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Commission Report (2002): Latvia
Progress was made on alignment of the social acquis as the new Labour Code
entered into force, but alignment is yet to be completed, notably regarding
the new acquis. In line with the requirements of the Action Plan, training to
ensure its enforcement was carried out. On equal treatment for women and men,
the Policy document of Gender Equality was approved and the Gender Equality
Council established; the enforcement of the acquis in this field has still to
be ensured. Regarding health and safety at work, the entry into force of the
Law on Labour Protection as well as secondary legislation constitutes good
progress, but transposition is not complete. Developments regarding
strengthening of administrative and enforcement structures, required under
the Action Plan, are on track; the State Labour Inspectorate Law was adopted
and training activities to strengthen the capacity of the State Labour
Inspectorate were pursued; further reinforcement of the labour inspectorates
is however necessary to ensure effective implementation of the acquis. The
approval of the Law on the Protection of Employees in the Event of Insolvency
of their Employer was an important step, but the implementation of the Law
and the creation of the guarantee fund are pending. No new legislation
against discrimination was adopted; no timetable for its implementation was
developed. Concerning public health, in the domain of communicable disease
surveillance, control legislation was adopted to align with the acquis;
however, new legislation with rules on communicable diseases notification,
surveillance and reporting forms is needed. A Public Health Agency was also
established and various training activities were undertaken by the Agency,
but the Action Plan to ensure the implementation of the Public Health
Strategy is still pending; better operationality of the system needs also to
be ensured. On social dialogue, no particular actions were reported and the
law on Labour Disputes Settlement is still pending. However, a series of
measures to strengthen the social dialogue in general and the bi-partite
social dialogue in particular are envisaged. On social inclusion, work is
underway, as required by the Action Plan, concerning a joint co-operation
exercise on social inclusion. In the context of the national employment
strategy, progress was made in terms of training activities in the framework
of the National Training Plan for the European Social Fund (ESF) as foreseen
under the Action Plan. Therefore, the Accession Partnership priorities in the
area of social policy and employment have been partially met. The time
schedule set out in the Action Plan is being largely respected.
© European Commission
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