The amendments, which parliamentarians have been working on for almost a year, are intended to defend the right of employees to use the national language when performing their work duties and not to be discriminated against with unreasonable demands for knowledge of a foreign language.
By adopting the amendments, it is confirmed that the knowledge of a foreign language is not considered to be reasonably necessary for the performance of work duties, if the work is related to the production of goods, the provision of services or other activities in the internal market of Latvia. This provision may be waived if the ability to speak a foreign language for the performance of the work is objectively justified, for example, in cases where the performance of the work is related to foreign countries.
With the amendments, it is ensured that in Latvia, as a member of the European Union, it would not be possible to require employees to know the Russian language, said the authors of the draft law, also referring to the current discrimination in the labor market against young people whose knowledge of the Russian language is insufficient.
The amendments provide that if the job advertisement contains a requirement for foreign language skills, it must also include the justification for its necessity. On the other hand, the employer’s questions about knowledge of foreign languages will not be allowed in the job interview, if they are not of essential importance in the performance of work duties.
The Commission for Social and Labor Affairs, in cooperation with the responsible ministry and other institutions, soon plans to continue working on issues related to the process of administrative violations regarding unjustified foreign language requirements, the head of the commission, Andris Bērziņš (ZZS), previously informed.
Amendments to the Labor Law were initiated by the National Association.
2024-09-20 08:51:26