With a hopeful view of changes in the labor law

Although the legislator has thought about the protection of the rights of families, including future and existing parents, because the legal framework is clear and is regularly improved, however, problems often arise with the observance of these norms in practice. It is planned to solve some of the complications with the new amendments to the Labor Law.

Why the change now?

The main justification for extensive amendments to the Labor Law (DL), etc. related legislation includes directive 2019/1158 on work-life balance for parents and carers. The directive emphasizes that equality between men and women is one of the basic principles of the European Union (EU), and also states that the work-life balance policy should promote gender equality. EU member states, including Latvia, must adopt the requirements of this directive by August 2, 2022, so there is still time to fulfill this obligation.

The planned amendments are also designed to ensure the implementation of the judgment of the Constitutional Court (ST) of November 12, 2020 in case 2019-33-01. ST assessed the compliance of Article 155, Part 1 of the Law on the first sentence of Article 110 of the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia (Constitution). ST recognized that this norm, insofar as it does not provide protection and support for the child's mother's partner in connection with the birth of the child, does not comply with the specific article of the Constitution and is invalid from June 1, 2022. However, the Saeima has not been able to pass the amendments to the law so smoothly, they are still pending only in the Saeima's Social and Labor Affairs Committee.

What else needs to be changed?

Unfortunately, it must be recognized that amendments to the regulation will not help to solve all possible life situations and completely prevent violations in labor legal relations, if public prejudices against pregnant women and new parents do not change. The beneficiaries will be employers, who will perceive the benefits for young families not as an additional risk, but as a long-term investment in the well-being of the employee and, therefore, loyalty to the employer.

In addition, you need to think about how to support parents of preschool and primary school children during the summer period, when schools or kindergartens are on summer vacation. Unless a parent is taking unpaid leave, DL only provides four weeks of annual leave to any employee, plus a couple of additional days of leave for new parents, which is not enough to look after a child for the entire summer break. Although there are already employers who have set up childcare centers on company premises, it is possible that the creation of such centers would be stimulated by some subsidies from the state.

Source: iTiesības