The Latvian Saeima has conceptually supported amendments to the Labour Law that are intended to further reinforce the use of Latvian language on the market, as confirmed by Saeima’s press service.
It is planned that the amendments will defend the right of employees to use the official language during the performance of their duties and not to be discriminated against with unreasonable demands for knowledge of the Russian language.
The legislative draft is meant to ensure that in Latvia, as a member state of the European Union, employees are not required to have knowledge of the Russian language, except for certain professions, the authors of the draft law state, referring also to the discrimination currently existing in the labour market against young people who do not have sufficient knowledge of the Russian language.
The draft law intends to establish that the Russian language will not be required from an employee in advertisements, job interviews, employment contracts
or during the performance of work duties, except for certain specific professions specified by the legislator.
Because Russian language is not an official language in any European Union member state, Russia uses the presence of its state language in Latvia for political purposes and the Saeima has recognized Russia as a state supporting terrorism. The intended legislative draft is aimed specifically at this foreign language, the authors of the draft law previously noted.
During debates Saeima members also mentioned the possibility of expanding restrictions to languages of other third countries.
Also read: Trade union against equal minimum pay for kindergarten administration and teachers
Follow us on Facebook and X!