Hire employees in

Latvia, hassle-free

Hire employees in Latvia, hassle-free

With Deel, your business can easily hire employees in Latvia. No more worrying about local laws, complex tax systems, or managing international payroll. Deel takes care of everything in 150+ countries.

The average onboarding time frame in Latvia is 3 days with Deel.

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Currency

Euro (EUR)

Capital

Riga

Official Language

Latvian

Payroll Cycle

Monthly

Hire employees in Latvia. No entity needed.

Usually, to hire in Latvia, your business needs an entity. That means a local office, an address registered as a subsidiary, and an account with a local bank. All of this, plus navigating regional benefits, payroll, tax, and HR laws, can take months.

Latvia also treats contractors differently than full-time employees, so misclassifying a contractor could lead to fines. Deel lets you hire employees in Latvia quickly, easily, and compliantly. We even automate tax document collection, payroll, benefits, and more.

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All the necessary benefits for Latvia
built right in

Deel allows you to provide localized benefits for employees in Latvia within minutes. All in one manageable online dashboard.

  • Public Health Care
  • Private Healthcare - Unisure (optional)

Our quickstart guide to hiring in Latvia

Navigate the tabs below to learn everything you need to know about hiring an employee in Latvia

Pay & Tax Leave Policy Termination Statutory time off Onboarding Additional info

Minimum Wage Requirements

The minimum wage is EUR 620 per month.

Individual Income Tax

The individual income tax ranges from 20% to 31%. Income tax is calculated according to progressive rates. 

Gross Annual Income (EUR) Tax Rate (%)
Up to EUR 20,004 20%
EUR 20,004 - EUR 78,100 23%
Above EUR 78,100 31%

Employer Cost

The employer cost is generally estimated at 24% of the employee salary. 
  • Employer Social Security Contribution - 23.5%
  • Business risk fee per employee - €0.36

Overtime Pay & Maximum Hours

Overtime payment is mandatory. Hours outside of standard work hours are considered overtime. Employees can work a maximum of 8 hours of overtime per week. 

Overtime cannot exceed 48 hours per month and 200 hours per year. For additional hours, employees are paid a minimum supplement of 100% of the hourly or daily wage rate.
Standard working hours are eight hours per day, 40 hours per week. The standard workweek is from Monday to Friday. 

Maternity Leave

Pregnant employees are entitled to 112 days of paid leave. 56 days must be taken before the child's birth. 56 days must be taken after the child's birth. The employee will receive 80% of their average salary. 

The average salary is calculated for the 12-month period, ending two months before the leave is taken. The State Social Security Agency will be responsible for this pay. 

The employee can extend leave through parental leave.

Paternity Leave

Employees are entitled to 10 working days of paid paternity leave. The employee will receive 80% of the employee’s average salary. The State Social Security Agency will be responsible for this pay. 

The employee can extend leave using parental leave.

Parental Leave

Since January 1, 2023, employees choose between taking 13 months or 19 months of parental leave. 

If taking 13 months of leave, employees must take 9 months of parental leave until the child is 1 year old, while if they take 19 months of leave they must take 15 months of parental leave until the child is 1 and half years old. In both cases, 2 months taken by the mother and 2 months taken by the father are non-transferable and must be taken until the child reaches the age of 8. 

Employees taking 13 months of leave are entitled to 60% of their average contributory salary, while the ones choosing to take 19 months of leave will receive 43.75% of their average contributory salary.

Sick Leave

The maximum paid sick leave in Latvia is 52 weeks over a three year period. The first day is unpaid. The rest of the leave days are paid at different rates and by different payers depending upon length:

Day

Pay (% of salary)

Payer

Day 1

Unpaid

N/A

Days 2 and 3

75%

Employer

Days 4 - 9

80%

Employer

From day 10 to 26 weeks*

80% of the average salary

State Social Security Agency

Termination Requirements

Terminations must respect complex rules and the rules of an employee’s employment country. The off-boarding is always handled by the Employer with the primary stakeholders. It may include ad-hoc fees as well as required or recommended steps on specific termination cases.

Terminations in Latvia can be complex. There is no at-will termination in Latvia for employers outside the probation period and termination must be done for just cause. 

Compliant terminations include:

  • Voluntarily by the employee
  • By mutual agreement
  • Unilaterally by the employer (causes established by Labor Law on section 101)

Notice Period

The minimum notice period is one month and can be shortened if agreed upon in the employment contract. 

Severance for Employees

In Latvia, all employees who are terminated due to the reasons listed below are entitled to severance pay: 
  • Employee lacks adequate occupational competence for performance of work
  • Employee is unable to perform the contracted work due to his or her state of health and such state is certified with a doctor's opinion
  • Employee who previously performed the respective work has been reinstated at work
  • Number of employees is being reduced
  • Employer is being liquidated
  • Employee does not perform work due to temporary incapacity

Severance pay will depend on the length of employment:
  • Less than five years of employment - one month of average earnings
  • Between 5 to 10 years of employment - two months of average earnings
  • Between 10 to 20 years of employment - three months of average earnings
  • Over 20 years of employment - four months of average earnings

Paid Time Off

Both full-time and part-time employees are entitled to 20 days of paid time off (PTO) a year. PTO accrues monthly with 1.67 paid days (or 2.33 calendar days) days per month. Employees are eligible for annual leave for the first year after six months of work. 

Public Holidays

Latvia celebrates 14 national holidays. If the public falls on the weekend, the next working day is free.

  • New Year’s Day
  • Good Friday 
  • Easter Sunday 
  • Easter Monday
  • Labour Day
  • Declaration of Independence Day
  • Easter Sunday
  • Līgo day (Midsummer eve)
  • Jāņu day (Midsummer eve)
  • National Day
  • Christmas Eve
  • Christmas Day
  • Christmas second Day
  • New Year’s Eve

Note: the length of the working day is reduced by one hour before the public holiday.

Onboarding

Onboarding takes 3 business days.

Employment Contract Details

Contracts must be in Latvian and can be bilingual if the employee is a foreigner with no knowledge of the official language. They must be in writing and signed by both parties. 

A contract must include: 
  • Employee details (Name, identity number, residential address)
  • Employer details (Name, identity number, legal address)
  • Start date
  • Duration of the contract
  • Place of work
  • Position according to the Classification of Occupations
  • Probation period
  • The amount and the date of salary payment
  • Daily and weekly working hours
  • Duration of the paid annual leave
  • Term of termination

Probation Period

Employees hired using Deel have a probation period of 90 days, this cannot be extended as it is the country maximum. As of January 2022, it's Deel company policy to include probation periods in all employment contracts moving forward.

Probation periods help an employer and the employee ensure they're a hiring match, allowing a company to quickly decide if it's a fit or the employee to see if the job aligns with their career goals.
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Hiring in Latvia, hassle-free

With Deel, your business can easily hire employees in Latvia. No more worrying about local laws, complex tax systems, or managing
international payroll. Deel takes care of everything in 150+ countries.

Group (8)

599 USD

Management fee

Group (9)

24%

Estimate Employer Cost

*of employee salary

Want to learn the cost of hiring an employee in Latvia?

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