What are the currently debated Latvian Amendments to Labour Law? 2013 has been a year without any general amendments to the employment law in Latvia, but many questions about implementation, so the work on Amendments to the Labour Law began. In August 2013 the Amendments to the Labour Law were presented to the Parliament of Latvia (hereinafter - Saeima), which were approved after the first reading. Read about these Amendments and the major reforms in the pipeline for the year ahead in the Employment Law Review 2013/2014 for Latvia. With thanks to our Latvian member Raidla Lejins & Norcous Latvia. Originally posted on the Ius Laboris Knowledgebase: www.globalhrlaw.com

1. Employment Law Review 2013/2014:
Latvia
Publication Date: 21 March 2014 Member Firm(s): Raidla Lejins &
Norcous Latvia Country: Latvia
What significant changes to employment law in Latvia took effect in
2013? And what major reforms are in the pipeline for the year
ahead?
2013 has been a year without any general amendments to the
employment law in Latvia, but many questions about implementing new
provisions in the already existing Labour Law were raised, so the work on
Amendments to the Labour Law began. In August 2013 the Amendments
to the Labour Law were presented to the Parliament of Latvia (hereinafter -
Saeima), which were approved after the first reading. The legislative
procedure of Latvia requires a draft law to pass three readings, so the
Amendments currently are being debated in Saeima. It is expected that
the Amendments will come in force in late 2014 or early 2015.
Reforms implemented in 2013
Significant Case Law Findings
Termination of employment contract with an employee who is a
member of several trade unions. In the previous years there have been
many misinterpretations of norms concerning termination of an
employment contract with an employee who is a member of several trade
unions. In the Judgment No. SKC-1144/2013 the Senate of Supreme
Court ruled that the fact that the employee is a member of several trade
unions does not in itself impose an obligation on the employer to obtain
consent from each one of the trade unions. If an employer has received
consent from one trade union to terminate the employment relationship
with an employee-member of the trade union, the employer is entitled to
assume that the opinion of this trade union is in accordance with that of all
other trade unions of which the employee is a member.
Obligation to provide the same or equivalent post after the return
from parental leave. In August 2013 the CJEU made a decision on
preliminary ruling to the questions referred to by the Supreme Court of
Latvia. The CJEU found that Directive 96/34/EC on the framework
agreement on parental leave concluded by UNICE, CEEP and the ETUC

2. 2
does not preclude the dismissal of a worker who has taken parental leave
if this dismissal is not motivated by the use of the parental leave.
In the context of the abolition of a post, the employer may provide an
assessment of a worker on parental leave (even in his or her absence)
with a view toward transferring that worker to an equivalent or similar post
according to the employment contract of the particular employee.
Regulation on Investigation of Workplace Accidents
The Cabinet of Ministers of Latvia has improved procedural provisions of
the regulation on the investigation of workplace accidents, thus reducing
the administrative burden for employers and the State Labour
Inspectorate. Effective January 2014 it is now easier for employers to
conduct investigations of workplace accidents since it is no longer
necessary to form investigation committees. Instead, employers will be
able to decide which persons will conduct the investigation of a workplace
accident.
Previously, the State Labour Inspectorate also investigated workplace
accidents involving Latvian employers’ employees who work abroad. But,
as tested in practice, such investigations cannot be conducted accurately
because the Labour Inspectorate has limited capacity to conduct
investigations in another country. The new provisions provide that
investigations will be performed only by a safety specialist appointed by
the employer.
What’s coming next?
Amendments to the Labour Law
The most significant changes arising from the Amendments to the Labour
Law include changes regarding the terms of applying disciplinary
penalties, payment of annual leave entitlements, extension of fixed-term
employment contracts, as well as protection of those breastfeeding
employees, and other amendments described below.
Extension of employment contract entered for a fixed term. Under
certain conditions provided in the law, the employer is entitled to enter into
a fixed term contract with an employee. If, upon expiration of such a
contract, the parties enter into a new contract and the time period before
establishing a new employment relationship has not been interrupted for
more than 30 consecutive days, it is regarded as an extension of the
previous employment and thus could be regarded as being entered into for
an unlimited period. The draft law proposes to extend for up to 60 days the
period during which no repeated employment contract may be entered into

3. 3
between the same employee and employer. The purpose of this proposal
is to reduce the possibilities for employers to circumvent the legal
requirement to enter into contracts for an unlimited term.
Extended term for fixed-term employment contracts. It is proposed
that the maximum period allowed for entering into an employment contract
for a fixed term is extended from three to five years. The purpose is to
even up labour related costs in comparison with other countries where the
maximum period for fixed-term contracts already is five years and thereby
to improve the country’s competitiveness.
Employment of members of Management Board. The draft law
proposes amendments relating to members of the Management Board of a
company. Current provisions of the Labour Law provide that an
employment contract with Management Board members shall be entered
into, unless they are employed on the basis of another contract governed
by civil law. This requirement has raised many questions in practice,
generally because the Commercial Law, which is the governing law in
relation to commercial activity, does not have any provisions regarding
contracts to be entered into with Management Board members. Thus, the
proposed amendment would exclude from the Labour Law the
requirement for an employment contract for Management Board
members.
Extended term for application of disciplinary penalty. The current
regulation provides that a disciplinary sanction may be imposed not later
than one month from the date the violation is detected, excluding the
period of temporary incapacity of the employee as well as the period when
the employee is on leave or does not perform work due to other justified
cause, but not later than six months from the date the violation was
committed. The proposed amendments would extend the period for up to
12 months. The proposed amendments refer to cases related to an
employee’s long-term absence from work or situations where violations
are discovered during internal or external periodic audits (revision,
inventory, annual report, etc.) which in many cases are organized
annually, thus a violation cannot be detected in six months.
Another technical, but important, proposal is require employers to issue to
the employee a written document concerning the imposed disciplinary
sanction. Currently the Labour Law does not impose such an obligation,
and employers tend to withhold such documentation. Such a situation
reduces the employee’s ability to protect him- or herself.
In order to balance an employee's ability to defend his or her rights with
the need to ensure legal certainty, and taking into account the proposed

4. 4
requirement that an employer provide the employee a document
concerning his or her disciplinary sanction, the draft law shortens the
period of time for an employee to request revocation of a
reproof/reprimand or dismissal from one year to one month.
Shorter terms for collective redundancy procedures. Proposed
amendments include a reduced period of time during which an employer
who intends to carry out a collective redundancy shall notify the State
Employment Agency and local government – from 45 days to 30. Similar
changes are proposed in relation to an employer’s right to initiate a
collective redundancy procedure after submission of its notice to the State
Employment Agency, i.e., the time period is reduced from 45 to 30 days.
These amendments were made to comply with the recent CJEU ruling No.
C-44/08 concerning the interpretation of the Directive 98/59/EC on the
approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to collective
redundancies.
Gender equality. The draft law restricts the length of the special maternity
protection period with regard to breastfeeding. Currently, special maternity
protection for breastfeeding employees is applicable to the entire period of
breastfeeding, but the proposed amendments limit such protection until a
child is two years old.
Another amendment concerning this topic relates to the right of child-care
leave. Currently, the legal framework provides that child-care leave is
given only to the biological and adoptive parents, but amendments would
also extend this right to the members of a foster family and to legal
guardians.
The amendments provide that the termination of the child-care leave
ahead of time and the employee's return to work will be possible by mutual
agreement between the employer and employee or by providing such
terms in the collective agreement or the employment contract. The draft
law also provides for exceptional cases where the return is possible by a
simple statement from the employee (for example, in the case where a
child has died).
Notice of termination. While the current wording of the Labour Law
provides a detailed description of issuance of an employer’s termination
notice, it lacks regulation as to the means of issuance of the notice. In
practice this causes quite a few problems when an employee, trying to
avoid his or her termination, does not appear at work to collect the notice.
Taking into account that a termination notice becomes valid from the
moment it is provided to the other party, it is rather important that the

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moment of notification is made clear in the law. Hence, the amendments
propose including in the Labour Law a new section dealing with the
particularities of the notification procedure. In accordance with the
proposed amendments the correspondence about the notice of
termination may be conducted personally or by using post or messenger.
Also e-mails signed with a secure digital signature may be used if the
employer and employee have agreed to it in the employment contract.
Payment for the annual leave. Proposed amendments are more flexible
with respect to payment for the annual leave. Current Labour Law
provisions establish that payment for the annual leave must be made not
later than one day before the annual leave starts, but the new draft law
would permit employees to request that payment for annual leave be
made at another time, for example, along with the next payment of
salary.
Taking into account the resistance of the Trade Unions Association
towards the proposed amendments, declaring such amendments are not
in the interests of employees, the wording of the currently proposed
amendments will most likely slightly change in the course of further review
by Saeima during the second and third reading.
Originally posted on the Ius Laboris Knowledge Base:
www.globalhrlaw.com
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