Comparison of the previous and the Labour Code that came into force on 1 July 2017

Provisions as of 1 July 2017

Corresponding provisions of the

Labour Code valid through 30 June 2017

PRE-CONTRACTUAL RELATIONS

Before the conclusion of an employment contract as well as when an employment contract is not concluded, the parties to the contract must adhere to the principles of gender equality, non-discrimination on other grounds, fairness, and provision of the information necessary to conclude and execute the contract and protection of confidential information.

It is prohibited to demand information from an employee that is not related to his or her health, qualifications or other circumstances that are unrelated to the direct performance of the job.

If these obligations are not executed or are executed improperly, the other party to the employment contract becomes entitled to apply to the body hearing labour disputes and to claim compensation for the damage caused or to use other remedies provided by this Code.

Did not include such provisions.

NEW TYPES OF EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS

Open-ended,

fixed-term,

temporary work,

apprenticeship,

project work,

job sharing,

working for several employers,

seasonal work.

Open-ended,

fixed-term,

short-term,

secondary duties,

remote work,

temporary work,

other.

New regulations for fixed-term employment contracts: fixed-term employment contracts can also be concluded for jobs of a permanent nature; the maximum duration for a fixed-term contract to carry out the same job function is two years, and five years to carry out different job functions, except in cases when the employee is hired to fill a temporarily vacant position.

Fixed-term employment contracts for jobs of a permanent nature cannot make up more than 20 per cent of all of the employer’s employment contracts.

Concluding fixed-term employment contracts for jobs of a permanent nature not possible.

Maximum duration for a fixed-term employment contract – five years.

WORKING TIME

Five working regimes are being introduced: fixed duration of workdays/shifts and number of working days per week; summary working time recording, when the standard working hours for the entire reference period are fulfilled during the reference period; a flexible working schedule where an employee is required to be present at the workplace for certain hours of the workday/shift, but can work the other hours of the workday/shift before or after the required hours; split shifts, when work is done on the same day/shift with a break to rest and eat that is longer than the established maximum length for breaks to rest and eat; individualised working time regimes.

Eight-hour workday or summary working time recording.

Average working time including overtime is 48 hours per week; maximum working time including overtime and additional work is 12 hours per day and 60 hours per week.

Maximum working time including overtime – 48 hours per seven days.

The length of a workday for employees who work at more than one workplace or at one workplace but under two or more employment contracts cannot exceed 12 hours.

Maximum overtime – eight hours per week or 12 hours per week if the employee agrees; maximum annual overtime – 180 hours.

The duration of overtime work cannot be more than four hours in two days or 120 hours per year.

Summary working time recording shall be introduced where necessary, following information and consultation with the work council and taking the opinion of the trade union into account.

Summary working time recording can be used at companies, institutions and organisations, individual departments and sections if need be,taking into consideration the opinion of employee representatives (Article 19 of the Code), or in other cases specified in collective agreements.

The reference period for summary working time may not exceed three months.

The reference period cannot be more than four months.

When using summary working time, the maximum working time per week is 52 hours, without additional work and not applying this maximum working time to on-call duty.

If summary working time recording are being used, the employee cannot work more than 48 hours per week and 12 hours per workday/shift.

The reference period for night work is three months.

No separate reference period for night work. The duration of the reference period in the case of summary working time recording cannot be longer than four months.

LEAVE

Calculated in terms of working days off.

Calculated in terms of calendar days off.

Holiday entitlements – 20 working days (for those who work five days per week), or 24 working days (for those who work six days per week).

Statutory minimum of 28 calendar days of annual leave.

Employees under the age of 18, employees who are single parents raising a child under the age of 14 or a disabled child under the age of 18, and disabled employees entitled to 25 working days (for those who work five days per week), or 30 working days (for those who work six days per week) of annual leave.

Employees under the age of 18, employees who are single parents raising a child under the age of 14 or a disabled child under the age of 18, and disabled employees are entitled to 35 calendar days of annual leave.

Additional and extended leave is established by resolution of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania.

The Government approves a list of categories of employees entitled to extended leave and defines therein the specific duration of extended leave for each category of employees.

The procedure, conditions for granting, and duration of additional annual leave are established by the Government. Additional annual leave of a longer duration or of different types than mentioned in this article may be established in the employment contract, collective agreement or work regulations.

Additional leave for continuous employment: three working days for continuous employment of 10 years, and another working day for every five years of continuous employment thereafter.

Three calendar days for continuous employment of 10 years, and another calendar day for every five years of continuous employment thereafter.

Employees whose work involves greater nervous, emotional or mental tension and occupational risk, as well those who have specific working conditions, are given up to 41 working days (for those who work five days per week), or up to 50 working days (for those who work six days per week), or up to eight weeks (if the number of working days per week is less or different) of extended leave.

Educational employees, researchers, creative workers at professional performing arts institutions, health care professionals, pharmacy specialists, employees in the field of social services, pilots, seafarers, fishermen, Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant employees, and so on.

Up to 58 calendar days of extended annual leave given to certain categories of employees whose work involves greater nervous, emotional or mental tension and occupational risk, as well those who have specific working conditions.

Educational employees, researchers, creative workers at professional performing arts institutions, health care professionals, pharmacy specialists, employees in the field of social services, pilots, seafarers, fishermen, Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant employees, and so on.

The employer must provide 14 days of pregnancy and childbirth leave immediately after childbirth, even if the employee does not request it.

Did not include such provisions.

Paternity leave: 30 calendar days at any time until the child reaches three months of age, or until the child reaches six months of age in cases of complicated childbirth or when more than one child is born.

Paternity leave: for the period from the day of birth until the child reaches the age of one month.

For employees attending non-formal adult education programmes, up to five working days of educational leave are provided per year to attend non-formal adult education programmes.

By mutual agreement, up to five days of educational leave could be given per year to employees enrolled in non-formal adult education programmes to attend non-formal adult education programmes.

For employees who have had an employment relationship with the employer for more than five years, at least half of the employee’s salary is left for educational leave (for formal or non-formal education) of up to 10 working days per working year if participation in the non-formal adult education programme is related to the employee’s professional development.

Paid educational leave by mutual agreement.

Creative leave of up to 12 months is permitted for employees to pursue creative or scientific endeavours.

The duration of creative leave was not provided for.

Unpaid free time may be granted during the workday for the employee to take care of personal needs. The employee may agree with the employer to move working time to another workday/shift, as long as the maximum working time and minimum rest time requirements are not infringed upon.

Did not include such provisions.

Employees raising a disabled child under the age of 18 or two children under the age of 12 are given one extra day off per month, and those raising three or more children under the age of 12 are given two extra days off per month, paying them their average wage.

Employees raising a disabled child under the age of 18 or two children under the age of 12 are given one extra day off per month, and those raising three or more children under the age of 12 are given two extra days off per month, paying them their average wage.

REMUNERATION

Minimum wage can only be paid for unskilled labour.

Did not include such provisions.

For the first time, a definition is provided for unskilled labour. This is work that does not require any special qualification skills or professional expertise.

Did not include such provisions.

Employers are required to approve a remuneration system unless this is already established in the collective agreement.a In workplaces with an average number of employees of twenty or more, the remuneration systems must be approved by the employer. Said must be available for all employees to become acquainted with.

Before approving or revising the remuneration system, information and consultation procedures must be carried out.

The remuneration system specifies the employee categories based on position and qualification as well as the salary range (minimum and maximum) and forms of payment for each of them, the grounds and procedures for allocating additional payment (bonuses and allowances), and the procedure for wage indexation.

The remuneration system was supposed to be established in the collective agreement.

Employers are obliged to prepare the remuneration system in such a way so as to avoid any kind of gender-based discrimination: equal pay for the same or equal work.

A definition is provided for what is considered the same or equal work.

Employers are obliged to prepare the remuneration system in such a way so as to avoid any kind of gender-based discrimination.

No definition was provided for what is considered the same or equal work.

DISMISSAL

A new basis for dismissal is being introduced – dismissal at the will of the employer. At-will dismissal is possible for reasons other than termination of employment contract on the initiative of the employer without the fault of the employee, but it is not possible for discriminatory reasons (i.e. due to age, gender, political views, participation in a case against the employer, etc.). The employee is given notice of three working days and is paid a severance pay of at least six average monthly wages.

This basis for dismissal did not exist.

The notice periods have been reduced for termination of employment contract on the initiative of the employer without the fault of the employee: two weeks for an employment relationship of less than one year, and one month if the employee has been working for more than one year; these periods are doubled for employees who have less than five years left until pension age, and tripled for employees who are raising a child/adopted child under the age of 14 or a disabled child under the age of 18, as well as for disabled employees and employees who have less than two years left until pension age.

Notice period of two months or four months.

Severance pay has been reduced for termination of employment contract on the initiative of the employer without the fault of the employee: half an average monthly wage for an employment relationship of less than one year, and two average monthly wages for an employment relationship of more than one year; an additional long-term work benefit may be paid from the Long-Term Service Allowance Fund of one, two or three average monthly wages for 5, 10 or 20 years of continuous employment, respectively.

Severance pay of one to six months, depending on the length of continuous employment.

COLLECTIVE RELATIONS

Division of competences between trade unions and work councils:

trade unions – representation and conclusion of collective agreements;

work councils – information and consultation.

Trade unions can represent and protect the rights and interests of employees if labour relations exist.

The work council possesses all rights of the entities of collective representation if there is no in-house trade union at the company, institution or organisation and if the staff meeting has not transferred the function of the protection and representation of employees to a relevant industrial trade union.

The collective agreement only applies to union members. If the parties agree, it applies to all employees if it is confirmed by the general staff meeting.

The collective agreement concluded at the company applies to all of the company’s employees.

A work council is mandatory if 20 or more people are employed. One seat on the council is allocated to a trade union member who will be elected from at least three company employees nominated as company trade union candidates. If more than one-third of the employees at a workplace belong to in-house trade unions, the functions of the work council are performed by a joint trade union representation or a trade union elected by the company’s trade union members.

A work council was not mandatory.

The work council possesses all rights of the entities of collective representation if there is no in-house trade union at the company, institution or organisation and if the staff meeting has not transferred the function of the protection and representation of employees to a relevant industrial trade union. The work council cannot perform functions that are legally recognised as the prerogative of trade unions.

The announcement of strikes has been made easier: the consent of at least one-quarter of trade union members is enough to announce an employer-level strike.

A strike could be announced at a company if this decision was secretly supported by:

more than half of the company’s employees in the case of a company strike;

more than half of a department’s employees in the case of a departmental strike.

Lockouts have been legalised – when an employer or organisation of employers announces the temporary suspension of the employment contracts of employees of a single employer or several employers who are on strike.

Did not include such provisions.

OTHER PROVISIONS

The competence of the Labour Dispute Commissions has been expanded to enable them to also investigate cases regarding the legality of suspension from work and dismissal from work as well as collective labour disputes over law.

The Labour Dispute Commissions did not investigate cases regarding the legality of dismissal from work as well as suspension from work; these required applying to court.

A new principle has been established: respect for an employee’s pursuit of professional development. Employers must train employees in so far as is necessary for them to perform their work function; they must also take measures to increase the qualifications and professionalism of employees, as well as their ability to adapt to changing business, professional or working conditions.

Did not include such provisions.

The use of partial work working for important economic reasons is established by Government resolution.

Partial work was not provided for.