Hire in Lithuania

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Last updated at June 16, 2022

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Currency

Euro (EUR)

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Capital

Vilnius

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Time Zone

GMT+2

Key Country Facts

Introduction

Officially the Republic of Lithuania, Lithuania is a country in the Baltic region of Europe that shares land borders with Latvia to the north, Belarus to the south and east, and Russia to the southwest. It is situated on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania gained its independence on March 11, 1990.

Area

Lithuania covers a total area of 65,286 km² and has a total coastline of 90 km. The land has several small lakes and swamps, and a mixed forest zone covers ~33% of the country.

Climate

Lithuania has a humid semi-continental climate with very cold winders and mild, moderately rainy summers. Along the coast, average temperatures are just below freezing in the winter and around 18 deg c in the summer. In the inland areas, temperatures are slightly lower in winter and higher in summer. Rain is frequent throughout the year, but the coastline sees higher precipitation than the inland areas.

Culture

Lithuanian culture combines its indigenous customs with Nordic, Germanic and Slavic traditions, that resulted from its historical ties with Poland and transition from a country formerly occupied by the Soviet Union to an independent Baltic state.

Religion

Almost 80% of the population are Roman Catholic, and Evangelical Lutherans and other Protestants make up about 5%. ~15% do not identify with a religion or are believers in pagan religion.

Official Language

The official language of Lithuania is Lithuanian, and is spoken by ~85% of the population. ~70% can speak Russian and it is the second most popular language. Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian are also spoken, but mainly in the larger cities. Yiddish is commonly spoken by members of the small remaining Jewish community in Lithuania.

Lithuania HR at a Glance

Employment Law

The sources of labour law are the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, international agreements of the Republic of Lithuania, the present Labour Code and collective agreements.

The Constitution lays down a certain number of labour rights, including but not limited to:

right to freely choose an occupation or business
right to adequate, safe and healthy working conditions
right to adequate remuneration for work
right to social security in the event of unemployment
prohibition of forced labour, except military service or alternative service, as well as labour which is executed during war, natural calamity, epidemic or other urgent circumstances, or labour performed in places of confinement
right to rest and leisure as well as to annual paid holidays
right to organise a trade union

Employers must inform the territorial labour exchanges about their job vacancies, specifying the work functions, nature of work, remuneration, qualifications and other terms and conditions. The territorial labour exchange will register these job listings and make public announcements to people seeking work.

EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT

The employment contract must include the below details:

parties to the employment contract
location of employment
position and job description
start date
duration of the employment
working hours/days of week
remuneration
method and frequency of payment
annual leave entitlements
notice period for termination

Contract Terms

The employment contract must not have terms and conditions that are less favourable to the employee than those provided by the Labour Code, laws, other regulatory acts and the collective agreement. Employment contracts may be concluded for an indefinite period of time or for a fixed period of time if work is of temporary nature. Fixed-term contracts are not permitted for work that is of a permanent nature (unless expressly allowed by the law or collective agreement).

The employment contract (including other HR documents e.g. policies) must be in the Lithuanian language or in a language acceptable to the parties.

The employer is responsible for notifying the territorial office of the Lithuanian State Social Insurance Fund Board at least one business day before employment commencement date.

Pre-Employment Checks

Where labour laws mandate educational, vocational qualifications or health condition, the employer has a right to request documentation from the potential candidate confirming the qualifications or health status.

Employers are not permitted to perform criminal background checks, except for specific cases where the law allows for it.

Probation Period / Trial Period

The maximum probation period is 3 months; however, employer and employee may agree on a shorter period. During probation, the employer has the right to terminate the employment relationship giving 3 days notice without paying severance. However, in such a case the employer should be able to substantiate that the employee was not suitable for work.

Working Hours

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. The maximum overtime per week is 8 hours per week, or 12 hours per week if the employee agrees. The maximum annual overtime is 180 hours.

The five-day working week with two rest days is the standard working hours as established by the Labour Law. The six-day working week with one rest day is for businesses where a five-day working week is not possible due to the nature of its operations. A weekly uninterrupted rest period shall not be shorter than 35 hours.

Employees shall be granted a break of 30 min – 2 hours rest and to eat after half of the working day (not more than four working hours).

Overtime

Employees must provide written consent for overtime work, and remuneration shall be at least 1.5X the hourly pay.

Timesheets

Work schedules shall be posted on information board no later than two weeks before their effective date. The working time actually worked by employees shall be recorded in time sheets templates. For employees with flexible working hours, rules for recording working time shall be established by the employer.

Employment contract should be stored for at least 50 years and payroll records for 10 years after termination.

Bonus

The 13th month salary is not mandatory, but most companies pay it as a yearly bonus.

Termination

In addition to employment termination by mutual agreement between the parties, the most common ways to terminate employment upon employer’s initiative, when there is no fault of the employee, are:

dismissal due to objective reasons (ordinary dismissal) (darbo sutarties nutraukimas darbdavio iniciatyva be darbuotojo kaltės)
dismissal upon the employer’s will (darbo sutarties nutraukimas darbdavio valia).

The aforementioned kinds of dismissal differ with regards to the reasons for dismissal, the notice period and protection the employees have against the dismissal.

Termination of employment contract must be in writing, with the legal basis for termination. An employment contract can be terminated without notice if:

the employee has been sentenced for a crime committed
when a parent/guardian/healthcare provider/school of enrolment of an employee under the age of 16 demands the termination
when an employee is not able to perform the work according to a healthcare institution and is not agreeable to the transfer to another position within the same organisation
when the employment contract is in conflict with the law

The employer shall inform the State Social Insurance Fund Board (SODRA) on the termination of employment not later than 1 day after the termination of employment contract.

The following categories of employees are protected from termination:

pregnant employees
employees who are called up for military service
employees on maternity/paternity/parental leave
employees raising a child under 3 years old

A fixed-term employment contract ends when the agreed term expires, however, the following rules on notice period and severance payment apply:

Notice period – If employment lasted for more than a year, notice period of 5 business days applies; if employment lasted longer than 3 years, notice period of 10 business days apply.

Severance payment – 1 average monthly salary should be paid if employment relations lasted for more than 2 years.

Notice Period

An employer can terminate an employment contract without any fault on the employee’s part only after he or she notifies the employee in writing and confirms it with the signature of the employee. Such notification must be presented one month before the dismissal (2 weeks notice if the employment relationship is less than a year). These notice periods shall be doubled for employees who have less than five years left until the statutory age of old-age pension, and tripled for employees who are raising a child/adopted child under the age of 14, employees who are raising a disabled child under the age of 18.

During the notice period, the employer must grant the employee paid time off from work to look for a new job.

The notice period for a fixed-term contract if employment lasted for more than a year is 5 business days applies. If employment lasted longer than 3 years, the notice period is 10 business days.

Redundancy / Severance Pay

Severance depends on the length of continuous service of the employee:

under 12 months — one monthly average wage
12–36 months — two monthly average wages
36–60 months — three monthly average wages
60–120 months — four monthly average wages
120–240 months — five monthly average wages
over 240 months — six monthly average wages

Upon ordinary dismissal, the dismissed employee is entitled to a severance pay of 2 average monthly salaries. If the employment relationship lasted less than a year, the dismissed employee has to be paid 1/2 of his/her average monthly salary (see above). Additionally, the dismissed employee may receive a severance pay from the State Social Insurance Fund Board (SODRA), with the amount depending on his/her seniority.

In case of termination of the employment contract upon employer’s will, the dismissed employee has to be paid a severance pay of at least 6 times the average monthly salary.

Fixed Term Contracts

Fixed-term contracts are permitted for work that would be concluded within the defined period of time, or for a specific task to be completed. There is no limit on the maximum number of successive renewals/extension of fixed-term contracts. However, the maximum total duration of consecutive fixed-term contracts concluded with the same employee to do carry out the same job function cannot exceed 2 years. Fixed-term contracts separated by 2 months or less are considered consecutive.

The maximum total duration of consecutive fixed-term contracts concluded with the same employee to carry out a different job function cannot exceed 5 years

Fixed-term contracts for jobs of a permanent nature may not account for >20% of employment contracts entered into by the employer. A fixed-term contract is deemed to be for an indefinite term if employment continues beyond the contract end date or beyond the specific task being completed.

The employer must inform employees working under Fixed-Term Contracts about vacancies and ensure that they have the same opportunities for permanent employment.

Tax and Social Security

Personal Income Tax

Income Bracket (EUR)	Tax Rate (%)
Not exceeding 90,246	20.0
>90,246	32.0

SOCIAL SECURITY

Employees are covered by State Social Insurance, and a certain percentage of wages will be deducted on a monthly basis as contribution. Social security services is administrated by State Social Insurance Fund Board (SODRA).

	Employer (%)	Employee (%)	Income Ceiling/year (EUR)
Social Security	1.77	19.5 (comprising pension 8.72%, health insurance 6.98%, sickness 2.09%, maternity 1.71%)	90,246
Guarantee Fund	0.16
Employment Fund	0.16
Unemployment Fund	1.31
Accidents at Work	0.14-1.4

*The above rates serve as a broad guideline. Actual rates charged will differ.

There is an option to pay higher contributions (above 3%) either by individuals themselves or their employers. Such expenses are PIT deductible for individuals and corporate income tax (CIT) deductible for employers.

It is the employer’s responsibility to submit and pay social security returns electronically by the 15th day of the following month.

Employees

Salary Payment

Salary payment should be made no less than twice a month, unless there is mutual agreement between employee and employer to pay monthly.

Payslip

Itemised payslips must be provided to employees on a monthly basis, specifying gross and net salary, the amount and purpose of any deductions and overtime if applicable.

Annual Leave

Employees are entitled to 20 days’ paid annual leave after they have completed six continuous months of service with an employer. Annual leave may be taken in parts, but one part of annual leave must be at least 14 calendar days.

For some categories of employees, paid annual leave is 25 calendar days (employees under 18 years of age, employees who are single parents raising a child under 14 or a disabled child under 16, disabled persons and other persons provided for by law).

The following categories of employees are entitled to choose the time of annual leave after six months of uninterrupted work with the employer:

persons under 18 years of age
pregnant women and employees raising a child under 14 years of age or a disabled child under 18 years of age alone.

Annual leave can be carried forward to the next year of employment with the consent of the employee, and is allowed when the annual leave could not be utilised in the same year due to e.g. taking part in official/public duties, assisting in relief operations, special-purpose leave entitlements.

Sick Leave

Sick pay is payable to employees who have been covered by social insurance for at least three months during the last 12 months, or at least six months during the last 24 months. The employer must pay between 80 and 100 percent of the employee’s average salary during the first two calendar days of sickness absence. During the third to the seventh day of absence the state pays the employee 40 percent of salary from the social insurance fund. From the eighth day of sickness absence, the state pays the employee 80 percent of salary.

Compassionate & Bereavement Leave

Unpaid leave is granted for:

a disabled person — up to 30 calendar days per year
an employee who alone takes care of a disabled person – up to 30 calendar days per year (or as agreed between the parties)
an employee taking care of a sick family member — for a period recommended by a health institution
wedding — at least 3 calendar days
funeral of a family member — at least 3 but not more than 5 calendar days

Maternity & Parental Leave

Maternity Leave

Employees receive 70 days’ maternity leave before birth and 56 days’ leave after (if the birth is complicated, it is 70 days). Maternity leave is paid by the state if the minimum period of social insurance coverage has been met (as a general rule, 12 months of insurance coverage during the last 24 months). The compensation is 100 percent of the previous salary, subject to a statutory cap.

Paternity Leave

Paternity leave is 30 calendar days at any time until the child reaches the age of one year. Paternity pay is 100 percent of the salary for the duration of leave, subject to a statutory cap. Paternity leave is compensated by the state if the minimum period of social insurance coverage has been met (as a general rule, 12 months of insurance coverage during the last 24 months).

Caregiver Leave

Each parent/caregiver (including grandparents or relatives who is helping to raise the child) is equally entitled to take child care leave until the child is three years old. Only one parent/caregiver can take it at a time, but it can be taken in turns consecutively. The employee intending to use this leave must provide the employer with a written notice at least 14 days in advance.

Adoption Leave

Employees who have adopted newborn babies or who have been appointed as their guardians shall be granted leave for the period from the day of adoption or establishment of guardianship before the baby is 70 days old.

Nursing Leave

A breastfeeding woman shall be given at least a 30 minute break to breastfeed at least every three hours. This is in addition to the regular break to rest and to eat. The breastfeeding breaks may be taken with the break to rest and eat, or at the end of the working day (effectively shortening the working day).

Parental Leave

Unpaid leave is granted for:

employees raising a child under 14 years old — up to 14 calendar days per year
employees raising a disabled child under 18 years old — up to 30 calendar days year
during maternity leave and parental leave until the child reaches three years of age, to the father at their request – aggregate duration of 3 months in total between both parents

Education Leave

Employees are entitled 3 days educational leave (per examination) to prepare for entrance examinations to colleges and higher educational institutions.

Leave of Absence

Employees who are elected as representatives of a trade union are granted a leave of absence of up to 6 working days. The compensation of wages shall be stipulated in a collective agreement. Employees may also be granted a leave of absence to participate in state/public duties, and the compensation cannot be less than the average wage of the organisation they are representing.

Public Holidays

There are 13 public holidays per year.

Benefits to the Employee in Lithuania

Statutory Benefits

Mandatory employee benefits in Lithuania include a three-tiered pension system, maternity leave and benefits, and employment insurance. Supplementary employee benefits include health insurance, retirement and flexible benefits.

Other Benefits

Fringe benefits are not a legal requirement, but may include:

Private health insurance
Car benefit
Mobile phone
Sport compensation

Visas and Foreign Workers

GENERAL INFORMATION

Citizens of EU Member States do not need a work permit or visa. For citizens outside the EU, there are several visa options.

A work permit and a visa is required to enter and stay in Lithuania. The visa for non-EU citizens is referred to as a national visa (D). The employer has to apply for a work permit on behalf of the foreign employee. Prior to submitting the documents for work permit application, the employer should have filed the vacant position with the Labour Exchange of Lithuania for at least 5 working days.

For the work permit, the employee should provide the employer with documentation including proof of qualifications for the job (previous professional experience, education), personal identification documents. Once the work permit is issued, the employee can apply for the national visa (D) with the documents including the application form, passport, proof of sufficient funds/means of income, health insurance. Issuance of a work permit usually takes 7 business days, and processing time for a national D visa is about 15 working days.

For some high-level professional qualifications, a non-EU citizen may work in Lithuania without a permit and this permission will be issued by the Migration Department under the Ministry of the Interior. However, a temporary residence permit in lieu of a national visa (D) is required.

Public Holidays in 2022

S.No	Occasion	Date
1.	New Year’s Day	1st January
2.	Independence Day	16th February
3.	Independence Restoration Day	11th April
4.	Easter Sunday	17th April
5.	Easter Monday	18th April
6.	Labour Day	1st May
7.	Midsummer Day	24th June
8.	King Mindaugas’ Day	6th July
9.	Assumption Day	15th August
10.	All Saints Day	1st November
11.	All Souls Day	2nd November
12.	Christmas Eve	24th December
13.	Christmas Day	25th December

Several other holidays are observed, either unofficially at a national level or by official local public observance.

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