«We need to work more!»: Latvian businessmen dismissed complaints from hired workers

You are mean, I will leave you

The new version of paragraph 5 of Article 100 of the Labor Law – which is quite extensive! – stipulates that an employee can terminate the employment contract immediately if they have not received their salary for more than 2 weeks.

Expert assessment from LBAS: "Wages are a broader concept that includes not only salary but also additional payments, bonuses, benefits, vacation compensation, which can constitute a significant part of wages in practice." Moreover, union representatives proposed a rather radical period during which one could part ways in case of non-payment – 3 days! Although, of course, they sharpened the argument here, as job offers in Latvia are not exactly abundant these days. The new version of Article 74 of the Labor Law provides that an employer has the right to reduce the wage to 70% (but not below the minimum wage) if there is downtime for at least 5 days. Moreover, if the downtime lasts more than 5 days, the employee is not obliged to be at their workplace.

The employee also has the right to terminate the employment contract immediately and receive a severance payment of 75% if the downtime lasts more than 4 consecutive weeks.

Union expertise: wage reduction should not occur in all cases of downtime, "but only in those that arise due to circumstances beyond the employer's control, namely, force majeure, accidental events, or as a result of other extraordinary circumstances." This is logical, as the enterprise must bear its share of responsibility and provide the staff with a proper workload.

Additionally, LBAS believes that the amount of severance pay should be calculated based on the average earnings before the downtime; the flexibility of regulating downtime should only be allowed in the presence of collective agreements.

By the way, regarding collective agreements: they are regulated by the Transitional Rules to the Labor Law. In particular, Article 28 provides for the possibility of unilateral withdrawal from collective agreements. This applies both to those that have already been concluded and, strangely enough, to those whose term has already expired. LBAS does not understand at all why such an action is needed, "which affects legal continuity."

May you be healthy!

Article 101 of the Law in its new version reads as follows: "An employment contract cannot be terminated with an employee due to illness if they have been issued a sick leave due to caring for a sick child under 18 years old and with a serious illness that requires long-term treatment, and the pediatric clinical university hospital's board of doctors has determined that continuous parental presence is necessary."

Sometimes the employee themselves falls ill, and they start to be looked at askance. Yet the principle of equal treatment is paramount. It is enshrined in Article 60, part 3 and Article 95, part 2 of the Labor Law.

Moreover, this applies not only to wages but also to working conditions, approaches to professional training, further education, and promotion. Unions believe that a lawsuit in such cases against the employer should be filed not within 3 months but within 3 years!

"Can I have 'half' the work?"

A separate, though not small, category of workers is part-time staff.

Here, the European Court of Human Rights has sided with the Latvian individual, which ruled on July 29, 2024, in the case of I.K. and C.M. against the legal entity KfH Kuratorium für Dialyse und Nierentransplantation eV. Judging by the name, it is a German medical institution for dialysis and kidney transplantation. And there, part-time staff were so overloaded that they howled and ran to complain in Strasbourg, where it was decided that for part-time workers, overtime should be applied proportionally, rather than being considered equal to those who work full-time. Otherwise, it would result in "less favorable" treatment.

"It is unacceptable to reduce the amount of overtime pay," states LBAS. And from this point, in more detail:

• Overtime cannot be the norm; their presence indicates problems in work organization;

• Reducing overtime pay negatively affects staff;

• Additional payments for overtime should not affect the salary.

And, of course, LBAS firmly defends its activists so that employers do not direct their anger towards them, labeling them as "the smartest" or "exercising their rights."

What will the entrepreneur say?

The social partners of the government include not only unions but also businesspeople. The Latvian Confederation of Employers (LDDK) reminded the Saeima Commission on Social and Labor Agreements that, generally speaking, a collective agreement inherently "provides better conditions than those specified in the law." Its function is also to "support competition."

The European Parliament and the Council of the EU adopted a directive in 2022 – according to which member states with collective agreement coverage below 80% are required to "create a framework conducive to collective agreement negotiations." First, develop an action plan!

Latvia certainly belongs to the countries that Brussels intends to pay special attention to. Because in our country, collective agreements cover... about a quarter of the working population.

Nevertheless, LDDK believes that the current norm, under which a collective agreement continues after its expiration until a new one is concluded, is outdated. Employers propose a 1.5-year extension, while the Ministry of Welfare wants 2.5 years.