Three working days will be switched to weekends in 2021 in Latvia

Take note – story published 3 years ago

In 2021, there will be three working days that will be switched to holidays in order to accommodate Latvians' desire to celebrate signifcant festivals properly.

Monday, May 3 (which falls between the holiday of Tuesday May 4, and Sunday, May 2), Friday, June 25 (which falls between the Jāņi holiday on June 24 and Saturday, June 26), Friday, November 19 (which falls between the Independence Day holiday on November 18, and Saturday, November 20) will all be public holidays.

However, few things in this life come for free so these working days have been postponed to Saturday 8 May, Saturday 19 June and Saturday 13 November respectively. The switcharound was agreed  at the government meeting on Tuesday, June 30, 2020.

The order will apply to public administration institutions financed from the state budget, which have a five-week week from Monday to Friday. All local governments, merchants and organizations are recommended to observe the relevant postponement of the working day when determining working and rest time.

The Labor Law provides for the possibility to transfer working days. It states that if, within a working week, one working day falls between a public holiday and a weekly rest period, the employer may designate that working day as a holiday and postpone it to a Saturday in the same week or in another week within the same month. The total number of working days in a calendar year will not change.

If an employee is unable to attend the posting day on the basis of his or her religious beliefs or other valid reasons, that day shall be regarded as the day of the employee's paid annual leave or, at the agreement of the employer, shall be worked at another time.

The transfer of working days has become a tradition in Latvia, though it seems a bit odd to some other countries. Nevertheless, it is not unknown for people to show up for work when they shouldn't -- and vice versa.

Seen a mistake?

Select text and press Ctrl+Enter to send a suggested correction to the editor

Select text and press Report a mistake to send a suggested correction to the editor

Related articles

More

Most important