Are parents entitled to a day off on September 1 if their extra leave is already used up?
Latvia's State Labour Inspectorate explains that the law does not guarantee parents paid leave on the first day of school, though several alternative options exist.
Every year on September 1, many Latvian parents want to be with their child, especially if it is the child's first day of school. However, this date does not always fall on a day off, leaving working parents to find ways to reconcile this important family occasion with their job duties.
LA.LV asked the State Labour Inspectorate (VDI) what a parent can do if their employer refuses to grant time off on September 1 and the parent has already used up the additional leave provided by law.
The law does not guarantee a special day off
The VDI explains that the Labour Law does not automatically entitle an employee to paid leave in connection with a child starting school. An employer may, but is not obliged to, provide for such an option in the company's internal regulations or collective agreement.
Where no such arrangement exists, parents typically rely on the annual paid additional leave set out in Article 151 of the Labour Law. Employees caring for three or more children under 16, or a child with a disability under 18, are entitled to three working days of such leave, while those with fewer than three children under 14 are entitled to at least one day. This leave is not tied to a specific date and can be used on September 1 or any other day tied to a significant family event.
What if the additional leave has already been used?
If this leave has already been used, the VDI recommends first checking the company's internal rules, since the employer may offer other forms of support or additional days off employees can use at their own discretion. If no such option exists, an employee may request part of their regular paid annual leave or unpaid leave.
In either case, however, the decision is not the employee's alone. Under Article 149 of the Labour Law, annual leave must generally be taken as a single, uninterrupted block, and splitting it into parts requires mutual agreement with the employer. Similarly, while employers may grant unpaid leave, they are only obliged to do so in the specific cases listed in Article 153 of the Labour Law. In practice, much depends on reaching an agreement between employee and employer.
