Working Days – Latvia
In Latvia, public holidays are official non-working days during which employees do not work and receive compensation. Employees are entitled to a 40-hour work week, and public holiday dates are counted as full working days without deduction.
Annual summary
| Other year | Working days | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 249 | |
| 2026 | 250 | |
| 2027 | 252 | |
| 2028 | 252 |
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Holiday rules and practice in Latvia
How public holidays work in Latvia, and what that means when you count working days.
- Standard work week
- Monday–Friday
- 40 hours per week
- Substitute days
- Yes
- Section 133 of the Labour Law moves specific holidays only: when 1 May, 4 May or 18 November falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the following working day becomes a holiday. The remaining holidays are not moved.
- Regional variation
- No
- Public holidays apply uniformly across the whole country.
Bank holidays
Latvian law uses svētku dienas (holidays). There is no bank-holiday category.
Local terminology
| Working day | darba diena |
|---|---|
| Public holiday | svētku diena |
| Moved working day | pārceltā darba diena |
Worth knowing
- The Cabinet of Ministers separately announces pārceltās darba dienas (moved working days) each year, shifting a working day onto a nearby Saturday so that an isolated weekday between a holiday and a weekend becomes free.
- Midsummer is a two-day break every year: Līgo Day on 23 June and Jāņi on 24 June.
- Christmas Eve (24 December) and New Year’s Eve (31 December) are both public holidays in Latvia, which is unusual within the EU.
- Latvia follows the Western Easter calendar, so Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday align with most of the EU rather than with Orthodox dates.
About this data
Neither the partial substitute-day rule nor the annually announced moved working days are applied here. Treat these totals as the statutory baseline and check the current year’s Cabinet regulation before finalising a schedule.
Frequently asked questions
Does an employee receive additional compensation if they work on a public holiday?
Yes, if an employee works on a public holiday, it is considered overtime work. The employer must pay additional compensation in accordance with applicable regulations, typically at an increased rate or as a compensatory day off at a later date.
How is salary calculated if a public holiday falls in the middle of a working week?
Public holidays are counted as full working days and do not affect salary calculation. Employees receive their full salary without any reduction, even if the holiday falls on what would normally be a working day.
Are Good Friday and Easter Sunday counted as public holidays?
Yes, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and Easter Monday are public holidays in Latvia. These days are mandatory non-working days, and employees receive compensation without additional conditions.
How is the number of working days calculated over a year in relation to public holidays?
The annual number of working days is 260 days minus the number of public holiday dates. The number of public holidays may vary each year, as some holidays (for example, Easter) are determined by the lunar calendar, so the calculation must be performed for each year individually.
Is a half-day or partial rest on a public holiday compensated?
No, in Latvia public holidays are full non-working days and are not divided into hourly portions. If an employee works a portion of a public holiday, it is considered overtime work and is compensated accordingly.