Latvia

There is one trade union confederation in Latvia, the LBAS, and almost all significant unions belong to it. Union density is relatively low, at about 12%, and is much higher in the public than in the private sector.

The LBAS, which had 91,496 members in 2018, is the only union confederation in Latvia, and adding the membership of some smaller unions, this probably takes total union membership to around 95,000.[1] With 805,000 employees in Latvia, this produces a union density figure of 11.8%.[2]The ICTWSS database also estimates union density in Latvia at 11.8% in 2018.[3]

There are 20 individual unions affiliated to the LBAS, which was founded in 1990 and replaced the former union structure in Latvia, which existed when the country was part of the Soviet Union. These individual affiliates are normally based on a specific industry or occupation. The largest unions are: LIZDA, for the education and science sector, with 24, 218 members (January 2019); the railway and transport workers union, LDzSA, with more than 11,000 members and LVSADA, for the health and social work sector, with 8,000 members. LAKRS, which organises workers in public services and transport, is another union with significant membership, although recent figures are not available. Internally unions are made up of local organisations at individual workplaces: LIZDA, for example, has 1,110 local trade union organisations, LVSADA has 67 and LAKRS has 219.[4]

Some small unions are not affiliated to the LBAS, as a union can be founded by just 50 people. LIDA, which organises 2,700 police and other similar staff such as border guards, was formerly outside the confederation, but joined LBAS in 2017. In March 2020 a total of 223 trade unions were registered in Latvia.[5]

The LBAS is formally politically neutral in Latvia’s complex and changing party political structure, although it plays an important role with the employers’ confederation in developing the country’s economic and social policies

Unions have lost a large number of members since independence in 1991. As recently as 1995 LBAS had more than 275,000 members. However, despite giving a high priority to recruitment, membership in LBAS unions has continued to fall. In 2008 the LBAS had 134,422 members compared with 91,496 today. Membership is still higher in the public than in the private sector, although there are union members in former state-owned companies that have now been privatised and in some companies owned by multinationals.

The clear majority of trade unionists in Latvia are women. The LBAS’s response to the annual ETUC gender equality survey in 2019 indicates that 61% of the members of LBAS unions are female.[6]

[1] ETUC Annual Gender Equality Survey 2019 – 12th edition, by Lionel Fulton and Cinzia Sechi, ETUC, April 2019 https://www.etuc.org/sites/default/files/circular/file/2019-05/ETUC_Annual_Equality_Survey%202019_FINAL_EN.pdf Arodbiedrības aicina zem lietussarga -

[2] Employment figures from the Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia, Table NB070c. Employed by professional status, sex and quarter, 2018

[3] Jelle Visser, ICTWSS Data base. Version 6.1. Amsterdam: Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies AIAS. October 2019

[4] Figures for individual unions’ membership and number of local organisations from their websites

[5] Email from Latvian official register http://www.ur.gov.lv 1 April 2020

[6] ETUC Annual Gender Equality Survey 2019 – 12th edition, by Lionel Fulton and Cinzia Sechi, ETUC, April 2019 https://www.etuc.org/sites/default/files/circular/file/2019-05/ETUC_Annual_Equality_Survey%202019_FINAL_EN.pdf

Company or organisational level bargaining is the most important level of bargaining in Latvia, with relatively few industry-level agreements, although a generally binding agreement for the construction industry was signed in 2019.

The framework

The law allows for agreements at industry, regional and company/organisation level. However, other than regional agreements with regional authorities, in practice there are only industry level and company/organisation level agreements, and the company level is clearly predominant. Figures from the union confederation, LBAS, indicate that its affiliates signed 1,152 collective agreements in 2016.[1] Almost all of these were at company or organisation level. In 2015 there were only eight industry-level agreements and three of these were signed by the health union LVSADA. Company and organisation level collective agreements must be approved by majority vote in a meeting of the employees.

Collective bargaining is much more important in the public sector, including large state-owned companies, than in the private sector. Most of the industry-level agreements are also in the public sector, for example in education and health care, although there have also been industry-level agreements in industries such as transport, which are dominated by larger privatised companies. Medium-sized and small companies in the private sector, on the other hand, typically do not have unions and therefore have been unaffected by collective bargaining.

However, developments in 2019 may indicate a more positive context for collective bargaining. In October 2019, parliament adopted an amendment to the Labour Law, potentially imposing fines on employers who refuse to engage in collective bargaining. There were also two new industry agreements, one in the building industry and one in glass fibre, which have been made generally binding across the two industries (see below).

There are no precise figures for the coverage of collective bargaining in Latvia. The Structure of Earnings Survey undertaken by the Latvian Central Statistical Bureau in 2006 found that around a third (34.2%) of all employees were covered by collective agreements at that time, with much higher proportions in health and education and much lower levels in private services like finance and retail.[2]

These questions were not asked in later surveys and similar information for later years is, therefore, not available. However, it is clear that number of collective agreements recorded by LBAS has halved since 2006, dropping from 2,426 (2,405 company and 21 industry) in 2006 to 1,152 in 2016. The fall in the number of industry agreements – from 21 to eight – has potentially had the greatest impact, as these cover larger numbers of employees.

As a result LBAS, estimated that only 13% of employees were covered by agreements signed by its affiliates in 2015.[3]

By law there is also scope for collective agreements reached at industry level to be extended to all the employers and employees in that industry provided that the employers’ association that has signed the agreement employs more than 50% of all the employees in the industry, or accounts for more than 60% of the goods and services that industry produces. Until recently, this provision had only been used in the railway industry. However, in April 2019, the construction union LBNA and three employers' associations plus individual companies signed a six-year deal – from November 2019 to December 2025 – which will have binding effect on all employers and workers in construction. This was followed by a second agreement for glass fibre, which was signed in December 2019, coming into effect in 2020 and running for three years.

As well as negotiations between employers and unions, there is also a national tripartite structure involving the government. This is the National Tripartite Co-operation Council (NTSP where the three groups – employers, unions and government – are equally represented. The council discusses labour legislation and played a major role in developing the Latvian system of industrial relations. It also discusses the national minimum wage.

Who negotiates and when?

Negotiations at industry level are conducted between unions and employers’ associations. At company/organisation level the employer negotiates with the union representing the employees or “authorised employee representatives” (see section on workplace representation), if the employees are not members of a union. Where there are several unions, or unions and authorised employee representatives, they must undertake joint negotiations and draw up a common position.

Unless otherwise specified, collective agreements last for one year, although their provisions continue in force until a new agreement has been reached, unless some other arrangement has been agreed by the parties.

The subject of the negotiations

Latvian legislation defines the issues that collective agreements are to cover – including the organisation of work, pay and internal work procedures. In practice, agreements usually cover pay and bonuses, holidays and working time – particularly total working time – as well as issues related to dismissals, particularly collective redundancies. In addition, agreements will often also provide support for workers with young children and deal with health and safety issues.[4]

Latvia has a national minimum wage, which is set by the government, taking account of the views of employers and unions, which are the subject for discussion in the National Tripartite Co-operation Council (NTSP).

[1] Living and working in Latvia, by Raita Karnite, Eurofound, November 2019 https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/country/latvia#collective-bargaining (Accessed 01.04.2020)

[2] DSS16. Number of employees having a collective pay agreement by kind of activity in the end of October, Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia, 2009 (Accesses 21.04.2015)

[3] Living and working in Latvia, by Raita Karnite, Eurofound, November 2019 https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/country/latvia#collective-bargaining (Accessed 01.04.2020)

[4] Latvia: post-Soviet legacy and the impact of neoliberal ideology on collective bargaining by Aija Lulle and Elza Ungurein Collective bargaining in Europe: towards an endgame, edited by Torsten Müller, Kurt Vandaele and Jeremy Waddington, ETUI, 2019

Employee representation at the workplace is either through unions or through elected workplace representatives. However, with low levels of union membership, particularly in the private sector, and a reluctance among employees to elect workplace representatives, most workplaces have no employee representation at all.

The main form of workplace representation in Latvia is through the unions at the workplace. The labour legislation, which came into effect on 1 June 2002, introduced the possibility of electing “authorised workplace representatives”, but this has not proved popular.[1] The law relating to employee representation was further amended in November 2005 to implement the EU directive on information and consultation, but this has had no significant practical impact on the structure of workplace representation or the information and consultation culture.

There are also elected representatives in the area of health and safety.

Where workers are represented at the workplace, unions continue to be the main channel. However very many employees have no workplace representation at all.

There are no national figures on the extent of employee representation at the workplace, but the results of Eurofound’s 2013 European Company Survey indicate that it is very limited. They show that, in 2013, just 9% of establishments in Latvia with at least 10 employees had some form of official employee representation, either through the union, an elected workplace representative or a European works council. This figure is substantially below the EU28 average of 32%, and one of the lowest in Europe. As elsewhere in Europe, larger organisations were much more likely to have such a structure than smaller ones. The survey shows that 31% of establishments with more than 250 employees had representation, and 22% of those with between 50 and 249 employees. In smaller workplaces in Latvia, those with between 10 and 49 employees, only 6% had employee representation.[2]

Numbers and structure

The numbers and structure of union representation at the workplace depend on the rules of the union.

There are no detailed rules on the numbers of authorised workplace representatives. The legislation simply states that they can be elected in any company or organisation with five or more employees. The legislation states that temporary workers should be included in this number as should employees “within the scope of the work placement service”. There is no specific reference to part-time workers, suggesting that the calculation is based on head count.

Tasks and rights

Trade union representatives and authorised workplace representatives are both legally considered to be “employee representatives”, and both have essentially the same tasks and duties. Both are involved in information and consultation and both may be involved in collective bargaining, although, non-union representatives may only negotiate a collective agreement if there is no union.

The employer should inform and consult with employee representatives on issues that may materially affect pay, working conditions and employment and they should be involved in the organisation of working time, internal works regulations and health and safety at the workplace. Employee representatives should also be given information about the economic and social situation of the company or organisation. There are specific rules regarding collective redundancies and business transfers. The legislation implementing the EU directive on information and consultation strengthened the legal position of employee representatives by setting out more clearly the employer’s information and consultation obligations.

However, it is also the case that a culture of information and consultation is not well developed in Latvia, particularly in the area of collective redundancies and business transfers. The result is that information and consultation of employee representatives is frequently non-existent.

Employee representatives have a right to hold meetings of employees, provided this does not disturb the normal operations of the company, and they have a right to monitor the employer’s compliance with legal requirements. This includes access to the workplace and to information although, again, only if this does not disturb normal operations.

Election and term of office

The election and term of office of union representatives depend on the union’s rules.

Authorised workplace representatives are elected “for a specified term” by a majority of employees at an employees’ meeting, although the law does not say how long, or fix a maximum or minimum term. At least half of all employees of the company or organisation must participate for the meeting to be valid, but, apart from this, the law says nothing about the mechanics of the election or the nomination procedure.

Protection against dismissal

Latvian labour law provides a high degree of protection for those in a union. Trade union members – both representatives and simple members – cannot be dismissed by the employer without the prior written consent of the relevant trade union. The only exceptions are during an employee’s probation period, or where the individual is being dismissed because of intoxication, because of the reinstatement of the individual previously doing the work, or because the employer is going into liquidation. If the union does not give its consent the employer can take the issue to the court for a decision, although in practice it may be several years before the court makes a judgement. The result is that most cases are settled through agreement, involving high levels of compensation for the dismissed employee.

The law also states that the performance of the duties of an employee representative – either as a trade union representative or as an authorised workplace representative – should not be the basis for dismissal or some other form of disadvantage.

Time off and other resources

Collective agreements may provide for time off and specific resources for employee representatives. There are no statutory provisions.

Training rights

There are no statutory provisions for training for employee representatives.

Representation at group level

Union structures may produce representation at group level, but the legislation does not provide for this other than in joint negotiations with the employer.

[1] Labour Law. 20.06.2001 and subsequent amendments

[2] Eurofound (2015), Third European Company Survey – Overview report: Workplace practices – Patterns, performance and well-being, Figures for Table 44

There is no legislation on employee representation at board level in Latvia.

Public limited companies (AS) must appoint a both a management board and a supervisory board. Limited companies (SIA) can choose whether to have a supervisory board. However, there is no statutory requirement for employees to be represented at board level in either type of company.

Latvian representatives on European bodies, both European Works Councils and the European Company are in most cases chosen by the existing employee representatives – either the unions or the authorised workplace representatives.

European Works Councils

Latvian members of the special negotiating body (SNB) for an EWC must be employees. They are chosen at joint meetings of employee representatives (either union representatives or authorised workplace representatives), with voting on a proportional basis to employee numbers.

The rules are the same for Latvian members of an EWC appointed under the fallback procedure.

European Company

Latvian employees in a planned European Company can by law decide that their interests should be represented in the special negotiating body (SNB) by their existing employee representatives. If this is not the case SNB members from Latvia are elected by the employees.

Latvian members of the SE representative body, as set up under the fallback procedures in the annex to the directive, are elected by employee representatives (either union representatives or authorised workplace representatives), where they exist. Where they do not exist the members of the SE representative body are elected by the whole workforce.

Latvian representatives on a board of a European Company, set up under the fallback procedures, are chosen by the representative body.

Further information on the national SE legislation can be found here.

Elected “trusted representatives”, who then receive training in health and safety, are the key figures representing employees in the area of health and safety. They can be elected at companies with five employees or more, with more being elected at bigger workplaces. There are no joint employee/employer health and safety structures, although the trusted representatives, who are elected for three years, should participate with the employer in a range of health and safety activities.

Basic approach at workplace level

The employer has an obligation to organise a system which protects employees at work. However, part of this obligation is to consult with employees to involve them in improving employee protection.

Employee health and safety bodies

Employee representation in the area of health and safety is provided by what are known as “trusted representatives” (uzticības personas). These are specially elected individuals who receive training in health and safety and their number depends on the size of the company. Although trusted representatives should participate with the employer in a range of health and safety tasks and should take part in meetings, the legislation does not provide for joint employee/employer health and safety committees or other similar structures.

Numbers and structure

Employee trusted representatives can be elected in all companies with at least five employees. Additional trusted representatives can be elected depending on the size of the company and the nature of the risks involved, and the total number of trustees should be fixed by the employer and the employees in a collective agreement. However, the government has also issued a regulation which recommends the following employment thresholds for additional trusted representatives.

Where a company has two or more trusted representatives, they should elect a main trusted representative; where there are 10 or more trusted representatives, they should set up a committee to coordinate their activities.

Research by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) in 2014 found that 27% of workplaces in Latvia had trusted representatives for health and safety. This is below the average for the EU-28, where 58% of workplaces have health and safety representatives. Unsurprisingly, given the high threshold for setting up a committee for health and safety, only 2% of workplaces in Latvia have one. The average figure for the EU-28 is 21%. (The figures are for workplaces with five or more employees.)[1]

The EU-OSHA figures are well above the figures from a national survey carried out in 2013. This found that just 8.7% of companies had trusted representatives, although it also included very small companies – from one employee upwards. Among larger companies the percentages were higher: 42.4% for those with 50 to 250 employees, and 43.3% for those with more than 250.[2]

Tasks and rights

Employers have a general obligation to inform both employees and trusted representatives about risks and the health and safety measures being taken as well as to give them specific information on:

• the results of risk evaluations and a list of jobs especially exposed to risks;
• the protective equipment being used;
• accidents at work and occupational diseases; and
• decisions and instructions from the labour inspectorate relating to health and safety in the company.

Employers are obliged to consult with employees and trusted representatives, specifically allowing trusted representatives to participate in meetings on:

• measures affecting the health and safety of employees;
• the structure of health and safety protection in the company;
• the appointment of employees with first aid, fire fighting and evacuation responsibilities;
• relationships with other employers in the area of health and safety; and
• health and safety training.

Trusted representatives should participate in a range of health and safety activities at the workplace including:

• risk evaluation;
• planning health and safety measures;
• investigating accidents at work and occupational diseases;
• the introduction of new production facilities and material;
• ensuring that equipment is health and safety compliant; and
• cooperating with the employer and health and safety specialist in improving working conditions in the company.

They also have a series of specific rights. These include the right:

• to express their own and the employees’ opinions on health and safety in the company;
• to receive from the employer the information they need to carry out their duties relating to health and safety in the company;
• to access workplaces in line with company procedures;
• to propose that the employer measures the levels of risk if employees have made complaints;
• to propose a re-evaluation of health and safety risks, where there has been an accident or a serious and imminent threat to employees’ life and health;
• to request that the employer takes measures to prevent or reduce risks;
• to propose that the employer should reach health and safety agreements with the employees or should negotiate a collective agreement on the issue; and
• to participate with the labour inspectorate in workplace inspections.

Where there is also a main trusted representative (when there are two trusted representatives or more) they have the right to coordinate and monitor the activities of the others.

Frequency of meetings

There is nothing in the legislation stating how frequently trusted representatives should meet the employer or how often they themselves should meet.

Election and term of office

Trusted representatives are elected by simple majority at a meeting of all the company’s employees. The main trusted representative is elected by all the trusted representatives.

The term of office for both trusted representatives and the main trusted representative is three years.

Resources and time off

The employer should provide trusted representatives with the time off necessary for them to undertake their duties. A government regulation recommends the following time-off provision, linked to the number of employees.

In addition trusted representatives should receive a total of 50 hours of training for their role, which should start within one month of their election. The training should be undertaken during working hours and the employer should cover the entire cost.

Protection against dismissal

A trusted representative must not suffer any unfavourable consequences as a result of his own her position. The employer can only dismiss a trusted representative with the consent of the labour inspectorate.

Other elements of workplace health and safety

Employers in Latvia must use the services of a health and safety specialist, either be someone employed in the organisation or someone working for an external health and safety body. In companies with 10 or fewer employees the employer can undertake this role provided they have adequate training. For organisations not operating in hazardous industries (as defined by the government) internal employees acting as health and safety specialists must have 60 hours’ training or have higher health and safety qualifications. For organisations operating in hazardous industries, the level of health and safety or qualifications for internal employees increases, going up to higher education in health and safety issues for companies with 11 employees or more.

National context

The ministry responsible for health and safety at work is the Ministry of Welfare (Labklājības ministrija), while the State Labour Inspectorate (Valsts Darba Inspekcija) is responsible for monitoring compliance with health and safety regulations.

Trade unions and employers are able to influence health and safety policy through their membership of the Labour Tripartite Cooperation Sub-Council (Darba lietu trīspusējās sadarbības apakšpadome – DLTSA). This body is made up of representatives of the government (including from the State Labour Inspectorate), the employers and the unions, and it has a consultative role on a range of labour issues, including health and safety.[3]

Latvian health and safety legislation makes specific reference to psychosocial risks. The 2001 Labour Protection Law states that in evaluating risks the employer shall take account of “the effect of physical, chemical, psychological, biological, physiological and other working environment factors”.

Key legislation

Labour Protection Act (20 June 2001) and subsequently amended

Regulation No. 427: The method of election of trusted representatives (17 September 2002) and subsequently amended

17.09.2002 Noteikumi nr. 427Darba aizsardzības likums 2001.gada 20.jūnijā

Uzticības personu ievēlēšanas un darbības kārtība

[1] Second European Survey of Enterprises on New and Emerging Risks, European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, 2016

[2] Work conditions and risks in Latvia, 2012–2013, Employers’ Confederation of Latvia, 2013

[3] For more information on the national context see OSH system at national level – Latvia by Ivars Vanadzins and Gediminas Vilkevicius, OSH Wiki https://oshwiki.eu/wiki/OSH_systems_at_national_level_-_Latvia