Latvia
Draft Law “Amendments to Labour Law” (24-TA-3042)
Impact date: The Draft Law was prepared by the Ministry of Welfare on 18 March 2025. It has been approved and forwarded to the State Chancellery for submission to the Saeima (the parliament of the Republic of Latvia). There is currently no provisional date as to when (if) the Draft Law will enter into force. Additionally, during deliberations in the parliament, the contents of the Draft Law may change. The Draft Law was developed to improve the regulation of employment relations, addressing key areas such as the employee's right to refuse work and terminate the employment contract in cases of wage non-payment, overtime, idle time, part-time work, collective agreements, and periods of incapacity for work. It also aims to reduce formal requirements imposed on employers, without compromising the overall level of legal protection for employees.
The proposed key amendments are as follows:
- The employee will have the right to terminate the employment contract immediately if the agreed or legally mandated salary is delayed by more than two weeks beyond the scheduled payment date and will be entitled to receive severance pay
- Periods during which an employee is on sick leave to care for a sick child will not be counted towards the time that entitles the employer to terminate the employment contract
- The amount of overtime pay may be reduced to 50% or 75%, but only through a collective or general agreement, and only if certain conditions are met
- An employee and employer may agree to a four-day working week either at the time of signing the employment contract or during the term of an existing contract. This means that an employee could agree to work ten hours per day from Monday to Thursday, with Friday off
- If a new collective agreement is not concluded within two years after the expiry of the previous one, either party has the right to unilaterally withdraw from the agreement’s application, provided that the other party is given six months’ written notice in advance
- If the downtime exceeds five consecutive working days, the employer may reduce the compensation paid during this period to 70%, provided that the employee’s retained remuneration does not fall below the minimum monthly wage, pro-rated according to the agreed working hours. If the downtime lasts more than four consecutive weeks and the employee does not agree to the reduction in downtime compensation, they will have the right to terminate the employment contract immediately
Employer implications/action needed N/A
Employer risk N/A
Procedure for investigation and recording of occupational diseases
Impact date: Adopted on 18 March 2025 and entered into force on 1 June 2025. The purpose of the amendments to the regulations is to revise the procedure for diagnosing occupational diseases, specifically regarding the preparation of hygienic assessments of the working environment. The changes aim to reduce the involvement of the State Labour Inspectorate in this process and enhance the effectiveness of its preventive work. Under the procedure, responsibility for preparing the hygienic assessment of the working environment is assigned to the employer of the individual applying to the medical commission for the diagnosis of an occupational disease. These changes are expected to improve the overall diagnostic process for occupational diseases and optimize the operations of the State Labour Inspectorate, enabling more efficient use of existing personnel resources in the supervision and control of occupational safety.
Employer implications/action needed From the employers' perspective, preparing the hygienic assessment of the working environment should essentially include information that is already at the employer's disposal and results from the internal work environment monitoring process already carried out in the company (work environment risks for specific jobs and employees, occupational safety measures taken). Therefore, the changes are not expected to impose a significant additional burden or require substantial resource investment compared to existing requirements.
Employer risk There are no foreseeable risks.
Contact
Jānis Siliņš Head of Employment, Senior Associate, Attorney at Law
E: janis.silins@eversheds-sutherland.lv T: +371 26 330 394
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