Thursday, October 29, 2026

Headlines

public welfare

What you need to know about changes in laws and regulations in 2026

Greater support for residents, including families with children, a reduced value added tax rate for certain food products, simplified implementation of small-scale construction projects, the introduction of a unified building registration service, improved queue management for medical examinations – these and other changes will affect the daily lives of Latvia’s residents starting from 2026, the Cabinet of Ministers reports. Support for families From 1 January 2026 […]

In Jelgava, concern about the harmful activities of Muciņš, the hospital director appointed without a competition

Among the medical staff of Jelgava City Hospital, concerns are growing about the actions of the temporarily appointed, non-competitively selected hospital director Rinalds Muciņš, which may significantly worsen the availability of hospital services for the residents of Jelgava and the surrounding region; moreover, his management style and methods are already undermining the team spirit and motivation of the medical staff. The conflict between the hospital’s management and the medical personnel has been simmering for quite a while […]

Latvia’s budget expenditures for sick leave are five times higher than Lithuania’s and 90 million higher than Estonia’s

Latvia spends 350 million euros per year on paying employees’ sick leave, while Lithuania uses only 70 million euros per year for this purpose, despite the fact that Lithuania has 40% more inhabitants, according to information compiled by LDDK. Such a huge difference arises due to the sick leave payment model. Thus, in Latvia the employee pays for their own first sick day, then 75% […]

SIF spends more on maintaining the institution itself than on media, NGO and family support programs combined

Should the Society Integration Foundation (SIF) be liquidated? This question has surfaced on social media after the Union of Greens and Farmers submitted a proposal in the Saeima to liquidate it. Inc. looked into how SIF spends the budget funds that are allocated to this organization every year; in 2025 this amounts to 37 million euros.  An interesting picture emerges – SIF not only for maintaining the institution itself SIF […]

Freedom by overworking and growth in drama

It is 2018, 10:30 p.m. A bottle of wine in my left hand. A box of tissues in my right. Feverish after a 15-hour workday, yet feeling lighter than I had in years – both literally and figuratively. For the first time in many years, I wasn’t carrying a laptop. It was my last day in the United Kingdom before moving back to Riga. Two thoughts were running through my head: 1. This is […]

The prohibition on adding flavorings to electronic cigarettes complies with the Constitution

The Constitutional Court has recognized as compatible with the state’s fundamental law the provisions establishing restrictions on the composition of electronic smoking devices and tobacco substitute products. The Court emphasizes that commercial activity is important for the development of the national economy; however, in the present case it must be taken into account that the benefit from the restriction of fundamental rights contained in the contested regulation is enjoyed by each individual as well as by society as a whole, since the contested regulation reduces electronic […]

Create a “crisis support center” for farmers in difficulty

To ensure timely and coordinated economic and legal advisory support for farmers in difficulty, close cooperation and effective information exchange between the institutions involved is necessary. Therefore, in order to provide crisis assistance to farmers in difficulty, the Minister of Agriculture Armands Krauze has instructed the Latvian Rural Advisory and Training Centre (LLKC) to establish communication channels (telephone, e-mail, online form, in person) by 24 October. The latest […]

In the border area, there is concern about the purchase prices of properties needed for arranging the border: Thousands of hectares will have to be bought back

The proposal by President Edgars Rinkēvičs to expand the Eastern border strip by 30 meters means adapting at least 1,344 hectares for this purpose – buying back private property, cutting down forests, ploughing the soil. To make the border area safer, it will also be necessary to buy other properties from their owners. Due to a lack of information in the border region, this has already caused concern among residents, who are hoping for fair compensation, yet there is no information about it. […]

An employee will be able to leave without notice if the salary is delayed by two weeks: severance pay will have to be paid

An employee whose salary payment is delayed by at least two weeks will be able to terminate the employment contract immediately with the right to receive severance pay, according to amendments to the Labour Law that have reached the Cabinet of Ministers. Although the amendments still have to be examined by the Saeima, this is one of the planned changes on which there is conditional consensus, namely, both trade union representatives and employers have managed to agree on it […]