Running a staffing agency in Latvia from outside the EU
Your company is based outside the EU and you want to supply workers to client companies in Latvia, through a Latvian company or from an agency elsewhere in the EU. Three rules shape the project: a State Employment Agency (NVA) licence for placement services, the agency's status as employer of the workers it supplies, and a posting notice in which an agency must prove it may supply workers in its home State. This guide takes each rule in turn, with a link to the official text.
What a staffing agency owes in Latvia
Seven obligations, who carries them and when they apply.
| Obligation | Rule | Who | When or how long | Official source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Placement licence | NVA licence for employment placement services, even when they are free | The company providing placement services | Before providing the service; decision within 1 month, extendable to 4 | NVA, Cabinet Regulation No. 458 |
| State fee | EUR 500, or EUR 50 to reissue the licence | The applicant | At application; licence valid 3 years | NVA |
| Licence conditions | Commercial company, no tax debts, no relevant administrative offences in the past year, not insolvent, managers without certain convictions | The applicant and its managers | At application | NVA |
| Employer status | The provider of the labour supply service is the worker's employer | The agency | For every assignment | Labour Law, Section 4(2) |
| Rights at the client | Access to the user company's vacancies and facilities; a clause barring direct hire is void | The agency and the user company | During the assignment and in every client contract | Labour Law, Section 96.1 |
| Posting notice | Electronic notice in Latvian to the State Labour Inspectorate (VDI), with the agency's proof of its right to supply workers at home | An EU or EEA employer posting workers to Latvia | Before the posting | Labour Law, Section 14 |
| Posting follow-up | Report changes, name a representative in Latvia, keep the documents | The posting employer | Changes within 3 working days | Labour Law, Section 14(3), (4), (6) |
The rest of this page takes each line in turn. Fees and periods are those on the official pages as read on 6 November 2026.
The NVA licence for placement services
Issued by the State Employment Agency under Cabinet Regulation No. 458 of 3 July 2007.
In Latvia, a company that provides employment placement services (darbiekārtošanas pakalpojumi) needs a licence from the State Employment Agency (Nodarbinātības valsts aģentūra, NVA). The obligation applies even when the service is free of charge. The NVA updated its page on these services on 6 November 2026 (NVA, placement services).
EUR 500, valid for 3 years
The state fee for the licence is EUR 500, and reissuing it costs EUR 50. The licence is valid for 3 years. The NVA takes its decision within 1 month, a period that can be extended to 4 months (Cabinet Regulation No. 458).
Who can hold the licence
The applicant must be a commercial company with no tax debts, no relevant administrative offences in the past year, and no insolvency. Its managers must not have certain convictions. No deposit or bank guarantee appears among these conditions. The regulation also limits what an agency may charge jobseekers (NVA).
Suspension and withdrawal
The NVA can suspend a licence for up to 6 months or withdraw it (NVA).
Placement or labour supply
The licence is described for placement services. The NVA page does not say explicitly whether supplying workers to a user company, which the Labour Law calls darbaspēka nodrošināšana, also requires it (NVA). If your agency will place candidates and supply workers, or only supply workers, put the question to the NVA in writing before the first assignment.
Your agency is the employer
What the Labour Law puts on the agency and on its client.
Under the Latvian Labour Law, the provider of a labour supply service (darbaspēka nodrošināšanas pakalpojuma sniedzējs) is the employer of the worker it supplies (Labour Law, Section 4(2)). The employment contract sits with your agency, not with the client company where the person works.
Vacancies and facilities at the client
Agency workers have access to the user company's vacancies and to its facilities (Labour Law, Section 96.1). Agree with each client how vacancies will reach the workers you supply.
No-hire clauses are void
A clause that forbids the user company from hiring the worker directly is void (Labour Law, Section 96.1). Check your client terms before the first assignment, above all if they come from a template written for another country.
Equal pay
EU law requires agency workers to get, during the assignment, at least the basic working conditions they would have if the user company had recruited them directly for the same job (Directive 2008/104, art. 5). We did not locate the section of the Latvian Labour Law that carries this rule into national law, so this page gives no Latvian wording for it. Ask the State Labour Inspectorate or a licensed adviser how it applies to your pay grid before you quote rates to clients.
Posting agency workers into Latvia
For an agency established in another EU or EEA country that sends its workers to Latvian clients.
An employer from the EU or EEA that posts workers to Latvia notifies the State Labour Inspectorate (Valsts darba inspekcija, VDI) electronically, in Latvian, before the posting starts. When the employer is an agency, the notice says so. The notice also carries the A1 certificates and confirmation that any third-country nationals among the workers work legally in the sending State (Labour Law, Section 14(1) and (2)).
Proof of your right to supply workers at home
An agency's notice must include confirmation that it is entitled to provide these services in its own State (Labour Law, Section 14(2)). Without that proof, the notice to the VDI is not in order. Get the proof from your home authority before you sign Latvian clients.
Changes, representative, records
Changes to the posting are reported within 3 working days. The employer names a representative in Latvia and keeps the posting documents (Labour Law, Section 14(3), (4) and (6)).
Legal work in the sending State
For third-country nationals, the notice confirms that they work legally in the State the agency sends them from (Labour Law, Section 14). This page does not cover permits for third-country nationals hired directly by a Latvian agency. Check those with the migration authority before you recruit.
The rule we read applies to employers from the EU or EEA. We found no official text describing how an agency established outside them would post workers into Latvia, and EU law bars treating such an agency more favourably than an EU one (Directive 96/71, art. 1(4)). For the posting side in other countries, see our guide to posted workers in Europe.
Two routes for a non-EU founder
A Latvian company that applies for the licence, or an agency elsewhere in the EU that posts into Latvia.
Form an SIA and apply to the NVA
The licence goes to a commercial company that meets the NVA conditions (NVA). A Latvian limited company (SIA) owned from abroad gives you a commercial company to apply with. It then employs the workers it supplies under the Latvian Labour Law and contracts with Latvian clients directly.
Post into Latvia with a home authorisation
An agency in another EU State posts through the VDI notice and must show its right to supply workers at home. Under EU case law, it also needs a significant part of its assignments to be for user companies in that State before it can obtain A1 certificates there (Court of Justice, C-784/19 Team Power Europe).
The EU base is the same in every country of this guide: equal treatment of agency workers during the assignment (Directive 2008/104), agencies left outside the Services Directive so that each State keeps its own authorisation regime (Directive 2006/123, art. 2(2)(e)), and host-country conditions for agency workers posted across a border, applied since 30 July 2020 (Directive 2018/957). Our country comparison for staffing agencies in Europe sets Latvia against the other markets.
From company to first assignment
In the order a newcomer meets them. Only the periods set by the official texts are given.
Settle the licence question
Ask the NVA in writing whether your model needs the licence, in particular if you supply workers rather than place candidates.
Form the company and check the conditions
A commercial company with no tax debts, no relevant administrative offences in the past year, no insolvency, and managers without the convictions the regulation lists.
Apply to the NVA and pay the state fee
The fee is EUR 500. Reissuing the licence later costs EUR 50.
NVA decision
The licence is valid for 3 years.
Align client and employment contracts
Your agency employs the workers. Client terms must not bar direct hire, and workers get access to the client's vacancies and facilities.
Notify the VDI
Electronic notice in Latvian, with proof of your right to supply workers at home, the A1 certificates and the third-country workers' status.
Update the posting notice
Keep a representative in Latvia and the posting documents on file.
Licence period ends
The sources we read do not describe a renewal procedure. Ask the NVA well before the licence expires.
What the official sources do not settle
Some points stay open after reading the official texts. The NVA page does not say explicitly whether supplying workers to a user company needs the placement licence. We did not locate the section of the Labour Law that gives agency workers equal pay with staff hired directly. The sources we read also name no sector closed to agency work in Latvia, and they do not describe how an agency established outside the EU or EEA would post workers there. Confirm each point with the NVA, the State Labour Inspectorate or a licensed adviser before you rely on it.
What Balt Partners coordinates
We are based in Riga, so the Latvian side of your agency is handled here, with licensed advisers for regulated advice.
Obligation map
The licence conditions, employer duties and posting steps that apply to your model, with each deadline from this page in one calendar.
Your Latvian SIA
Formation of the commercial company the licence asks for, with its bank account and accounting set-up, handled from Riga.
NVA licence coordination
We prepare the licence file with you and coordinate with the State Employment Agency. A licensed local adviser gives the legal view on whether your labour supply model falls under the licence.
Contracts and posting checks
We bring in a licensed adviser in Latvia to review your client and employment contracts against the Labour Law, and the VDI notice if you post from another EU country.
Latvia is one market among several on your list? Start from our guide to running a staffing agency in Europe. If the company itself comes first, read how a foreign company opens a Latvian subsidiary.
Questions about running a staffing agency in Latvia
Employment placement services need a licence from the State Employment Agency (NVA), even when they are free. The NVA page does not say explicitly whether supplying workers to a user company also needs it, so ask the NVA in writing before your first assignment.
The state fee is EUR 500, and reissuing the licence costs EUR 50. The licence is valid for 3 years. The NVA decides within 1 month, a period that can be extended to 4 months.
The licence goes to a commercial company with no tax debts, no relevant administrative offences in the past year, no insolvency and managers without certain convictions. A Latvian SIA owned from abroad can be that applicant. The sources we read do not say whether a foreign company without a Latvian entity can apply.
The agency. Under Section 4(2) of the Labour Law, the provider of the labour supply service is the employer of the worker it supplies, not the user company where the person works.
A clause that forbids the user company from hiring the worker directly is void under Section 96.1 of the Labour Law. The same section gives agency workers access to the user company's vacancies and facilities.
It notifies the State Labour Inspectorate electronically, in Latvian, before the posting. The notice states that the employer is an agency and attaches confirmation of its right to provide these services in its own State, the A1 certificates and confirmation that third-country workers work legally there. Changes are reported within 3 working days.
The NVA can suspend the licence for up to 6 months or withdraw it. For a posting agency, a notice to the State Labour Inspectorate without proof of its right to supply workers at home is not in order.