In several sectors which have the most job vacancies and the highest labor shortages, the monthly gross wage of workers is lower than the general average monthly gross wage in the country. These sectors are, for example, hospitality, passenger transport, construction, security sector, and others.
Until now, there was a requirement that foreigners be paid the average wage in the country, not in the industry, creating a situation where local workers not subject to such a requirement are paid less than foreigners.
From now on, all labor market participants will be subject to uniform rules. The salary of the foreign labor force will be determined as not less than the average monthly gross wage of Latvian workers in the particular sector in the previous year.
It is expected that the changes will contribute to the competitiveness of sectors, increase production volumes, and attract investments, thus also having a positive impact on the business environment in Latvia as a whole, says Economics Ministry.
These changes are part of a regulatory package aimed at reducing the administrative burden on entrepreneurs and simplifying the process of attracting foreign labor.
