Pay transparency rules in Latvia
No. As of 30 June 2026, Latvia has not yet passed a Pay Transparency law. A draft standalone law (the Pay Transparency Law / Darba samaksas pārredzamības likums) was published on 26 March 2026 and consulted on until 9 April 2026, but it has not been adopted or come into force, so Latvia has missed the 7 June 2026 EU deadline. Latvia already requires salary ranges in job adverts (since 2018) and enshrines equal pay in its Labour Law, but the new duties are not yet law. Employers should prepare now and watch for the final law and its commencement date.
The EU Pay Transparency Directive (Directive (EU) 2023/970) is an EU law that requires employers to be open about pay and to act on gender pay gaps. It covers pay information in job adverts, a ban on asking candidates about their pay history, the right of workers to ask what they and comparable colleagues are paid, regular gender pay-gap reporting, and a "joint pay assessment" where a gap of 5% or more cannot be objectively justified. EU countries had until 7 June 2026 to write these rules into their own national law. Until a country passes its own transposing law, the Directive does not directly bind most private employers there. Latvia is transposing it through a brand-new standalone statute, the Pay Transparency Law, rather than by amending its existing Labour Law.
Where Latvia stands right now
Latvia has a draft law but has not yet passed it, so the new duties are not in force.
Latvia chose to transpose the Directive through a new standalone statute, the Pay Transparency Law (Darba samaksas pārredzamības likums), rather than by amending the existing Labour Law. The Ministry of Welfare (Labklājības ministrija) published the draft on 26 March 2026 and ran a public consultation until 9 April 2026. As of 30 June 2026 the draft has not been adopted by the Saeima (parliament) and has no entry-into-force date, so Latvia has missed the 7 June 2026 EU deadline. Latvia is taking a close 1:1 approach, transposing the Directive's minimum requirements without adding extra duties on top. Until the law is passed and commences, the new obligations are not yet binding, but employers should treat them as imminent and prepare.
Job adverts, interviews and salary history
Latvia already requires pay information in job adverts; the new law keeps this and adds a ban on asking candidates about their pay history.
Latvia is ahead of most of the EU here: since 2018 employers have had to state a salary range in job postings. The draft Pay Transparency Law is expected to require pay information in the advert itself, covering not just base pay but supplements, bonuses and other pay elements. Candidates will have the right to pay information before the employment relationship starts. In line with the Directive, employers will be barred from asking applicants about their current or previous pay during recruitment. The exact wording of the Latvian salary-history ban should be confirmed against the final adopted text, as Latvian-language explainers to date have emphasised the job-advert and right-to-information duties more than the history ban.
Pay-gap reporting and the joint pay assessment
Reporting is planned to start at 100+ employees, with first reports due 7 June 2027 for larger employers; a 5% unexplained gap triggers a joint pay assessment.
Gender pay-gap reporting is new ground for Latvia's private sector, where reporting has so far been confined to the public sector. The Ministry of Welfare has confirmed Latvia will not extend reporting below 100 employees, applying only the Directive's minimum. Based on the draft and the Directive's schedule, employers with 250+ staff would report from 7 June 2027 and then annually; those with 150 to 249 staff from 7 June 2027 and then every three years; and those with 100 to 149 staff from 7 June 2031 and then every three years. Where a report shows a gender pay gap of at least 5% that the employer cannot objectively justify and does not fix within six months, the employer must carry out a joint pay assessment with worker representatives. These dates follow the Directive's standard timetable and should be confirmed against Latvia's final law.
Penalties and how it works with an Employer of Record
Proposed fines run up to about €14,000 for companies; an EOR carries these duties as the legal employer.
The draft sets administrative fines of roughly €1,100 to €14,000 for companies and €350 to €700 for individuals, with the top fines aimed at failures such as not reporting pay-gap data, breaching equal-pay rules or refusing a joint pay assessment. Penalty levels are not final until the law is adopted. Where Teamed acts as Employer of Record, Teamed is the legal employer of your staff in Latvia and carries these statutory duties: publishing pay information in adverts, not asking about pay history, responding to workers' pay-information requests, and (once thresholds bite) pay-gap reporting and any joint pay assessment. In practice this is a shared effort: the client sets roles and budgets and provides pay-criteria input, while Teamed operates the compliant process as employer of record.
At a glance
| Pay shown in job ads | Yes (already required since 2018; draft keeps and extends) |
|---|---|
| Salary-history question banned | Proposed (Directive duty; to be in final law) |
| Gender pay-gap reporting from | Proposed 100+ employees |
| First report due | Proposed 7 June 2027 (250+ and 150-249) |
| Penalties | Proposed up to ~€14,000 (companies) |
Key figures
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Transposition status | Draft (not adopted, not in force) (source) |
| Instrument name | Pay Transparency Law (Darba samaksas pārredzamības likums), a new standalone statute (source) |
| Draft published | 26-27 March 2026 (source) |
| Public consultation closed | 9 April 2026 (source) |
| Entry into force | Not yet set (no commencement date; EU 7 June 2026 deadline missed) (source) |
| Pay in job adverts | Already required since 2018; draft keeps and extends to supplements, bonuses and other pay elements (source) |
| Salary history ban | Directive duty (employers cannot ask candidates about pay history); to be transposed in final Latvian law (source) |
| Right to pay information | Workers can request their own pay level and average pay levels by gender for comparable work (source) |
| Reporting threshold | 100+ employees (minimum only; not extended to smaller employers) (source) |
| Reporting cadence and first report | 250+ from 7 June 2027 annually; 150-249 from 7 June 2027 every 3 years; 100-149 from 7 June 2031 every 3 years (Directive timetable) (source) |
| Joint pay assessment trigger | Gender pay gap of 5% or more that is not objectively justified and not corrected within six months (source) |
| Penalties | Proposed fines ~€1,100-€14,000 for companies; €350-€700 for individuals (source) |
Frequently asked questions
Has Latvia passed the EU Pay Transparency Directive into law?
Not yet. A draft standalone Pay Transparency Law (Darba samaksas pārredzamības likums) was published on 26 March 2026 and consulted on until 9 April 2026, but as of 30 June 2026 it has not been adopted by parliament or entered into force. Latvia has missed the 7 June 2026 EU deadline.
Do I already have to put pay in job adverts in Latvia?
Yes. Latvia has required a salary range in job postings since 2018, separately from the new Directive. The draft Pay Transparency Law keeps this and is expected to extend it to cover supplements, bonuses and other pay elements, not just base pay.
Which employers will have to report their gender pay gap?
Latvia plans to apply reporting only to employers with 100 or more employees, the Directive's minimum, and has confirmed it will not extend it to smaller employers. Larger employers (250+ and 150 to 249) are expected to report first, from 7 June 2027. These details should be confirmed against the final adopted law.
What is the joint pay assessment?
If pay-gap reporting shows a gender pay gap of at least 5% that the employer cannot objectively justify and does not correct within six months, the employer must run a joint pay assessment with worker representatives to find and fix the causes. This is a core Directive requirement that Latvia's draft transposes.
If Teamed is our Employer of Record in Latvia, who handles these duties?
Teamed does, as the legal employer. Once the law is in force, Teamed carries the statutory duties (pay in adverts, no salary-history questions, responding to pay-information requests, and pay-gap reporting and joint assessments where thresholds apply). The client still provides role definitions, budgets and pay-criteria input so the process reflects your business.
Pay transparency is moving at different speeds across the EU. When Teamed is your legal employer in Latvia, these duties sit with us: compliant pay ranges, the salary-history rule, employee pay-information requests, and reporting where it applies. We track the law as it changes so your hiring stays compliant.
