Latest developments in 2018

AuthorKamenska, Anhelita
Pages93-94
93
12 LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN 2018
12.1 Legislative amendments
Amendments to the General Education Law of 21 June 2018, which determine tha t
special education institutions shall implement special education programmes for pupils
with mental development d isorders, mental health disorders, serious mental
development disorders or several serious d evelopmental disorders, as well as edu cation
programmes for pupils with sight or hearing impairments, will come into force on 1
September 2020. Pupils with physical development (mobility) impairment, somatic
symptom disorders, speech dis orders and learning difficulties will be integrated in general
education schools.294 Until 1 S eptember 2020, children with these disorders will remain in
special education insti tutions. These developmen ts will also affect the tran sfer of around
130 Roma children to general education schools.
The L abour Law prohibits discrimination in employment relations on grounds of gender,
(Article 29(1)), race, age, religious conviction, political or other conviction, national or
social origin, property or family status, sexual orientation, disability, and ‘ other
circumstances(Article 29(9)). Article 29(3) provides for the reversal of the burden of
proof on grounds of gender, while Article 29(9) provides that the burden of proof
provisions also apply to the prohibition of differential treatment based on other listed
grounds.
On 1 November 2018, the Parliament added Section (31) to Article 29, which explicitly
provides for a shift in the burden of proof in cases of discrimination on grounds of
language: ‘If in the case of a dispute an employee indicates conditions which may serve
as a basis for his or he r direct or indirect discrimination based on language, the employer
has a duty to prove that the differential treatment is based on objective circumstances
not related to the em ployees language proficiency, or that a specific language proficiency
is an objective and substantiated precondition for the performance of the relevant work
or the relevant employm ent.At the same time, language was not explicitly added to the
prohibited list of discrimination grounds.
The Par liament added an identical Section (22) to Article 32, providin g for a sh ift in the
burden of proof in cases of job advertisements with allegedly unjustified foreign language
proficiency requirem ents. If in the case of a dispute an employee indicates conditions
which may serve as a basis for his or her d irect or indirect disc rimination based on
language, the employer has a duty to prove that the differential treatment is based on
objective circumstances not related to the employees language proficiency, or that a
specific language proficiency i s an objective and substantiated precondition for the
performance of the relevant work or th e relevant employment. (See 6.3)
The Parliament also added Section 4 to Article 56, prohibiting employers from requiring
employee-specific foreign lang uage proficiency if its u se is not required for th e fulfilment
of work duties. If f oreign language pro ficiency is not requ ired in the fulfilment of work
duties, the employer has no right to prohibit employees from using the state language.
On 21 June 2012 the Parliament amended the Labour Law by adding a new Section 21 to
Article 32, prohibiting the requirement for prof iciency in a specific foreign language in a
job advertisement except for cases when it is objectively n ecessary for the f ulfilment of
work duties.295
294 Latvia, Amendments to the General Education Law, Article 51(5), https://likumi.lv/ta/id /300102-grozijumi-
visparejas-izglitibas-likuma.
295 Latvia, Law on Amendments to the Labour Law (Likums Grozjumi Darba likum), 21.06.2012.
Although no specific foreign language was indicated, the amendments were aimed at restricting the
requirement for Russian language profic iency in practice, to prevent the alleged discrimination against

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