"In 2018, the Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs came up with idea of introducing a new category of employee – the autonomous employee – in Estonia. This concept is based on Article 17(1) of the Working Time Directive, which allows derogations from the scope of the Directive for managing executives or other persons with autonomous decision-taking powers. The implementation of the concept of the autonomous employee has been seen as a panacea that makes the organisation of working time more flexible and the regulation relevant to practical needs. However, according to the case law of the European Court of Justice, the scope of Article 17(1) is very narrow. The article examines the concept of the autonomous employee, the nature and organisation of autonomous work, mainly based on EU law, as well as the Finnish Working Hours Act and amendments to the Estonian Sports Act, both of which entered into force in 2020."

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