is difficult to reverse, but both companies and employees will benefit from adapting to it, according to Äripäev’s radio program “Kasvukursil”. Grant Thornton Baltic's HR manager Marge Litvinova, IT-manager Arko Kurg and Partner of digital services Vladimir Rüntü discuss the plusses and minuses and possibilites and threats of working in different places such as the office, home offive or office abroad.