Latvia · Employer of Record · Payroll Services · PEO
You have found the person you want to hire in Latvia — now you need a compliant way to employ them. JN Recruitment is the expansion partner that connects international companies with vetted Employer of Record and payroll partners in Latvia — plus the employment lawyers, tax advisors and accountants a Latvian expansion actually needs — and delivers the boutique recruitment that finds the candidate in the first place.
for an EOR to issue a compliant Latvian employment contract once documents are complete
employer social insurance (VSAOI) on a Latvian gross salary — budgeted before you make the offer
no SIA required — with an Employer of Record, the partner is the legal employer in Latvia
our recommendation is free — the best specialist from our vetted Latvian network, matched to your case
Payroll partner Latvia
Riga is the commercial hub of the Baltics — and Latvian payroll has real teeth for a first-time employer. Every employee must be registered with the State Revenue Service (SRS) before their first day, the employer owes roughly 23.6% social insurance (VSAOI) on top of gross salary, monthly employer reports go through the SRS electronic declaration system (EDS), and the Labour Law prescribes written contracts, probation limits and notice rules that are enforced. Companies that have already found their candidate lose weeks here — or improvise with a service contract that the SRS later reclassifies as employment.
There are two clean routes. If you have (or will build) a Latvian entity, a payroll service provider in Latvia runs the monthly payroll, EDS filings and registrations for you. If you have no entity and don’t want one yet, an Employer of Record (EOR) employs your hire legally in Latvia while you direct the day-to-day work — what many US companies would call a PEO. The Latvian provider market is small and quality varies sharply between the serious payroll bureaus and the box-tickers. And sooner or later a Latvian expansion also needs an employment lawyer for the contract, a tax advisor for the registrations and an accountant for the books. We vet all of it for you.
JN Recruitment is a boutique recruitment firm headquartered in Mannheim, with offices in Poland and Cyprus — and the expansion partner international companies use for the Latvian market. Years of placing people across the Baltics have built us a network of the best employment lawyers, tax advisors, payroll bureaus, accountants and EOR providers in the region. We recommend exactly the specialists your case needs — free of charge, at the partner’s standard rates — and stay your single point of contact. What we deliver ourselves is the headhunting: the sales recruitment agency for Latvia that international machinery, industrial-technology and recycling companies already use to enter the market.
What we arrange
Whatever stage your Latvia plans are at — first hire without an entity, or a full team on an existing SIA — this is what our vetted network delivers: EOR providers, payroll bureaus, employment lawyers, tax advisors and accountants, matched and introduced by us:
The partner becomes the legal employer of your hire in Latvia — Latvian employment contract, SRS registration, payroll, VSAOI social insurance, income-tax withholding — while you manage the work day-to-day. Live within days, no SIA required. The standard route for a first hire in Latvia.
For companies with a Latvian entity: a specialised payroll bureau runs the monthly payroll, files employer reports and contribution declarations through the SRS electronic declaration system (EDS), registers new hires before day one and issues payslips — no in-house Latvian payroll expertise needed.
Searching for a “PEO Latvia”? The US-style PEO doesn’t exist 1:1 under Latvian law — the compliant equivalents are EOR employment or outsourced payroll on your own entity. We translate what you actually need into the right Latvian construct.
Specialised employment lawyers for watertight contracts under the Latvian Labour Law, tax advisors for registrations and the progressive income-tax bands, accountants for the books — the advisory bench every Latvian expansion eventually needs, already vetted and briefed.
Onboarding paperwork, absence tracking and statutory registrations — plus audits of Latvian contractor setups: the SRS reclassifies disguised employment, and back-dated VSAOI lands on the employer. Partners convert contractors into compliant employment before that happens.
The part we deliver ourselves: executive search for technical sales and leadership roles in Latvia and the wider Baltics. If you don’t have the candidate yet, we find them — then plug employment and payroll in behind the signed offer.
Market knowledge
Latvian employment is compact and rule-based — predictable once you know the numbers. The essentials we brief every company on before a Latvian hire:
The employer’s state social insurance contribution is 23.59% of gross salary, with a further 10.5% withheld from the employee — covering pension, health, unemployment, maternity and accident risks in one rate. A solidarity-tax mechanism applies above a high annual income cap, so the effective rate stays roughly flat even for top earners.
New employees must be reported to the State Revenue Service (SRS) via the electronic declaration system (EDS) no later than one day before they start work. Miss it and the hire is technically undeclared labour — one of the compliance points Latvia polices actively. An EOR or payroll partner files it as a matter of routine.
Probation is three months by default and can be agreed up to six for higher-paid roles; a resigning employee gives one month’s notice. Latvian hires therefore start fast — but employer-side termination after probation needs a statutory ground and written justification, so contracts must be right from day one.
Latvia’s minimum wage is ≈€740 per month (2025) and has been raised repeatedly in recent years. Professional salaries sit well above it, but the floor matters for junior and industrial roles — and it drives the minimum VSAOI base that applies even to part-time contracts in many cases.
Employer cost benchmarks
Payroll quotes in Latvia are built on the statutory social insurance both sides pay on gross salary. The current picture — the source of the “roughly 24% on top” rule every employer budget should use:
| Contribution | Employer pays | Employee pays |
|---|---|---|
| State social insurance, VSAOI (employer share) | 23.59% | — |
| State social insurance, VSAOI (employee share, withheld) | — | 10.5% |
| Personal income tax (withheld at source) | — | 25.5% (33% above the high-income threshold) |
| Business risk state duty | €0.36 per employee / month | — |
Orientation figures for 2025/2026, rounded: the income-tax bands were restructured in 2025, reduced VSAOI rates apply to some categories (e.g. pensioners), and a solidarity tax replaces VSAOI above the annual income cap. Rule of thumb: a €45,000 gross salary costs the employer roughly €56,000 all-in. Your payroll or EOR partner’s quote is the binding number.
Yes. An Employer of Record (EOR) employs your candidate in Latvia on your behalf: the EOR holds the Latvian employment contract, registers the employee with the State Revenue Service (SRS) before day one, runs payroll and pays the social insurance contributions, while you direct the day-to-day work. No SIA, no Latvian bank account, no registrations on your side. It is the standard route for a first hire in Latvia — and because Riga-based roles are often scoped Baltics-wide, one compliant Latvian employment frequently carries a three-country market entry.
The EOR is the legal employer under Latvian law. It issues a written contract compliant with the Labour Law, reports the hire to the SRS via the electronic declaration system (EDS), withholds income tax and the employee’s 10.5% VSAOI share, pays the employer’s 23.59% contribution, files monthly employer reports, issues payslips and administers the statutory four weeks of paid annual leave and sick pay. You remain in charge of the work itself — targets, tasks, tools, day-to-day management — and reimburse the EOR for gross salary, employer contributions and a service fee.
Typical EOR pricing for Latvia is a flat €200–500 per employee per month, or a percentage of gross salary — on top of the salary itself and roughly 23.6% employer social insurance. Compare that with the alternative: forming and running an SIA means formation, share capital, accounting, annual filings and a local payroll setup — rarely worth it below two to three employees. We match you with a partner whose pricing fits your head-count and flag the all-in monthly number before you commit.
Budget roughly 23.6–24%: the employer’s VSAOI contribution of 23.59% plus the small business-risk duty. The employee’s side — 10.5% VSAOI and income tax at 25.5% (33% above the high-income threshold) — is withheld from gross, not added on top. There are no German-style contribution ceilings to model at normal salary levels; above a high annual cap, a solidarity tax keeps the employer’s effective rate roughly unchanged. As a rule of thumb, a €45,000 gross salary costs the employer roughly €56,000 all-in per year, before any bonus, car or EOR fee.
In the US, a PEO co-employs your staff while you keep your own entity; an EOR employs them fully so you don’t need one. Latvian law has no 1:1 equivalent of the US PEO model — the compliant constructs are EOR employment (no entity needed) or outsourced payroll and HR administration on your own SIA. Providers use both labels loosely, which is precisely why we check what a partner actually delivers before we introduce them.
Yes. Latvia permits temporary-agency work under EU rules, and there is no German-style 18-month cap on how long an EOR arrangement can run. The compliance risks sit in the basics: the SRS registration must be filed before the employee starts, equal-treatment rules apply, and a provider that under-declares VSAOI leaves you exposed to Latvia’s undeclared-labour enforcement. Provider substance and filing discipline are the first things we verify in our partner vetting.
Yes. If your SIA or branch already exists, a Latvian payroll partner takes over the monthly run: payslips, income-tax and VSAOI calculations, employer reports through the SRS electronic declaration system, new-hire registrations before day one, holiday accruals and year-end statements. Typical pricing runs per payslip per month and is modest by Western European standards. The same partners handle employer registration with the SRS if your entity has never employed anyone in Latvia before.
Via EOR: the Latvian employment contract and SRS registration are typically ready within three to five working days once the candidate’s documents are complete. Building your own entity first takes weeks including registrations and bank account. In practice the binding constraint is usually the candidate’s one-month resignation notice — short by European standards, and, as recruiters, the part we actively manage for you.
Only if they are genuinely self-employed. The SRS actively reviews contractor arrangements, and a relationship with one client, fixed hours and integration into your team can be reclassified as employment — with back-dated VSAOI and penalties landing largely on you. Latvia has run visible campaigns against undeclared and under-declared labour for years, so the risk is not theoretical. If the working reality is employment, EOR employment costs little more and removes it; our partners also audit and convert existing contractor setups.
No — and that is deliberate. JN Recruitment is a boutique recruitment firm and your expansion partner for Latvia: over years of placing candidates across the Baltics we have built a vetted network of the best employment lawyers, tax advisors, payroll bureaus, accountants and EOR providers — and we recommend exactly the specialists your case needs. You contract directly with the partner at their standard rates; the recommendation costs you nothing, and we stay your single point of contact. What we deliver ourselves is the search: if the candidate doesn’t exist yet, our Latvian headhunting finds them.
Across Europe
The same specialised technical sales search opens every market on the continent — pick the country you are expanding into.
Hiring in several markets at once?
Hiring at leadership level? Our executive search practice:
Candidate found — and now need a compliant way to employ them?
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Our mission is simple: placements that open new markets.
30-minute intro call
Two quick steps — tell us what you need and how to reach you. Within one business day you get an intro call and, where it fits, a direct introduction to the right specialists from our vetted network.
Your contact person Jonas Strambach Director & Senior Recruiter, JN Recruitment +49 1525 2077583 [email protected] Thank you — we’ll get back to you within one business day to schedule your intro call.
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Before you go
Every month a key sales seat stays empty pushes your expansion plans back — and leaves serious revenue on the table. We fill technical sales positions within weeks, so you hit your expansion targets on schedule.
Jonas Strambach Director & Senior Recruiter, JN Recruitment Free vacancy check · reply within 24 hours
