The Latvian Aviation Trade Union called on 30 October for airBaltic to pause cabin crew assessments. According to LETA’s account of its letter, staff had from 17:00 on 29 October until 23:59 on 31 October to submit personal, family and health information — just under 55 hours.
What does the company say?
airBaltic told LSM on 28 October that criteria followed consultations and used existing assessment systems. Planned cuts of around 100 pilot and 200 cabin crew positions remained provisional; cabin crew cuts concerned Riga. This is the company’s earlier explanation, not a response to the new letter.
Research for this article found no final decision by a competent authority or court declaring this specific procedure unlawful. Nor was confirmation found that the requested pause had occurred. A public dispute and an established violation are different evidential positions.
Why might family information be needed during redundancies?
Latvia’s State Labour Inspectorate explains that performance and qualifications are compared first. If they do not differ substantially, statutory retention preferences apply, including certain family circumstances and disability. Establishing social criteria can therefore have a lawful purpose.
This does not mean every request is proportionate. Assessing an individual case requires knowing exactly what was requested, for which purpose, what evidence was acceptable and how the information was used. A news report cannot replace examination of those documents.
Health information is not an ordinary HR questionnaire
The European Commission explains that health data is subject to special processing conditions. One possible basis concerns obligations under employment and social protection law, subject to applicable safeguards. This does not automatically justify every requested field.
Data minimisation and transparency principles require collecting only information needed for the purpose and explaining its use. Data accuracy and protection against unauthorised access must also be ensured.
What should a business check before requesting documents?
The editorial team’s practical checklist:
- Purpose: which specific criterion does each requested document support?
- Availability: can the employee obtain it independently, or is a response from another institution needed?
- Deadline: have shifts, business trips and document preparation time been considered?
- Security: where is the document submitted, who receives it and who may read its contents?
- Corrections: how is receipt confirmed, and how are errors or incomplete evidence handled?
These are process-design questions, not findings about individual airBaltic employees’ cases. A short deadline alone does not explain everything: information already held by the employer and opportunities to remedy missing documentation before a decision also matter.
What can other employers learn?
EU guidance on collective redundancies emphasises timely consultation and written information about selection criteria. Discussions should also consider ways to avoid dismissals or mitigate their consequences.
In Komercreģistrs’ assessment, an auditable decision is a business governance issue. If a manager cannot explain the steps from criterion to evidence and from evidence to outcome, a staffing spreadsheet is not yet a convincing justification.
When planning routine administrative support, review our services for businesses. Assess the competence and scope of work of partners found in the business listings separately: an offer alone does not guarantee compliance with employment or data protection law.
Official information sources
- State Labour Inspectorate: dismissal restrictions and preferences
- European Commission: legal grounds for processing data
- European Commission: data processing principles
- Your Europe: collective redundancies
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